DAVID LINDLEY INTERVIEW
(Originally aired on November 27, 2008)
Few guitarists transcend genre and style, but David Lindley has made a career of it. Widely acclaimed for his deft touch, fat tones and nasty grooves, Lindley defies categorization. He plays reggae, yet also wails on oud. A slide virtuoso — and hero to Ben Harper, Sonny Landreth, Bonnie Raitt and Ry Cooder — Lindley is also adept on tenor banjo, bouzouki, chumbush and saz. He can flatpick Appalachian melodies, riff for days using Persian and Arabic microtonal scales or weave twangy, toe-tapping tunes from strands of Delta blues, Hawaiian steel, gospel and cajun music. When it comes to mutant string music, Lindley reigns supreme.
In our exclusive interview, Lindley describes his studio techniques, and how he customized a bouzouki so he could play Middle Eastern scales and melodies.