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Corey Christianson Creates Contemporary Cowboy Tunes

  Is the guitar today’s universal instrument? Actually, the voice is our first and most universal instrument, but the guitar could follow shortly behind it. In permutations from the oud to the cittern, zither, bouzouki and many others, portable stringed instruments are easy to transport and play while singing. These instruments including today’s modern guitars are versatile in all styles of music. 

Credit coreychristiansen.com
Corey Christiansen's Lone Prairie is now available on Origin Records

This morning’s 89.1 Jazz premiere, Lone Prairie by guitarist Corey Christiansen is an excellent example of the guitar’s flexibility and the way the repertoire continues to develop. Corey Christiansen has been on the WEMU playlist for years, generally in a mainstream jazz, swing or organ combo concept. Lone Prairie is a delightful new direction for Mr. Christiansen which is actually a return to his earliest musical form. He revisits the cowboy songs of his youth in the mountains of Southern Utah. His tune selection is intriguing. Streets Of Laredo, El Paso, Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie and Red River Valley are some of the county classics that Christian casts through a modern jazz lens.

With three originals and original musical minds such as pianist Steve Allee and drummer Matt Jorgensen assisting, Lone Prairie is a top-notch jazz recording of essential American music. Christiansen has studied important many American guitar masters: George Van Eps, Charlie Christian, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessell and Johnny Smith and their devotees such as Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. He puts this history together with personal prowess and sincere appreciation for his material to present a probing, yet intimate listening experience with Lone Prairie.

Linda Yohn simply cannot remember a day in her life that was not filled with music. Her early life was full of changes as the daughter of a well-respected cancer research scientist who moved his family about, but one thing was constant: the love of music instilled by her mother. So, when it seemed life was too hard to bear, young Linda would listen to her radio, play her guitar, dance her heart out and sing at the top of her lungs. So, it isn’t so strange that “older” Linda still does all those things!
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