John Fahey, No-Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand of Man at Spaceland (LA Weekly, 6/25/1999)
John Fahey, No-Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand of Man at Spaceland
At the throne of an army of unarmed soul survivors rooted to roots music is none other than John Fahey: the guitarist's guitarist. Fahey perpetuates a classical approach to the winding, wending, exploratory, expository solo acoustic folk sound. At times blissfully and decadently fretting against structure and form, Fahey might devolve/evolve into Christmas songs (mixing "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night"), reducing hard-nosed listeners to tears and causing tearful fans to wipe their noses and stand tall. With all eight of the No Neck in tow (who recently recorded a CD for Revenant in the Ozarks with Jerry Yester of the Lovin' Spoonful and Farewell Alderbran fame) and the Boston-based Sunburned Hand of Man, this night promises nothing short of cultural-taste clashing of royal, if not pataphysical, proportions.