Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

CD Review: Harvey Reid - "Capo Voodoo: Solo Guitar"

Featuring 6- and 12-string acoustic guitar, resonator slide, mandolin, 6-string banjo, autoharp, and other stringed instruments, these collections offer stirring interpretations of folk ballads, Delta blues, sea shanties, Celtic tunes, ragtime, bluegrass, and classical music.

Harvey Reid
Capo Voodoo: Solo Guitar
Woodpecker Records


For 30 years, Harvey Reid has been releasing albums of traditional music he tracks live in his home studio, sans overdubs. Featuring 6- and 12-string acoustic guitar, resonator slide, mandolin, 6-string banjo, autoharp, and other stringed instruments, these collections offer stirring interpretations of folk ballads, Delta blues, sea shanties, Celtic tunes, ragtime, bluegrass, and classical music. Reid is the world’s leading authority on partial capos, devices that clamp several strings while leaving others open. His latest album, Capo Voodoo: Solo Guitar, offers 18 instrumentals (recorded between 1981 and 2010) featuring partial-capo work, and they run the gamut from flatpicked fiddle tunes like “Arkansas Traveler” to Beethoven’s “Für Elise.” Using partial capos in both standard and altered tunings, Reid reconfigures the fretboard to weave open strings into his passages in magical ways. Reid’s dynamics, articulation, and exquisite sense of timing enrich the stark beauty of his performances. Intrigued by partial capos? Visit Reid’s partialcapo.com.