“The Guitar Is an Endless Exploration”: Acoustic Legend Peter Rowan Looks Back on a Lifetime in Music

From its traditional roots through the progressive movement and onto the modern landscape, Peter Rowan weaves a tapestry of his 60-year career.

He has never been flashy. He is a subtle guitar hero, renowned for his artistic rhythm accompaniment, full of meaningful bass runs, and set the stage for his signature vocals.

As a flatpicker or fingerpicker, he has played alongside as many acoustic greats as anyone who has ever donned a guitar.

Bill Monroe’s banjo in the bluegrass Boys is one of the most popular banjos of all time.

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Since Old & In the Way made him a star on the jam-band scene, he has been celebrating it on tour. He presented a performance on the Grandstand stage at the High Sierra Music Festival.

He was born on the 4th of July. He is still sharp as a tack and cutting tracks with his quintet. The current prince and princess of bluegrass, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, are two of the four lovely and diverse songs on the new album, called calling You From My Mountain.

The Free Mexican Airforce and Big Twang Theory are both on tour, as well as performing solo acoustic.

What makes you want to play the guitar again after a long time?

Flamenco, Hawaiian slack key, and the blues are just some of the guitar’s own languages.

When I was young, my uncle taught me a few songs on the ukulele.

For a long time, I’ve been thinking about the song “bye Bye Blackbird.” The way I hear passing chords is influenced by that song. Cotten wrote the book “Freight Train.”

I started out by strumming in a Buddy Holly style on a Telecaster with my rockabilly band, the Cupids, but when I was about 15 years old, I was touched by her lyrics and songs.

When I was about 15 and heard Libba Cotten, I was touched by her lyrical fingerpicking and wonderful songs

My father bought me an 0-17. I was able to get started as an acoustic fingerpicker.

Everything changed for me when I heard Lightnin’Hopkins.

I covered the song “Penitentiary Blues” on my new album. I didn’t have the experience to be a blues man.

I used to go to a store in Harvard Square where you could listen in a booth. I heard the connection to Lead Belly and the blues when I listened to Bill Monroe’s “In the Pines,” but I felt closer to it culturally, so I decided to go with a bluegrass approach.

I started flatpicking after putting aside fingerpicking.

You were a member of Bill Monroe’s band by 1963. What did he say to you that caught your attention?

The importance of rhythm guitar was shown to me by Bill Monroe. The man who taught him to play guitar was a black man named Arnold Shultz.

The bass runs are a unique feature of bluegrass guitar. It goes all the way back to people like Eddie Lang, who was the father of jazz guitar.

The unique thing about bluegrass guitar is the bass runs. That goes all the way back to people like Eddie Lang

From the style I play right up to Billy Strings, that is what bluegrass does. The way it lifts from the bass run is the beauty.

Bass runs became a big thing for me because I spent so much time playing rhythm guitars.

What are you doing now as a rhythm guitarist?

I still play bluegrass with my fingers. In order to keep the continuity between the blues and Hawaiian music and fingerpicking, I went back to the way that Carter Stanley and Lester Flatt played bluegrass rhythm guitar, which is with a thumbpick and one or two fingerpicks.

I can use that method to play the song “Freight Train” and the song “Panama Red” at the same time.

Do you have the most guitars under your hand?

The guitar I played on the new album was made for me by someone else. It is a dreadnought made out of koa for the Hawaiian sound.

I got a bunch of trades on my old Martin 000-28 and wrote a lot of songs on it. The guitar with the most beautiful sound is that one. The Hot Rize Martin dreadnought was inherited by me.

A lifetime achievement award for my longstanding relationship with them is being built for me by the company. The troubadour model 0000-28 has all sorts of inlay designs.

The first person to buy a triple 0 was me. His first two guitars were based on vintage Martins.

The other was a dreadnought. I still have the triple 0 that I purchased and the dreadnought that was given to me.

A Martin D-18GE Golden Era is the main acoustic I use on the road. The sound has come in really well. The D-18 is an all- accomplishing instrument. It is great forflatpicking bluegrass.

What has your approach changed?

I think of bluegrass guitar as a light touch. When I was with Bill Monroe, I let the instrument speak and not worry about it. There was only one way to go in my mind at the time. He would look askance whenever I lightened up.

Let the instrument speak, rather than bearing down on it hard

It is easier to sing using the thumbpick and fingerpicks now. I can care for the strings with my fingers because there’s no pressure on my arm.

Fingerpicking is basically a downward stroke on the thumb and a backwards strum on the forefinger, which is interesting because flamenco uses a rasgueado to do that.

The second half of the motion begins with a downward strum and goes backwards from the high strings to the low strings.

I still listen to flamenco music with my friend Carlos. I like to play the guitar with a more delicate touch to allow the singing to come out a little more.

Is it possible to talk to Tony Rice?

Tony’s touch was so light that it was really beautiful.

Tony didn’t try to take a lot of extensive solo when he was singing When he had throat problems, his guitar playing came to the forefront.

What was it like to have him join you?

His guitar accompaniment is inspiring because of his use of suspension and passing. The pressures of touring make it hard to do things.

So much is possible on the guitar

I would use more open tunings if I could live over there. We were able to manage a few. There is a song called “Shirt Off My Back” which is in the key of D.

My love is trying to tie those runs in with the passing chords in emotional ways, not just playing them in a slick way.

It’s a classic example. I love playing that song because it settles us into a traditional thing. The definitive statement of the G run pattern can be found in the run Jimmy Martin used. It’s still difficult. You get so nervous that it is easy to make a mistake.

When you land on the B string instead of the G, it is known as the “Uncle Pen” mistake.

What makes the music of Old & In the Way so special to so many people today?

The weight of JerryGarcia’s spiritual intent is carried by him. Despite mortality, the spiritual intent is eternal.

Jerry Garcia is immortal

How did you end up playing the 1943 Martin D-28?

He had a guitar at home. I only had a triple 0 back then. He asked if he wanted to play this one. It is an unmistakable guitar with a great sound and that is the one on all of the Old and In the Way stuff.

I was able to play that guitar through the foundation a few months ago and it sounded great.

Billy Strings was in the studio with me. The back and sides of Jerry’s guitar are the same color as the Brazilian Rosewood that he just bought.

The wood on my record from Billy Strings is from the same wood pile as the one used by JerryGarcia.

Billy Strings is all over the place. What do you think about his play?

He plays for emotion and not flash. I didn’t want him for his solo skills. He played a great rhythm guitar while we played the tunes. He filled in some of Tony Rice’s patterns in his runs.

Emotion is what strikes me about Molly Tuttle

He puts into his playing the feeling of an Irish song. Billy played the music that I wanted.

Is it possible that Molly Tuttle contributed?

Molly Tuttle also has emotion in her. When she came into the studio and sang the title cut, she didn’t try to sing it with a bluegrass style, instead she sang with something that is the essence of Molly Tuttle, which is moving to me.

She has a voice that strikes me. It is not cliché at all. She played a clawhammer banjo on a song called “The Red, the White, and the Blue”.

I enjoy playing bluegrass for a wide audience. The only thing we were doing with Old & In the Way was play the music. We practiced for the joy of doing it.

After that, the idea of playing came to mind. The band has the same happiness. A bunch of tour posters and merchandise are not fabrications. We are a bluegrass band and nothing else has ever been.

Peter Rowan’s calling you from my mountain is available here.