Homespun

Mississippi John Hurt is an icon in the blues and folk pantheon, a much-beloved songster with a rich and varied alternating-bass fingerpicking style. In another stellar lesson for Homespun, Rainer Brunn performs, then meticulously teaches, his versions of four of John Hurt’s best-known songs: Sliding Delta; Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home; Frankie and Albert; and the ever-popular Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor.

Rainer plays Sliding Delta out of the E position and features syncopated hammer-ons, alternating bass notes, chord voicings up the neck, and a recurring passage out of the first position that can be applied to numerous other songs.

The deceptively simple Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home features slides, hammer-ons, and alternating bass notes in the picking hand. Playing out of the C position, Poor Boy has a steady rocking eighth note feel with syncopated treble notes winding throughout. (Rainer also adds a more accessible alternative accompaniment for less experienced pickers.)

For the perennial favorite Frankie and Albert, Rainer drops his E and A strings down a whole step to create a partial open G tuning. This rollicking version has a recurring hammered note that drives the rhythm, complimented by a solo featuring pull-offs, alternate positions up the neck and other interesting chord voicings. 

Concluding with Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor, Rainer adds some of his own mojo to this Mississippi John classic. Besides the usual hammer-ons, syncopated notes, and other elements of country blues, he constructs a dynamic solo up the neck that will excite any blues guitar enthusiast or aspiring fingerpicker.