A carefully curated and welcoming hostel for the most vital pilgrims on the solitary guitar scene, with its doors open to people from different spaces and times such as Nina Garcia, Bill Orcutt, Sir Richard Bishop, Gwenifer Raymonde, and Hayden Pedigo, ZDB is the home for James Blackshaw’s long-awaited return to Portugal. A celebrated name in fingerpicking, Blackshaw appeared more than two decades ago in the midst of the New Weird America era, of CDRs, impromptu encounters, and a wandering existence that was enchanting new stories to Fahey’s American Primitive through names such as Ben Chasny, Glenn Jones, and Jack Rose (RIP), revealing in that momentum a sensitivity all his own. Born in London, Blackshaw never sought to emulate the wide open spaces of the American West or the inspiration of ragga, instead tuning into the legacy of Takoma with the minimalism of Tony Conrad or Steve Reich, chamber music, and the European compositions of Debussy or Satie for his 12-string guitar.

Despite the undeniable virtuosity intrinsic to the many compositions he has been revealing, Blackshaw never lets himself be carried away by technical pizzazz, taking refuge in a sensitive sphere, full of intuition and detail. Meticulous journeys through the harmonic fabric, yet pulsating with life, in a hypnotic flow that has left blessed traces on albums for cosmically aligned labels such as Digitalis, Tompkins Square, Young God, and Important. In 2015, after the release of ‘Summoning Suns’, a luminous album that embraced his voice and true songs inspired by the songwriting and folk/pop arrangements of the 60s and 70s – strings, piano, pedal steel, and that breeze – he entered a hiatus of almost 10 years, broken in 2024 with ‘Unraveling In Your Hands’ and continued with ‘Fractures On The Horizon’. He also returns to his more hypnotic sphere, discarding the song and the more sumptuous arrangements to take on the guitar as a primary element, with space for more droney moments for organ and wind instruments, in long tours that break with the linearity of time and instinctively carry themselves to their conclusion. A welcome return.
BS