I’ve been blown away by this guy’s YouTube videos lately (link is to his rendition of Pat Donohue’s funny parody of “Would You Like to Swing on a Star”, but do check out his other vids). Not only is he an accomplished acoustic guitarist, but he also seems to have a fine voice and supplies some interesting “liner notes” to the eclectic mix of old-time and folk-rock songs that he performs.
I say “seems” to have a good voice because you never actually see his face. Each video is a just close-up of his hands on the guitar. It doesn’t look like he’s singing in the videos, so I guess he records the vocals and guitar separately. Certainly, the overall quality of recording is well above usual YouTube bedroom guitarist standards. But it’s the same person singing in every video, and the songs are varied and sometimes obscure, so it seems unlikely that he has faked the vocals.
There’s much speculation in the YT comments about the identity of the mystery man (best guess so far probably Leon Redbone, but I don’t think it’s him). Understandable, because he is surely too good to be just some guy who likes playing old tunes, as his modest YouTube profile seems to make out. His guitar playing is impressive, with the sort of unflashy ease you’d expect of a pro, although he does throw in the odd blistering lick every now and then. He lists Long Island as his location - any Dopers in that area familiar with local acoustic guitar scene? Do you recognise the voice or the style?
