When John Fahey recorded The New Possibility in 1968 to make a few bucks off Christmas sales every year, his album title turned out to be emblematic of the solo guitar's potential. The music grows decades later, rung out in steel vibration and wrung out from tradition. In 2016, there was an incredible bounty of guitar music across Americana, jazz, ambient, psychedelic, experimental music and what Fahey labeled American Primitive.
For sake of focus, these 10 unranked records (and a few honorable mentions) were all primarily made by one person with the guitar as the primary instrument. That's why you don't see the stellar records made by Chris Forsyth, Mary Halvorson, William Tyler or Cian Nugent this year, as they were backed by bands that understand their singular approaches to the instrument. Instead, these records celebrate new possibilities in the solo exploration of six and 12 strings.
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1 of 10
— Daniel Bachman, Daniel Bachman
Daniel Bachman, Daniel Bachman
/ Courtesy of the artist
2 of 10
— Dylan Golden Aycock, Church Of Level Track
Dylan Golden Aycock, Church Of Level Track
/ Courtesy of the artist
3 of 10
— Glenn Jones, Fleeting
Glenn Jones, Fleeting
/ Courtesy of the artist
4 of 10
— Jeff Parker, Slight Freedom
Jeff Parker, Slight Freedom
/ Courtesy of the artist
5 of 10
— Kevin Hufnagel, Backwards Through The Maze
Kevin Hufnagel, Backwards Through The Maze
/ Courtesy of the artist
6 of 10
— Marisa Anderson, Into The Light
Marisa Anderson, Into The Light
/ Courtesy of the artist
7 of 10
— Rob Noyes, The Feudal Spirit
Rob Noyes, The Feudal Spirit
/ Courtesy of the artist
8 of 10
— Roy Montgomery, R M H Q: Headquarters
Roy Montgomery, R M H Q: Headquarters
/ Courtesy of the artist
9 of 10
— Sarah Louise, VDSQ Solo Acoustic Vol. 12
Sarah Louise, VDSQ Solo Acoustic Vol. 12
/ Courtesy of the artist
10 of 10
— Willie Lane, A Pine Tree Shilling's Worth Of Willie Lane
Willie Lane, A Pine Tree Shilling's Worth Of Willie Lane
/ Courtesy of the artist
