Pittsburgh-based Mike Tamburo has been an increasingly prolific presence on the underground scene since the late 1990s, initially with the groups Meisha and Arco Flute Foundation, more recently as a solo
artist. While his previous bands mostly operated in a space-rock/ambient post-rock territory, Mike's solo work usually begins with the acoustic guitar; inspired by American folk traditions (via John Fahey and the like), he expands outward to include influences from avant-garde to noise to modern compositional music. His most recent CD Ghosts of Marumbey (Music Fellowship, 2006)
included everything from solo acoustic guitar to sculpted walls of rock noise, all assembled using advanced compositional technique and large-scale vision, and was deservedly named to a number of "best of 2006" critics' lists. A Tamburo performance often includes both subtle fingerpicked guitar and swirling walls of sound generated by a raft of effects, and is always a very transportive experience. Tamburo also runs the New American Folk Hero label, which continues to release an
eclectic roster of creative and experimental musics.
http://www.myspace.com/tamburo
Tusk Lord is the recording vehicle of New Kensington, PA native Mike Kasunic, and the perfectly titled “Familiar Trails” is the first widely available release I’ve heard under the name to date. Coming to us courtesy of Mike Tamburo’s New American Folk Hero, Kasunic fits in well among the eclectic roster of experimental noise and primitive sound artists that NAFH has come to exemplify. Like label owner Tamburo, Kasunic combines distortion and drone with rustling acoustic ragas that prove highly worthy of your time if enraptured by the current (free) folk renaissance and the new noise scene at the same time.
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