Published: October 2000

Guitarist Richard Leo Johnson once proclaimed, "A guitar is something to be screwed with." The Arkansas native's 1998 debut, the solo-guitar Fingertip Ship, upheld that ethos perfectly, capturing this homegrown talent - no lessons, no nuthin' - as he coaxed pristine textures from his 12-stnng with an assortment of oddball tunings and a truly formidable technique.
Language further cements his role as the current voice on 12-stnng guitar, continuing a lineage that includes Ralph Towner and Leo Kottke. Comparisons to those past masters are warranted - especially considering the appearance here of Oregon vets Paul McCandless and Glen Moore.
While songs like "Sweet Jane Thvme." which feature McCandless's all-too-recogmzable oboe. hew precariously close to Towner territory, Johnson's singular voice - the combination of fervent string hammer-ons, open-string harmonics, and arpeggiated. cascading chords - rescues these songs from imitating Oregon completely But indeed, Language flows with a similarly searching spin:, while incorporating dynamic shifts that recall Pat Metheny's As Falls Wichita album. Even John McLaughlin and Shakti are evoked in Johnson's welcome tendency to capture sub-Asian grooves with his rhythmic sensibility
More Profile >>>