Thomas Oliver is one extremely seriously talented bloke.
Thomas is perhaps slightly better known for the band that bears his name (The Thomas Oliver Band – who incidentally won the “iTunes Best Blues & Roots Album of 2011” award for their debut album Baby, I’ll Play), but he is also an incredible player of the Weissenborn lap-slide guitar.
The Weissenborn is a brand of lap-slide guitar manufactured by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s, bought back into the public consciousness by Ben Harper.
This collection of suburb instrumentals is entitled Beneath The Weissenborn and is, by all accounts, the world’s first full-length, all instrumental, all Weissenborn album.
Like so many projects, what started as a single instrumental became a collection for an EP, and blossomed into a full length record.
Despite some clever use of sound effects, and on the last bonus where there are other instruments and vocals used, the entire record is made using Weissenborns.
An album recorded purely on one instrument can quickly become monotonous but this is far from the case with this effort, as none of the tracks are overly long, or out stay their welcome as the haunting voice of the guitar resonates extraordinarily.
This is an extremely beautiful record, crafted on an extremely beautiful instrument with an extremely beautiful voice that Thomas Oliver should be extremely proud of and one that should be taken very seriously by fans of not just the Weissenborn lap steel guitar, but fans of good music all over the globe.
About the author blues.bass
I’m a Blues Bass Player. I’m not a Jazz player. I’m definitely not a Rock player who doesn’t know better. And I’m pretty sure there’s a difference. I’m a Blues Bass Player. I don’t mean to offend anybody, but that’s the way I feel about it and I’m working hard to try and make sure you can hear the difference in my playing. I love the blues, and I’m talking blues the way it used to be played… Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor to name but a few. This is the music that can make you laugh, make you happy, make you dance, and yep… even cry… sometimes all at the same time. Ask me to mention the name of a blues guitarist and I’ll be telling you Hubert Sumlin, B.B. or Albert King or Buddy Guy. By favourite
