Phillip Henry (5)

True North : Ten years of travels with a slide guitar Ten years ago this January I set off on a solo journey to Kolkata. I was going to study under the slide guitar master Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya. Prior to this I had moved out to the Devon countryside, living in a variety of tents and caravans, dedicating myself to exploring the real essence of slide guitar. I have always been interested in the slide guitar as a solo instrument. These arrangements aim to highlight the special ability of the slide guitar to sing to the soul; its vocal quality combined with the guitar’s depth of range and chordal nature lend its sound to unaccompanied settings of both instrumentals and songs. I have used the pieces on this record to explore the many facets of the instrument and the range of its capabilities. The tracks are recorded live in the studio, though I get a little assistance in realising some of the arrangements from a foot powered shruti box, foot percussion, and on Reverence, a hand fan with feathers attached to create a drone on the sympathetic strings. I returned from my Indian travels with the Chaturangui - a remarkable 22 string instrument designed by my teacher Debashish. This marked the beginning of a decade of travels with slide guitars... more