The Spirit of John Fahey: three of the famed Takoma Seven guitar masters come to Hermosa Beach
Toulouse Engelhardt, the South Bay’s own guitar maestro, is one of the three Takoma Records label mates reuniting for The Spirit of John Fahey Tour. Courtesy photo
by Whitney Youngs
In 1959, fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey founded Takoma Records by pressing 100 copies of an album from a recording at St. Michael’s and All Angels Church in Adelphi, Maryland. Fahey funded the release of “Blind Joe Death” with the saved wages from his gas station attendant job and a loan from an Episcopalian priest.
Imprecisely labeled a folk musician, Fahey, who died in 2001, was a classical guitar player and originated a genre known as American primitive guitar. Fahey, by way of Takoma Records, signed guitar players with comparable fingerpicking virtuosity: Peter Lang, Rick Ruskin, Leo Kottke, Mike Auldridge, Robbie Basho, Max Ochs, and Toulouse Engelhardt.
“The person [Fahey] I dealt with was eccentric, intelligent, talented, and sensitive, yet at times could and would show the exact opposite characteristics,” recalls Ruskin.
Former Takoma Records label mates — Lang, Ruskin, and Engelhardt — recently took to the road to pay homage to Fahey, gigging along the West Coast in the The Takoma Records Guitar Masters: Spirit of John Fahey Tour. The trio will stop off at Hermosa Beach’s Saint Rocke in early April.
“John never fell to the pressure of the music industry and he wanted to start a label that specialized in American traditional music, specifically for solo guitar,” explains Engelhardt. “John gave us a chance to express ourselves in this unique art form, so we are totally indebted to him. It changed our lives.”
Peter Ruskin.
Engelhardt got the idea of a tour over the last couple of years and reconnected with Lang and Ruskin. The shows feature all three guitarists sharing the stage, playing songs, and telling tales of Fahey.
“Today we have a whole new group: the millennials. They are going back and discovering us and buying vinyl copies,” adds Engelhardt. “It’s been so much fun to be recognized by a whole other generation of listeners who are my kids’ age.”
Engelhardt grew up in Palos Verdes just as the South Bay surf music scene was taking off. He came of age in a time when Eddie & the Showmen rehearsed in a garage down the street and he could hear the music from his parents’ backyard.
Ruskin, a native of Detroit, began playing the guitar in 1962 and two years later, still in junior high school, opened for the Reverend Gary Davis. Ruskin now lives in Seattle and owns Lion Dog Music. He first met Fahey in McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica.
“Our introduction came about after nearly tripping over him as I turned left at the front counter where he had been lying on the floor,” recalls Ruskin.
Discovered by Fahey in 1972, Lang became an accomplished acoustic player, earning a Grammy nomination and recording with Ry Cooder, Jerry Garcia, Emmylou Harris, and Keith Jarrett, among others.
“John created his own a small corner of culture and invited like-minded artists to join his label,” says Lang. “If it had not been for John, I would probably be sitting in a cubicle, waiting to collect my gold watch and pension. In the face of adversity John never bent, broke, or compromised his art. My association with John changed my life forever and for the better.”
Lang took a hiatus from music in the 1980s to pursue his passion for animation and special effects production. He returned to music in the late 1990s and recorded and released a couple of albums in the early 2000s, including “Dharma Blues” in 2002. This tour marks his first since 2008.
“The opportunity to get out on the road again with such talented guitarists is a true joy for me,” says Lang. “I sincerely hope we will have a chance to do this again.”
The Spirit of John Fahey Tour with Peter Lang, Rick Ruskin and Toulouse Engelhardt will stop at Saint Rocke on Sunday, April 3. $15 in advance, $20 at the door. See SaintRocke.com for tickets and more information.