Friday, September 27, 2013
JACK ROSE (February 16, 1971 – December 5, 2009) was
an American guitarist originally from Virginia and
later based in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Rose is best known for his solo
acoustic guitar work. He was also a member of the noise/drone band Pelt.
In 1993, Jack
Rose joined the noise/drone band Pelt with Michael Gangloff and Patrick Best.
The trio, sometimes joined by friends including Mikel Dimmick and Jason Bill
(also of Charalambides), released more than a dozen albums and a handful of
minor releases primarily on the VHF Records and Eclipse Records labels
as well as the band's own Klang imprint. The group toured steadily in the U.S.
and referenced the work ethic of the Grateful Dead in the title of
their album Rob's Choice. Notable tourmates included Harry
Pussy,Charalambides and the Shadow Ring and opened for Sonic
Youth. In Pelt, Rose played a variety of instruments, primarily electric
guitar. During the late 90s, Pelt began to play acoustic folk-derived material,
and Rose began to perform on acoustic guitar. Byron Coley wrote a
feature on the group for the magazine The Wire, calling them "the
Hillbilly Theater of Eternal Music." In late 1999, when Rose was
fired from his job at a coffee shop and was able to collect unemployment
insurance, he concentrated on acoustic guitar playing and developed rapidly. He
first released two CD-Rs, Hung Far Low, Portland, Oregon and Doctor
Ragtime, which featured a mix of country blues andragtime.
These releases were composed of original and traditional songs, including
covers of songs by fingerpicking guitarists John Faheyand Sam McGee .
His first proper full-length, Red Horse, White Mule, (named after
brands of moonshine mentioned on a best-selling sermon of the late
20s, "The Black Diamond Express Train to Hell" by Rev. A.W. Nix) was
released on vinyl by Eclipse Records in 2002.
Jack Rose was a prolific recording artist in his relatively short
solo career, with albums, EPs, and compilation tracks on no fewer than ten
record labels. He gained a new level of public exposure upon his inclusion
on Devendra Banhart's sold-out Golden Apples of the Suncompilation
in 2004.
Rose's first three consecutive releases on Eclipse Records—Red
Horse, White Mule (2002), Opium Musick (2003),
and Raag Manifestos(2004)—were met with praise by critics and
contemporaries alike. "Finally," said Ben Chasny of Six
Organs of Admittance, referring toOpium Musick in an interview
with Pitchfork, "somebody has something to say on the acoustic guitar
that hasn't been said before."
Raag Manifestos was named one of 2004's
"50 Records of the Year" by the UK avant garde music magazine The
Wire in January 2005, following a feature on him in
issue #241. Rose's rise in popularity in the UK during that time coincided
with his Peel Session on May 20, 2004.
In 2005 he released Kensington Blues on Tequila
Sunrise records. Featuring ragtime, ragas, country blues and lap
steel, the record earned high marks from Pitchfork and Dusted
Magazine. "Kensington Blues is a really hard record to
live up to," Rose told Foxy Digitalis in a 2007
interview. He went on to express doubts about some of his other material
released around that period of time. "With everyone putting out so much
stuff, I mean you’ve gotta have new product all the time, it's kind of a
drag," he continued. "I hate to sound like a total capitalist here...
but when you’re on tour you need to have something to sustain you."
His recorded collaborators outside of Pelt were infrequent but
include Jason Bill of Charalambides, Donald Miller of Borbetomagus, Glenn
Jones of Cul de Sac, Ian Nagoski and Keenan Lawler. In
2008, he reunited with Pelt members and other musicians including Micah
Blue Smaldone on his album Dr. Ragtime and His Pals.
He released two live LPs on Three Lobed Recordings, I
Do Play Rock And Roll (2008) and The Black Dirt Sessions (2009),
receiving positive reviews from Brainwashed and Pitchfork. TheWooden
Guitar compilation on Locust Music was issued on vinyl for
the first time in 2009 and almost immediately went out of print.
With the exception of his first two CD-R releases, all of his
music has been available on vinyl, often in limited editions. His Dr.
Ragtime 78, for example, was produced in an edition of only 6 copies,
with one selling for $500 as part of a benefit auction on eBay. Some
of his more popular releases such as Kensington Blues have
been re-pressed on vinyl in open editions.
Jack Rose and The Black Twig Pickers, his
ninth LP, was released in May 2009. An appearance on the 7"
compilation Meet the Philly Elite and a tour-only 7" on
the Great Pop Supplement followed.
Rose died on the morning of December 5, 2009 from an
apparent heart attack. He was buried at West Laurel Hill
Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Luck In The Valley, Rose's final LP, was released
posthumously on February 23, 2010 by Thrill Jockey Records. The record was
the third installment of what Jack self-deprecatingly referred to as his “Ditch
Trilogy.” The album received an 8.2 on Pitchfork and featured Glenn Jones,
Harmonica Dan, and pianist Hans Chew on most of the session.
In late April 2010, Three Lobed Recordings curated and released
the digital compilation Honest Strings: A Tribute To The Life And Work
Of Jack Rose, with all proceeds going to Rose's estate.
Rose's final recording, an electrified 4 song collaboration with
D. Charles Speer & The Helix called Ragged and Right was
released on June 15, 2010 as part of Thrill Jockey's singles
club. The EP was recorded at Black Dirt Studios with Jason Meagher.
Rose's compositions were mostly for 6-string guitar, 12-string
guitar, and Weissenborn-style lap steel guitar. He often employed open
tunings.
He was compared to guitarists on the Takoma label from
the 1960s, including American primitive guitarist John Fahey, Robbie
Basho and former Vanguard recording artist and eventual touring
partner Peter Walker.
Rose cited Charley Patton, Blind Blake, John Fahey, Robbie
Basho, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and, in later years, Link Wray as
influences.
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