Blake Hornsby, a western North Carolina-based guitarist, is at his most versatile and elemental on his new record, A Village of Many Springs.

Available now from Bandcamp digitally and on cassette, this record finds Hornsby displaying his extremely vast range as a fingerpicker and as a musician in general. The record begins with some fingerstyle blues instrumental pieces that feature lightning fast fretwork and the occasional blend of modalities and styles from places like the Middle East and India. The tracks flow and roll like a gently tumbling waterways, which is fitting as rivers serve as a consistent theme and motif across the record.

The album closes with a grand 23-minute psychedelic raga that incorporates a hazy mix of swarmandal, singing bowls and shruti boxes, amongst many other mystical sounds. Hornsby’s guitar slithers and bends fluidly like an expertly plucked sitar, leading the piece into very peaceful and spiritual realms. Chanting voices, hypnotic tablas and the sound of deep breathing closes the piece —and the record as a whole— on a profusely meditative note.

Fans of guitar soli and traditional Turkish and Hindustani music would find a great deal to love on this record. Click here to get your copy today.

-KH