by Jay Steiner
John Pearse is one of the last players of what Alan Lomax
called the Piedmont guitar style - a style made famous by
such players as Libba Cotten and Mississippi John Hurt.
He learned the basics fom Big Bill Broonzy during Broonzy's
European tour in 1957 and has refined it over the years, adding
elements from Jazz, West African High Life music and the Caipira
music of Brazil.
The Piedmont style is typified by a finger-picked, syncopated
melody line played against a rocking bass line provided by
the thumb. John plays many traditional tunes in this style,
but, in addition, he has refined and developed it to include
dazzling single-string runs played solely by the thumb and
complex Ragtime melodies in which the bass line weaves a sinuous
counterpoint against the finger-played melody. His style is
totally unique and totally captivating.
Throughout the sixties and the early seventies he was much
in demand in London as both a studio musician and a record
producer for both Capitol and Warner Brothers. He also wrote
and presented the first ever series of televised guitar lessons,
for the BBC, and traveled through Africa filming a series
of wildlife programmes in the Sudan, Mali, Togo, Burkino Faso,
and Botswana.
It was around this time that he began to develop and market
the eponymous brand of music strings that have made his name
known internationally and to design instruments and accessories
for such companies as Rose Morris, Rosetti, Hopf, and Aria.In
1978 he left England to design an new accessory programme
for Martin Guitars in the United States and shortly thereafter
he moved manufacture of his string and accessory line to the
US and set up Breezy Ridge Instruments, Ltd. in association
with American dulcimist, Mary Faith Rhoads, in order to market
the line internationally.
In 1983 he sufferd a cataclysmic medical accident that paralysed
him completely and which put an end to his performing career.
Unwilling to accept the doctors' gloomy prognosis he determined
that he would both walk - and play guitar - again. Years of
painful rehabilitation then followed, during which time he
expanded his company to include both a publishing and video
production facility - but he never lost sight of his goal.
In 2002 he felt that he was ready, handed over much of the
running of Breezy Ridge to his partner - and began to gig
again.
His music today is even better than before the accident. His
playing technique is flowing and dynamic and his voice has
deepened and darkened, adding a new richness to his songs.
He tells me that he feels that it's time to start touring
again. Nice to have you back, John.
