In Search Of Blind Joe Death - The Saga of John Fahey

A documentary film in development.

Photo courtesy of Paul Kelly and The John Fahey Trust

John Fahey was a legendary musician who is known as the father of American Primitive Guitar. John Fahey’s music transcends the boundaries of past musical traditions and creates a complex musical dialogue with his steel stringed guitar. His influences came from the Mississippi Delta, the Appalachian Mountains, Brazil, India and beyond. Born in Washington, DC in 1939 and raised in Takoma Park, Maryland, Fahey bought his first guitar for 17 dollars at Sears & Roebuck at 13 years old to pick up girls. Fahey usually played solo guitar, but his catalogue of recordings also reveals a rich musical tapestry with New Orleans jazz bands, orchestras of other stringed instruments and ambient sound. John Fahey died in Salem, Oregon in 2001. It is time to consider his enduring, singular musical contribution in a feature documentary film.

American Primitive Guitar, a term Fahey often mocked, has been defined as untutored guitar playing, similar to the term used for primitive painters. Fahey himself learned how to play by listening to finger picking blues artists of the 1920s and 30s, imitating their technique and then inventing his own style. A common man playing simple roots music with an extraordinary gift, Fahey was able to take elements from the past and transport them into the future. Fahey helped introduce southern American blues greats to a worldwide audience. Fahey’s book about Charley Patton remains an influential study of an American musical original. Fahey continues to influence a panoply of diverse musicians; some of the biggest names in blues, contemporary classical, jazz and rock ‘n roll credit John Fahey as an inspiration.

For more on the film check out the dedicated site www.johnfaheyfilm.com

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