Chicago
Reader
December 5, 2000
by David Whiteis
Acoustic guitarist Preston Reed practices a flamboyant
"self-invented" style, characterized by percussive
techniques and simultaneous rhythm and melody lines that
dance and ricochet around each other. He has precise,
note-by-note control of his timbre, whether hammering on the
fretboard with both hands, fingerpicking, or blending the
two in a deft, contrapuntal dialogue that flickers between a
dry pizzicato and deep, chimelike resonance. And in the
spaces between notes, he sometimes thumps, knocks, and taps
on the instrument's body, creating layered patterns that can
mimic a hand drum or a full trap kit.
The most impressive thing about
Reed's technique, though, is that it doesn't draw attention
to itself -- though his current CD, the self-released
Handwritten Notes, is a series of instrumentals for
solo steel-string guitar, they're far from abstract
virtuosic displays; even without lyrics he creates vivid,
engrossing scenes. Sometimes the effect is almost
onomatopoetic: on "Tractor Pull" he begins with muted,
churning low-end patterns, then climbs into the upper
registers, throwing off brilliant harmonics that glisten
like droplets of water -- you can almost see a souped-up
truck spinning its wheels in the mud. At other times he
communicates more metaphorically: "Crossing Open Water,"
unsurprisingly, is a graceful, undulating piece, but Reed
doesn't just drift along; instead he makes a series of
purposeful changes in tempo, tone, and density, like a
sailing ship tacking against the wind. "The Groove Is Real"
alternates choppy chords and guitar slaps with fingerpicked
passages that boil and billow like thunderheads, segueing so
smoothly and rapidly that the two seem to overlap - the
punchy rhythms echo in your head even after he's switched to
the lead parts. And "After a Rain," played entirely on the
neck, weaves together so many independent patterns that I
can't isolate them all -- you get the feeling that, were it
physically possible, he'd play a separate line with each
finger.