Mark Johnson and Emory Lester – Acoustic Vision
Acoustic Vision completes the trilogy of earlier critically acclaimed CD’s Acoustic Campaign and Acoustic Rising released by Mark Johnson and Emory Lester.
The second release Acoustic Rising, on the Crossroads/Mountain Home label was nominated for the IBMA Instrumental Album of the Year award at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee in 2007.
We featured a post in early 2009 on Mark’s release of his Homespun Banjo Instruction DVD. His trademark technique, which he calls Clawgrass, combines the percussive, foot-tapping rhythm of old-time clawhammer with the complex, driving rolls of Scruggs style.
Emory Lester is one of today’s foremost exponents of the acoustic mandolin. The power and attack of his mandolin playing are unmatched, and his sound is infectious. His recording projects Pale Rider, The Emory Lester Set and Cruisin’ the 8 have placed him among the elite mandolinists of our time. His brand new recording Reminiscing Today showcases Emory’s musical creativity, and skill as a mandolinist /multi-instrumentalist.
Mark Johnson hangs his hat in Florida but learned his trade from Jay Unger while living in New York. Mark didn’t know that Jay was a highly accomplished fiddler who also tinkered with the clawhammer style of banjo. It was in the early 1970s, that Mark learned from this consummate fiddler the basic technique of clawhammer banjo. He also learned the three-finger style of bluegrass picking as his familiarity with the instrument unfolded.
You can listen to samples of the album below:
Forever True – Forever True
Brown Mountain Light – Brown Mountain Light
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