Interview with Daniel Bachman

“I’ve always been into traditional American music as well as contemporary experimental music,” says Daniel Bachman, whose finger-picked acoustic guitar and banjo instrumentals—traversing between classic Piedmont blues covers, ruminative Americana, and atmospheric soundscapes—have won rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and National Public Radio.

Atmospheric tunes like “New Moon” and old-timey workouts, such as “Wide Oak,” even prompted NPR to enthuse that Bachman isn’t just playing guitar, “He’s sculpting sound.”

As his career unfolds, the 29-year-old Bachman prompts continuous comparisons to the late John Fahey, the guiding light of the American Primitive style of folk guitar. “I became aware of John Fahey right after I had this epiphany that you could tune the guitar like a banjo,” he says with a laugh. “And then it was, ‘Oh wait, someone’s already been doing that for forever.’”

My interview with the Fredericksburg, Virginia sonic sculptor is now online at the Virginia Living Magazine website. Read "Orange Country Serenader" by clicking here.

(Photo by the mighty Jen Fariello!)