THE LINEUP
A monthly look at must-hear artists from all corners of the guitar world, from the roots of their sound to the tracks that matter most
Virginia-born Mat Davidson, who goes by the name Twain for his solo work, has a long history of playing with acts such as Big Thief, The Low Anthem and The Deslondes, among others. For Noon – his most recent solo album – he puts in the work and plays guitar, keys, strings and wind instruments. Percussion and bass are performed by Austin Vaughn and Ken Woodward, so overall it’s a simple setup. “I’ve been making albums for a long time, so some practices have been well established,” Mat says. “We play live together, with no computers, only a few takes and no splicing of takes.”
Itinerant Instrument
This minimalist style links with Mat’s view of the guitar, an instrument he began exploring in his teens. “I remember learning to play Boy Named Sue [Shel Silverstein], and Love InVain [Robert Johnson],” he says. “Songs opened up a whole inner world for me, and from then on I was always carrying a guitar or some stringed instrument. [The pull was] this feeling of having a tool and travelling with it. In high school my thing was to board municipal buses at random and get lost. Or I’d hike for miles and drop down into unfamiliar towns. I’d wander around and play and meet interesting people. Having an instrument gave me a sense of belonging.”
Sweet Pickings
Mat’s guitar playing is graceful and engaging, switching from flat-picking to fingerstyle and back with ease. “I often think about how Louis Armstrong would compare musical notes to fruit on a tree – just reach out and pluck them,” he says. “It’s like that for me, except it often feels like I suddenly have no hands, or that I have a shifting numbers of fingers. I’ve been playing music for two decades and still these challenges crop up. I guess part of my style is locating the grace within any present state, no matter how hard it is to grasp the fruit.”
One &All
Mat has played in some influential outfits over the course of his career. But with his own music, he’ll sometimes play on his own and sometimes play with a full band. The variety works well for him. “I love and need both,” he says. “Music saved me from a lonely existence and now it’s teaching me how to relate to others and how to r
