Mark Fosson: Press

The late John Fahey influenced many a musician seeking to twist the gentle, pastoral ring of picked acoustic guitar into strange and unusual patterns. One such acolyte was Mark Fosson, a Kentucky guitarist who scored a deal with Fahey’s Takoma imprint, but saw his debut stiff when the label went bankrupt. Dug up three decades on, Fosson’s chiming instrumentals like “Variations On A Thumb” recall Fahey’s whimsical, melodic side more than any questing experimental urges, but Fosson is capable of breathtaking shifts of mood, too; simply immerse yourself in the weaving, tension-laden “Cosmic Hiccup” for proof.

The aptly titled Lost Takoma Sessions reveals a young, fleet-fingered axman mutating instrumental acoustic blues into a kind of modern classical folk music, which of course is exactly what Fahey and his other great discoveries had been doing since the late '50s. But unlike Fahey's alchemical and very tactile fusion of Indian classical and the blues, as well as Robbie Basho's full-throttled mystical drone, Fosson's skill and style feel smoother, lighter, cleaner, less psychedelic, and far more sober; these 12 compositions exhibit a sense of late-'70s, New Age refinement instead of '60s-bred experimentation, although a couple, "Quarter Moon" and "Frozen Finger," are fairly heady. I'll definitely be spending more time with Fosson's music.

Now dig this record. If you’re into Fahey’s milder moods, or vintage vocal-free Kottke, that won’t be too hard. Fosson, the son of a blues record collector, grew up in bluegrass country, so he was subject to some of the same influences that shaped his Takoma forefathers’ music. Like Fahey, he has a strong instinct for melodic elaboration, working intriguing turns into “Quarter Moon” and “Wind Through A Broken Glass” gambling figures.


But the general disposition of his compositions is sunny and sweet, more along Kottke’s lines; “All The Time In The World” conjures images of walking down a dirt road to the lake, fishing pole in hand, while “Frozen Fingers” is cut from the same fast-flowing cloth as “Vaseline Machine Gun.” Fosson sticks to 12-string throughout and gets a dense, bright sound from the instrument.


Lost no longer, this album should find favor with the new guard of acoustic guitar enthusiasts.

Clad in typeface echoing Tom Weller's work on early Fahey covers-- large, bubbly letters, equal parts psychedelic and graffiti-- Takoma Sessions is the last great record Takoma was never able to release. As a testament to how well Fosson plays, Fahey also scrawled on the tape, "best demo tape I've heard since Kottke". Where Fahey's manner was deeply steeped in blues, minor scales, and funereal syncopations, Fosson expresses far less pathos and far more, well, sunshine; rather than stomp or wail, he saves his most expressive moments for mutes, slides, harmonics-- he has a light touch, literally.

Fosson, when he plays, drones not with the bass note (as Fahey did-- it sounds like death himself knocking at your door) but with the higher end of his picking pattern. Thus the gravity in his play shifts, as he feints one way or another (one song is called "Variations on a Thumb"). It also allows him to riff more than many in the Am Priv school: "Jubilaya" sees him rip off flurries of precise and clean harmonic mutes, breaking up his flow so he can slap right back with it. Or he'll sound accents with string bends (in this, he sounds something like his now contemporary Currituck Co.) and hammer-ons, as he does on "Wind Through a Broken Glass".

Technical skill isn't all: Fosson is also a purely American-sounding player. The raga, drone, and concrete that almost inevitably make their way into solo players' repertoire are largely absent in Fosson's play. "Quarter Moon" evokes lazy, deep, Southern riverbanks and muddy sun-drenched afternoons; "Chillicothe" occurs on the same day, but later, as the light fails and the players have reported to their own porches and families. It's uniquely beautiful.

On the way, apparently, is a more recent collection of Fosson's work. Finally, after 30 years, it looks like he will again have a go at a career slinging his guitar around the country. This is good news: Lost Sessions, as lovely as it often is, also sounds like an artifact. We need more living artists on this same tip, working with the younger generation-- of which Jack Rose, the Philadelphia-based guitar player, is by far the most serious-- so that music as good as this doesn't stay stuck in past.

La prima volta che ho incontrato il nome di Mark Fosson è stato in un disco di Lisa O’Kane in cui lui prestava la sua chitarra in gran parte del disco e la sua voce in un brano. Non avrei mai immaginato di ritrovarlo con un disco tutto suo e soprattutto di ottima fattura come Jesus On A Greyhound. Nativo del Kentucky, Fosson è uno dei tanti musicisti della East Coast che si sono trasferiti sulla costa opposta alla ricerca di un contratto discografico ma che poi si sono dovuti adattare alla vita del session man. Dopo aver atteso a lungo, finalmente grazie alla lungimiranza della Big Otis, Fosson è riuscito a dar voce al suo raffinato songwriting. Prodotto da Edward Tree, Jesus On A Greyhound, vede la partecipazione di un folto gruppo di musicisti composto da Bob Glaub al basso (già con Jackson Browne), David Jackson all’accordion (Dave Alvin, Peter Case), Gabe Witcher al violino (Willie Nelson, Jerry Douglas) e Dave Beyer (Melissa Etheridge) alla batteria. L’ascolto del disco ci svela un songwriting molto maturo dai toni country-folk i cui riferimenti vanno rintracciati in John Prine e Gordon Lightfoot come dimostrano l’iniziale Old River Rd o Might As Well Be On The Moon. Tra i brani più intensi meritano una citazione la murder ballad old time Waiting For The Sheriff, la sofisticata melodia di Simplehearted e la magnifica Hang My Picture posta in conclusione

Klassieke singer/songwriter

Mark Fosson doet wat denken aan uitstekende singer/songwriters als Guy Clark, John Prine of Townes van Zandt. Hij schrijft teksten die een zekere literaire kwaliteit hebben, maakt er goede melodieuze liedjes van en zingt ze met een prettige, licht hese stem. De arrangementen zijn veelal akoestisch, balanceren ergens tussen country en folk en klinken uitstekend, gespeeld door een geïnspireerd spelende band. Toch geven de teksten je regelmatig het onbehaaglijke gevoel dat hier een man aan het woord is die niet helemaal deugt. Een nummer als Little Darlin’ is ongetwijfeld ironisch bedoeld, maar je denkt toch steeds dat de man méént wat hij zingt. “Little darlin’ stop your crying, I won’t hurt you no more.” Hum.
Het titelnummer getuigt dan weer van een stuitend belerend moralisme. Maar het blijft wringen – word ik hier als luisteraar in de maling genomen of meent hij het allemaal echt? Er staan echter te veel sterke nummers op dit album, en de algehele kwaliteit is zo hoog dat we hem zonder meer het voordeel van de twijfel geven.

SPOTLIGHT ARTIST Mark Fosson has a very attractive, slightly husky voice admirably suited to these 13 original songs performed acoustically. Fosson shows just how talented he is playing guitar, mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, harmonica and even the spoons. Edward Tree produces and provides some really tasty Dobro and guitar work with David Jackson handling bass and accordion, Gabe witcher fiddling and Bob Glaub picking bass. Lisa O’Kane and Sarah Coleman sing harmonies. The songs are well-crafted stories, episodes of life, that include “Old River Road”, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, “Waiting For The Sheriff” and “History Of The World”. And of course there is the superb “Jesus On A Greyhound”. An album of the month!