Jack Rose – R.I.P.
Jack Rose – Dark Was The Night
Jack Rose started playing acoustic guitar as a teenager in Fredericksburg, Va. He especially liked the fingerpicking of Mississippi John Hurt and Bukka White. But Rose switched to electric guitar in high school, after a guitar teacher told him, “That’s where the money is.” As if to prove him wrong, Rose joined a drone-rock band called Pelt.
Rose moved to Philadelphia in 1998. He worked a series of day jobs at record stores and restaurants. He’d been listening to John Fahey, the father of the American Primitive school of acoustic guitar music. So, pushing 30, Rose sold his electric guitar and went about re-learning the acoustic.
Random selections from Luck In The Valley – Jack Rose album release party and memorial concert – Philadelphia 2.13.10 – Meg Baird, Glenn Jones, Michael Chapman, Byron Coley – WE MISS YOU JACK!!
“I hadn’t played finger-style for like 15 years,” Rose said. “I knew if I was going to be any good at it, I’d have to not work and work on it exclusively. So when I got unemployment, I was getting a check every week. That afforded me the time to explore it and work on my skills, and become good at it.”
It didn’t take long for Rose to get better, says music journalist Byron Coley, who knew him for 15 years.
Interview Continues here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123861353
Heroes of Indie Music 