James Blackshaw

London-born musician James Blackshaw demonstrated a prodigious talent on the 12-string guitar at a very young age. Though he was only 22 at the time of the release of his debut, CELESTE, critics were already comparing him to acoustic guitar icons like John Fahey and particularly that other noted 12-string master, Robbie Basho. Though Blackshaw’s deft fingerpicking and eerie arrangements shared qualities with the output of Fahey’s Takoma school, he also draws inspiration from English folk music and the classical avant-garde. Subsequent releases found the guitarist expanding his stylistic palette and experimenting with drones and electronic instrumentation, and sometimes abandoning his 12-string for the piano or pump-organ.