Yes, two Sundays in a row at the ratty bookstore. Full disclosure, this show was the one on the calendar. Allred is a guitarist of the American Primitive variety. Think John Fahey or Michael Hedges, dexterous, acoustic, largely wordless concise songs. Allred was portly with a W.B. Mason mustache, looked more like barbershop quartet material. He played acoustic 12 string guitar. The sound is beautiful, but I feel for the artist because they seem to spend half their time tuning. First song was about groundhogs that lived under his porch, another was named after a river in North Carolina. Another close view of an amazing instrument, Allred picked with his thumb but used all other fingers to pluck, it sounded like multiple guitars on stage. He had a folksy drawl, but I think is located near Boston. It is amazing how this instrument can shapeshift genres. At times there were Carnatic microtones, like Indian ragas, others leaned toward Arabic scales. The final lengthy tune was informed by work Allred had done with Syrian, Yemeni, and Palestinian pickers. He teared up when trying to talk about the current state of affairs in Gaza. Joseph may have looked and sounded like a country bumpkin, but it was obvious he was a reader and cultural student of music. Always happy to support an outsider playing this underrated style of music.
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