American Primitivism
American Primitivism , also known as American Primitive Guitar, is a genre of guitar music initiated by John Fahey in the late 1950s. Fahey's trademarks were his avant-garde - / neoclassical -compositions, played in traditional bluegrass - fingerpicking style. Other famous musicians of this direction were Leo Kottke , Robbie Basho and Peter Lang ; all of them also released on Fahey's label Takoma Records at some point in their careers .
Contemporary guitarists influenced by American Primitivism include Sir Richard Bishop , Steffen Basho-Junghans , Jack Rose and Daniel Bachman .
Quote
“The New Age people call it folk; the folk people call it New Age, in reality it is neither. It is transcending. The style derives from the country blues and string band music of the 20s and 30s, but much of the music is contemporary. Fahey referred to it as 'American Primitive' after the 'French Primitive' painters, which means something like unskilled. "