John Fahey 1939年生於美国马里兰州的 Takoma Park 市， 自1959年推出首张大碟 “Blind Joe Death” 起， 一直从事音乐创作已近40年~ John Fahey 以 acoustic 结他为创作的工具， 致力开拓结他音乐的可能性， 与 Robbie Basho 及 Leo Kottke 两位同在自家厂牌 Takoma 的结他手平分秋色， 同被视为当代最出色的乡谣结他手~然而， 这位天才横溢的音乐人， 晚年却在贫穷和疾病中度过~ 把罕有的珍藏唱片变卖， 甚至把自己赖以为生的结他典当以换取金钱过活， 都是 John Fahey 经常迫不得已所做的事~ 这位传奇音乐人最后在2001年一次手术后离世， 享年61岁~ One of acoustic music s true innovators and eccentrics， John Fahey was a crucial figure in expanding the boundaries of the acoustic guitar over the last few decades. His music was so eclectic that it s arguable whether he should be defined as a "folk" artist. In a career that saw him issue several dozen albums， he drew from blues， Native American music， Indian ragas， experimental dissonance， and pop. His good friend Dr. Demento has noted that Fahey "was the first to demonstrate that the finger-picking techniques of traditional country and blues steel-string guitar could be used to express a world of non-traditional musical ideas -- harmonies and melodies you d associate with Bartok， Charles Ives， or maybe the music of India." The more meditative aspects of his work foreshadowed new age music， yet Fahey played with a fierce imagination and versatility that outshone any of the guitarists in that category. His idiosyncrasy may have limited him to a cult following， but it also ensured that his work continues to sound fresh.Fahey was a colorful figure from the time he became an accomplished guitarist in his teens. Already a collector of rare early blues and country music， he made his first album in 1959， ascribing part of it to the pseudonymous "Blind Joe Death." Only 95 copies of the LP were pressed， making it a coveted collector s item today. (In the 1960s， Fahey would re-record the material for wider circulation.) In college， he wrote a thesis on Charley Patton (an exotic subject at the time). Yet Fahey did not perform publicly for money until the mid- 60s， after his third album.