Dave Evans, RIP

[Russell Letson]

Died two days ago at age 80. He was one of the fingerpickers showcased on Stefan Grossman's LPs, an autodidact composer-player who seemed to have vanished after the Great Fingerstyle Explosion of the 1970s. But apparently he kept on with a very busy range of musical and non-musical pursuits (lutherie, beer-making), mostly in Belgium. I saw the notice on Grossman's Woodshed site and followed to Greg Miner's very affectionate set of memories:

harpguitars.net/blog/2021/04/enormously-sad-forever-glad-dave-evans-dec-1-1940-apr-4-2021/

Thence down the YouTube rabbit hole. Evans composed a number of famously challenging pieces, like this one:



I hadn't listened to much from that Kicking Mule period for quite a few years, but as soon as I heard the first few notes, it took me back: you can hear the Renbourn/Jansch/Graham/Bensusan vibe immediately. And I had no idea that he built the guitars he performed on.

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My buddy,Tom Long,got Dave's phone number from Grossman. While working in Belgium, he set up a meeting. Dave lived upstairs and threw the key wrapped in a sock. Tom went up and they had a wonderful chat.

[Russell Letson]

Matt--Tom Long is one of the players to whom I was introduced while reviewing for Acoustic Guitar--in his case, the "Monkeys Violate the Heaven Palace" CD. Another of the Celtic-guitar-renaissance pickers who convinced me to live/play within my limitations--DADGAD (and its myriad cousins) is not for everyone. Still good to listen to, though.

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Tom got the name "Monkeys Violate the Heaven Palace" from a box of bottle rockets I had 4th of July, 1987.
We lit them out on the family estate north west of Bakersfield named the Fly Farm due to its proximity to a feed lot.

[Russell Letson]

Speaking of long-time fingerpickers, blasts from the past, and players I discovered while reviewing--Howard Emerson (who is still listed as a Soundhole member) has a new album out--"The Ritalin Kid," available as download or physical disc. It's a very nice piece of work. I hadn't realized that Howard is an old friend of John Monteleone--he has a lovely Monteleone flattop. Not sure whether he plays it on the new album--I'm waiting on the liner notes for all the gory details.

Here's a plug in the form of a link:

www.howardemerson.com/

[Deleted]

Howard's a fine player.