Cameron Knowler & Eli Winter – Strawberry Milk : Listen
What’s better than one acoustic guitarist? Two acoustic guitarists, interweaving and interloping, playing complementarily and conversationally, balancing classic folk guitar elements with modern experimentalism. Also, a fantastic rendition of Michael Chapman’s “Caddo Lake.”
Longtime friends Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter offer all this and more on Anticipation, their upcoming record of duets, recorded on the tail of a long jaunt through the deserts and hills of Texas before landing in Houston. Check out the album opener, “Strawberry Milk” below:
Winter’s album of three expansive, wandering tunes, Unbecoming, was one of our favorites last year, and we’re looking forward to becoming acquainted with Knowler. Anticipation is a gorgeous collection of eight songs that are filled with meaning and beauty,
The Trans-Pecos is a land of stark beauty, dotted with javelinas, ghost towns and small mountain ranges. There’s Marfa, known for its lights and minimalist art, and Terlingua, a tight-knit community of old-timers near the Texas-Mexico border; Alpine, 12,000 strong, is the region’s center. The winter holidays of 2018 found Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter touring through that part of the state. Each night they played solo and duo sets, interpreting traditional folk songs and showcasing their own, unifying seemingly disparate approaches to the guitar. Anticipation, the first album of gorgeous duets by the two young gun guitarists, is the product of this trip, documenting a musical juncture between desert and city, Chicago and the Southwest, folk traditions and America’s musical avant-garde.
At first, Knowler says, their collaboration “seemed insurmountable conceptually.” Knowler, a Houstonian by way of Yuma, Arizona, came to bluegrass guitar through an obsession with Norman Blake, teaching himself over years of practice sessions 12 to 16 hours long. Since then he’s gigged at bluegrass festivals, house shows, hoedowns and honky-tonks, working as a session musician, sideman and teacher, and honing a measured approach to the guitar informed as much by wide-ranging folk cultures as the silence of the desert. Only 23, Winter (named an artist to watch by The Guardian and “generational talent” by NYCTaper) has developed a moving command of the instrument like that of his inspirations Daniel Bachman and Jack Rose, with an energy and confidence honed from extensive touring and performances with Chicago experimental music touchstones (Ryley Walker, Sam Wagster, Tyler Damon).
Anticipation is out March 12th on American Dreams Records. Pre-order it here.
