John Fahey

A musical innovator in every sense of the word, John Fahey began putting out his steel-string fingerpicking records on his own Takoma label in the late '60s. Occupying a space somewhere between Musique Concrete and Bluegrass, Fahey found himself out of touch with both the incense burning pop world and the more militant folksingers of the day. Early on, he was using collected sound collages and dissonant, droning guitar passages intertwined with the fear and anger found on old Acoustic Blues 78s. He has since denounced his early work as "pretentious," finding a haven with new rock experimentalists. He remains a strong, undiminished artistic force, combining noise with classical composition.