Preston has a gig at Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh on Saturday 1st of December 2001

Artist's Biography by Rob Adams:


Preston Reed is a guitarist of many parts - so many parts that when he brings 
them all into play, first-time listeners often find it impossible  to believe that 
they're hearing just the one musician, in real time. 

At full tilt, Reed's fingers, thumbs, fists and hands at once suggest a 
drummer, keyboardist, bassist and several guitarists at work. It's a 
dizzying, exhilarating phenomenon. A portrait of the acoustic guitar as 
full-on heavy metal band. 

But impressions of rock bands - and high speed trains and duelling, pulling 
tractors - are only one side of Reed. While acknowledging that somewhere 
inside him there is a screaming electric guitarist pacing like a caged lion, 
Reed is also a player of deep sensitivity who can compose and play a blues or 
a ballad with a touch reminiscent of his great jazz piano-playing hero, Bill 
Evans.

Reed's entry into this guitar odyssey was inauspicious enough, his path 
thereafter largely self-discovered. A few chords learned from his guitar 
playing father, a brief, very brief, flirtation with the ukulele, clandestine 
practice sessions of his favourite Beatles and Stones songs on dad's guitar 
.... and then a too-strict classical guitar teacher led to premature 
retirement. 

At 16, however, Reed heard Jefferson Airplane's rootsy blues offshoot, Hot 
Tuna. His interest was rekindled big time. Acoustic guitar heroes John Fahey 
and Leo Kottke were studied, their styles absorbed but not imitated, and at 
this point things really begin to get interesting because, at 17, Reed, by 
now precociously proficient, played his first live gig, supporting beat poet 
Allen Ginsberg at the Smithsonian Institution.

Just getting on a train from his native Armonk in New York state to 
Washington was a cool adventure. And it was just the first of many, not least 
of which was the one which resulted from his signing his first deal with a 
major record company, MCA, through the auspices of his friend, country 
singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett. 

Determined to make the most of this opportunity, Reed pushed himself to go 
beyond the standard fingerpicking styles he'd perfected. The result was the 
beginnings of the startlingly innovative style, with its percussive, 
two-handed fretboard attack, that you hear today and which has caused guitar 
luminaries such as Al DiMeola and the late Michael Hedges to describe Reed as 
"phenomenal" and "inspiring".

Reed's compositional talents extend to film soundtracks and prestigious 
commissions for the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, and as well as appearances 
alongside Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt his major performances include an 
historic live satellite broadcast on Turkish National Television in 1997 with 
renowned saz player and composer Arif Sag which reached an audience of 120 
million in 17 countries, prompting a flood of international telephone calls 
to the station from stunned viewers.

Since 1979, he has recorded thirteen albums and three videos and charmed 
audiences on three continents. He continues to tour with the same hunger and 
relish that informs his guitar playing and he gives regular workshops where 
he passes on the techniques he has developed for extending the acoustic 
guitar's possibilities. The secret, he says, is to relax and let the guitar 
patterns run by themselves. Which explains how, at full tilt, he may sound 
like a full-on heavy metal band but he still won't have broken sweat. 

If you're a musician or any kind of performer or a business and you'd like to 
a have a biography or profile written, please contact Rob Adams at: rabadams@aol.com