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Amythyst Kiah began learning guitar at the age of 13, then later attended a creative arts high school, where she found her people among all the ā€œmisfits and weirdos.ā€

Photo by Kevin & King

The Americana singer-songwriter, known for supporting her vocals with intricate fingerpicking, found herself simplifying her process for her latest full-length, which, in turn, has led to more personal and artistic growth.

Folk singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah is a formidable fingerstylist. When asked about her creative process, she explains how sheā€™s come up playing a lot of solo showsā€”something thatā€™s inspired her to bring out the orchestral range of the guitar for her own vocal accompaniment. Over the years, sheā€™s taken her high school classical training and college old-time-string-band experience to evolve her fingerpicking skills, developing three-finger technique and other multi-dimensional patterns influenced by players like Mike Dawes. And for her latest full-length, Still + Bright, sheā€™s only continued to grow in her musicianship, but by stepping back to square one: rhythm.

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Watch the livestream of "Concert for Carolina" featuring Luke Combs, Eric Church, Billy Strings, and James Taylor on October 26. Free access for Hurricane Helene-impacted areas, $24.99 for others. All proceeds go to hurricane relief efforts.

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Photo by Daniel Bergeron

An exclusive excerpt of the legendary engineer and guitarist rapping about the guitarists he was most excited to hear.

When I spoke to recording engineer, Shellac guitarist, and Electrical Audio proprietor Steve Albini for our April cover story, we mostly covered his personal recording techniques, with some extra space allotted for the details of his iconic guitar rig. Albini, who passed suddenly not long after the issue went to print, was generous and forthcoming on all fronts.

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