Live Concert: Barry Johnson & Heather Broderick

Solo instrumentalists navigate a free and rambling road through an imaginative, oneiric wilderness. So much expressed without singing/words, a direct power line to the psyche, open for interpretation and brimming with melancholy, joy, and somber reflection. The annals of solo guitar music, much like solo piano, can tap into these almost subliminal lines of communication. The new album/debut LP from Los Angeles by way of Michigan guitarist/flautist/songwriter Barry Archie Johnson sings out as a startling and gorgeous new voice in guitar centered landscapes.

Barry’s playing has the depth and patience of Segovia, Will Ackerman, Roy Montgomery, and Mary Halvorson but not only does he have his own voice, something alone which is almost intangibly improbable in the world of guitar music, he has a method of composition that defies easy emotional assignment. For instance, "Half Smile," the third track on the album could be a distant lament or an aching cry of gratitude. We aren’t quite sure. He is also adept at unexpected melodic turns shifting in and out of uncommon time signatures. It could be an intimate waltz here, and odd time dance there, a bit of percussive depth, waves of purposeful notes with overtones ringing out into the echo. If anything, the songs on "Fortune’s Mirror" almost mirror a baroque or Romantic era suite, keys and modalities and tension and instrumentation all carefully folding and unfolding together like branches.

As unique and holistic as Barry’s guitar playing is, there are deeper elements to his craft that emerge early in the record and escort us through the journey. He is a gifted flutist and he summons the same kind of beauty and mystery through the classical wind instrument as he does the steel strings. It first emerges on "Half Smile," a mysterious series of call and response interludes. His flute comes back in similar fashion on "Lumbering Through," again in a harmonized symmetry floating underneath the guitar’s introspective leading voice.

—William Tyler 

Ticket price: $10 (in person event only)

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

Please Note: The PRS Lecture Room is only accessible via stairs. PRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to [email protected] before showtime and we will be happy to assist you.

ACCESSIBILITY

PRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to [email protected] before showtime and we will be happy to assist you.

Please note this particular event is being held in a space that is not wheelchair accessible.

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Host or Publisher The Philosophical Research Society