Mark Fosson's been playing music for nearly 50 years now. Solo Guitar is the 5th album released under his name in all that time, which gives an insight into the nature of his music; when it is time for Mark to commit to something underneath his fingers, regardless of whether that is after two years, ten or twenty, that's what's right.

Sure, it makes for a funny career arc, but as far as the music that falls out of a guitar over the span of a lifetime is concerned, any old curve will serve. Mark's picking career was destined to be weird anyway, based on how it started: in 1976, a demo sent to "American Primitive" label Takoma Records received a personal response from founder (and its primary artist) John Fahey himself, who invited Mark out to the west coast to rerecord the material for forthcoming release. Mark showed up, they recorded, it sounded great...then Takoma went bankrupt, John Fahey sold the whole company and the release of Mark's record was abruptly cancelled. No new destination for the recordings immediately presented itself, so Mark moved on, making music with the Bum Steers and continuing to release albums sporadically in the mid aughts.

Now here's another collection to hear! Solo Guitar continues to use his chops and enthusiasm to wander musically, drawing up pieces of sparkling, nimble fingerstyle with an eclectic vision. As the title implies, this time Mark is focused on the austerity of the guitar, plain and simple, to bring out the music. This is one of Mark's favorites of all that he's written, and it is clear why: the golden, eternal promise of the guitar is ebulliently, transcendentally delivered. Mark Fosson's Solo Guitar is a masterful work, the kind it takes a lifetime to assemble! Out July 28th on LP/CD, preorder here!!