Nathan Salsburg :: Ipsa Corpora

Silence is a primary component of Nathan Salsburg’s new album Ipsa Corpora. The first all-acoustic solo guitar record from Salsburg since 2018’s Third, Ipsa Corpora consists of one, nearly 40-minute long track. Within that single song, Salsburg moves through a series of sections made up of a multitude of musical motifs on the acoustic guitar. The binding agent throughout are moments of silence. These pauses not only occur between distinct pieces, but also between notes and figures played by Salsburg. It’s clear that he wants the listener to inhabit silence as part of the album experience.

James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

The excellent All Gist, out this week on Paradise of Bachelors, sees James and Nathan taking their musical partnership back to its roots. It’s an album full of gorgeously interlocking guitars, bewitching melodies and a couple of curveball covers. More than anything, All Gist sounds like a conversation between two old friends — one that we’re all lucky we get to eavesdrop on.

Nathan Salsburg :: Transmissions

This week on Transmissions, Alan Lomax Archive curator and guitarist Nathan Salsburg joins us from his place in rural Kentucky to discuss his new album of Hebrew devotional music, Psalms, conceptions of the divine, life as a new parent, and much more.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Will Oldham has known Daniel Higgs for decades, first in Baltimore in the late 1990s, later putting up the Lungfish auteur whenever he passed through Louisville. So when his friend, musical collaborator and Louisville neighbor Nathan Salsburg suggested covering a Lungfish song that he’d been singing to his infant daughter, it made perfect sense to Oldham.

Alasdair Roberts :: The Evernew Tongue

On September 13th, Alasdair Roberts releases his new album, The Fiery Margin, via the venerable Drag City label. To mark to the occasion, guitarist and archivist Nathan Salsburg reflects here on “The Evernew Tongue,” the first selection shared from the forthcoming lp: “…a jeremiad against the all-too-familiar ‘mocking whine of demagogues…. quick to mock and slow to bless,’ hollered from amid the revelry of the changing year and among the small comforts of home.”

Aquarium Drunkard :: 2025 Midyear Review

The clock never stops, but sometimes music manages the impossible: slowing time for a moment. It’s in those vibrational encounters with music that we find peace and we find ourselves. In the spirit of sharing the stuff that moved us, we’re back with our midyear review. As always, the list is unranked and far reaching; there’s more than enough here to guide you into those rare encounters with deep time.

Cameron Knowler :: CRK

For the past few years, Cameron Knowler has quietly worked his way into the epicenter of the Soli revival. Making a name for his playing with the excellent Anticipation collaboration with Eli Winter a few years back, Knowler has since become a familiar face in the realm of steel string. Indebted to his instrument’s history; his playing steadfast, concise, and open to the possibility of the unexpected. CRK is no exception to this rule.

Aquarium Drunkard :: 2024 Year in Review

Can any year-end list be definitive? With so much music being released every single day—from marquee names to DIY home recorders to all points in between—it’s impossible to truly keep up with it all. But the idea with our lists has never been to say “here’s everything worth paying attention to.” Rather, this is our humble attempt at casting a wide net and reeling in as much of the good shit as possible.

Catching Up With Myriam Gendron

Myriam Gendron is balanced between opposing forces: between songwriting and poetry, English and French, acoustic folk and chaotic post-rock. Her third album, Mayday, is a continuation of this balance: a meditation on grief, sorrow, and most importantly, survival. Ahead of its May 10 release, we sat down with Gendron, discussing Leonard Cohen, recording with Jim White, and the intersection of poetry and songwriting.

Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard :: April 2024

Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard returns to the Dublab airwaves for another round of sound. New Happy Gathering kicks things off with an hour of folk, chamber atmospheres, and downtown jazz + Doom & Gloom From The Tomb will jam some new favorites from 2024 — motorik workouts, early morning ambient and dreamy drones. Sunday, 4-6pm PT.