Whenever a new name pops up among good fingerpicking guitar players on the folk/acoustic scene (check ut the excellent "Imaginational Anthem" album series on the Tompkins Square label) these days, they are usually dubbed as "the New Primitives", i.e. the followers og the great late John Fahey. The New Primitive tag usually denotes the recreation and re-imagination of the early American acoustic guitar style, covering everything from blues to bluegrass, peppered up by the anything that comes up to the mind of the artist. John Fahey was considered a key pioneer of this style and his shadow casts long over almost all new acoustic guitar players on the scene.
So what about Daniel Bachman? Well, Bachman might be fresh, he still resembles a kid (he's 21), but has been around for approximately four years. He started out playing as a true kid at 10 and his first recordings were made when he was 17. Will his playing remind you of John Fahey? Yes and no. Yes in the sense that as it was for Fahey, tradition is only a starting base for Bachman. He infuses his music with as much of tradition and novelty for it to sound as something very specific on its own terms. Bachman himslef calls it "psychedelic Appalachia", something that is very much reflected by the sound of his new, already sixth album, but also by its cover: the lone knight dressed up in a very psychedelic manner, somwhere resembling Appalachia.
Although this is Bachman's latest album of the six so far, it is the one titled as if it was his first. Not by its sound. This album is fully self-assured, featuring Bachman's great playing, infused with as much individuality to make him distinct form the greats of the style like Fahey or Basho, or recent gutarists that have become known within the circle of fans (like the also, unfortunately late great player Jack Rose).
Bachman's previous albums so far have been devoted and inspired by the places he lived in and the moods he acquired there, like "Seven Pines" and "River". This self-titled album has a more general scope in its atmosphere, with a subtle electronic/drone tones one some of the tunes. Bachman displays a set of guitar playing styles that are not the showy "see my hands fly" thing many young guitar players want to display. The music shows great maturity for somebody that has just recently formally become mature, and a joy to listen to. Maybe Bachman made this a self-titled album because, like me, he thought it might be the best for the uninitiated to get to know him.
