Jim Goodin

You don't realize its power at first. It creeps up on you like a rolling fog on a starless night revealing itself only under the brilliant glow of a midsummer's moon. The subtle complexity of the music woven by acoustic guitar master Jim Goodin lulls you, draws you in and welcomes you to a comfortable, secluded spot. While a sharp ear may spot Ralph Towner's and Michael Hedges' influences in Goodin's elegant fingerstyle techniques and inspired harmonic textures, reducing Goodin to a simple clone doesn't do him, or his music, justice. Make no mistake: Goodin's acoustic creations have zest, zeal and originality. Goodin's blend of acoustic Celtic/New Age/world music showcases a percussive attack rife with pull-offs, tantalizing tapping and multi-layered, multi-cultural musical voicings. “The tapping that I do, such as in my recording of The Path from the CD, Celtic Journey To The Path, is done with my left hand performing pull-offs on the high D-string in combination with tapping fretted notes along with the right hand,” says Goodin. “You get more sustain with the pull-offs when they are added to the tapping. Many of the greats - Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Stanley Jordan, the late Michael Hedges, and Richard Leo Johnson - all use this technique to great success.”

The Arkansas native's musical path has been shaped by his search for truth and beauty through music. Because of this, Goodin has not only attained a high level of technical proficiency on his instrument, but has never ceased to shut off that inner voice that beseeches him to create compositions through incredible blasts of energy. “Growth as a musician is about inspiration and vision, not the length of time you have played,” says Goodin who transplanted to Brooklyn, New York in the early '90s with his wife and family. “At least, that¡s really where it has been at for me.” So eloquent is Goodin in his discussion of guitar-playing technique, it's surprising to find that his first exposure to music was through woodwinds and piano. “In high school I became very interested in jazz,” says Goodin. “It wasn't until I was in college that I was fully convinced that I should become a guitar player. After hearing an old Michael Hedges record, the skies opened.”

Goodin, who attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas and earned a BA in Music, was diligent in studying classical guitar, learning from the masters of the form. But the masters' works, no matter how inspired or inspiring, can never fully substitute for one's one creative voice. Stirring within Jim was the desire to write his own music. “By the time I graduated college, I began to interpret some of the beautiful passages created by Turlough O'Carolan, a 17th Century Irish harpist,” says Goodin. “I incorporated some of O'Carolan's compositional style into my own.” It was in the late 1980's that Goodin began seriously exploring the many musical possibilities that open tunings presented to him. Goodin found that he could capture the mood of composers such as O'Carolan through the use of different tunings.

Varying the pitch of each string of the guitar (unlocking the strings from standard tuning) is what has inspired Jim to create some of his most complex pieces. It was in his use of the DADGAD tuning (most probably originated from Moroccan folk music, muses Goodin) that the guitar player was able to invoke the spirit of O'Carolan. Jim's song Celtic Overs from his CD Celtic Journey To The Path (also published by Mel Bay Publications, Inc. in their Master Anthology of Fingerstyle Guitar Solos: Volume 2), was conceived and composed through alternate tunings. “Those tunings are indicative of a Celtic spirituality and heightened state of awareness,” says Goodin. “It fit well with my musical direction.” For Michael, a tribute to Michael Hedges, used a similar open tuning style (DADGCE). The piece, also found on Jim's 1999 release “Celtic Journey To The Path”¨ celebrates the late performer/composer's life. “When Michael died I wanted to write a piece that did not mourn his death, but reflected the inspiration that gained from hearing him,” says Goodin.

Goodin has continued to explore his muse of percussive-driven guitar technique with heart and soul musical spirituality creating a body of solo guitar work represented in 4 cd's, Celtic Journey to The Path, Through the Door, Stories My Guitar Told Me and a live CD, Jim Goodin Live - Words & Music. He is busy with side projects, including erecting a label, Wood and Wire Music, a kind of musicians' collective, working with guitarist Matt Richards in the Langauge of 3, a performance concept Richards and Goodin founded, exploring groundbreaking collaborative ensembles, East of Where with percussionists' Will Romano and Ray Istorico, and most recently with composer/guitarist Daryl Shawn in Chinapainting, a project born and developed via the Internet through the NinJam technology. Jim Goodin's music has continued to evolve wider channels of exposure including a new music book/cd soon to be released by the legendary publisher Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Goodin has also garnered product endorsement with Seagull Guitars and GHS Strings, doing performance clinics for the latter in Sam Ash Music stores nationally. Through his musical explorations, his teachings, concert and clinic appearances, Jim believes he's coming closer and closer to a goal that was once elusive, but now is in focus. “In a sense, all of my life I've been looking for something - answers and a kind of awakening - and I finally feel as though I have come close to attaining them,” says Goodin. by Will Romano