Olson Guitar Soundbites

What does an Olson sound like?

Most players will first hear an Olson on a recording or in a concert setting. We've gathered here a handful of soundbites from studio and live recordings that are favorites of many Olson fans, as well as a few personal favorites. We hope they give you an enticing impression of the Olson tone. But keep in mind that the only way to get the full sonic experience of an Olson (or any fine instrument) is to play one yourself, or listen to another guitarist play one for you in person.

These soundbites are MP3 files that are fairly large; the large size is necessary to provide very good audio quality on playback. To play them, download them to your hard drive, and then play them with any MP3 player. Free and low-cost players are readily available for all major platforms; popular free players include the QuickTime Player that comes with newer Macs, XMMS for Unix/Linux, and WinAmp for Windows. Check the software page at MP3.com for other options.

James Taylor

"Like everyone she knows" (00:59 - 1.1MB): This passage is the first minute of a track from the first JT album to feature his Olson guitars—New Moon Shine (1991). JT is best known for his singing and songwriting, but he's a fantastic guitar player. We chose this passage because it showcases JT's wonderfully recognizable fingerpicking in a brief instrumental "etude." We wish he'd do a whole album of this stuff! (Engineered by James Farber.)
"Sweet baby James" (00:50 - 1MB): This is the introduction to one of JT's best-known songs, taken from his 1993 James Taylor (Live) double CD, chosen to showcase his live Olson sound. He gets his live tone using an L. R. Baggs LB 6 bridge pickup, a preamp that varies from show to show (he has used a Pendulum preamp and an L. R. Baggs Para Acoustic DI), and most importantly, great ears (his own and his engineer's!). (Engineered by Nathaniel Kunkel.)

Phil Keaggy

"Way back home" (00:53 - 1MB): This soundbite captures lots of "firsts": these are the first notes of the first song on the first nationally-released recording featuring an Olson guitar—Keaggy's 1986 vinyl/cassette recording, Way Back Home (re-released on CD in 1994). The Olson on this recording—still Phil's favorite acoustic guitar—is the first cedar-topped SJ Jim ever built. This model remains Jim's most popular model to this day. (Engineered by Bob Cotton, Thom Roy, and Eddie Keaggy.)
"Fare thee well" (01:44 - 1.9MB): This soundbite is from Keaggy's Beyond Nature CD (1991), an acoustic instrumental recording that is cited by many Olson lovers as among their favorite recordings. It has some of the warmest, sweetest, and fullest Olson tones ever recorded, thanks to Keaggy's inspirational playing and impecable engineering by "jb." We chose this track because in the space of a minute or so it showcases a wide range of playing techniques: fingerpicking, single-note runs, strumming, percussive and harmonic slapping, muted notes, and Hedges-style right-hand tapping—all in an unusual altered tuning (open Eb9, capo 4). Whew! (Engineered by jb; read his engineering notes.)
"When night falls" (01:10 - 1.3MB): In contrast to the pyrotechnics of "Fare thee well," this track, also from Beyond Nature, features slow and lyrical playing. Keaggy improvised this tune late at night at the end of the Beyond Nature sessions, first recording an accompaniment track, and then overdubbing a melody. On listening to the playback, he and engineer jb felt the night sounds of crickets they heard through an open studio door provided a lovely backdrop to the tune. They put a microphone out the door to catch nature's accompaniment to this inspired improvisation. (Engineered by jb; read his engineering notes.)

David Wilcox

"Block dog" (00:40 - 0.8MB): A slightly bluesy track from Wilcox's 1994 recording, Big Horizon, the first to feature him playing an Olson. This recording features a big yet intimate guitar sound. (Engineered by Jeffrey Lesser.)
"Hold it up to the light" (00:49 - 1MB): Another track from Big Horizon, showcasing some quick fingerpicking mixing high-fretted notes with open notes in a low-C altered tuning. (Engineered by Jeffrey Lesser.)
"Leaving you" (01:24 - 1.5MB): This track is from Wilcox's 1999 release, Underneath. We chose it in part because of its lovely, understated instrumental introduction. Also, the accompaniment to the sung verses is written almost as a counter-melody and displays how nicely the Olson tone complements a singer—it is almost a second voice in this song. Wilcox's Olson SJ is beautifully recorded throughout this album; I feel this recording offers a particularly faithful representation of what an Olson sounds like when you're playing it yourself (well, if you can play as well as Wilcox, that is!). (Engineered by Gary Paczosa, Toby Seay, and Sabar Balo.)

Featured Artists: Jim Cole; Al Petteway & Amy White

Each of our featured artist pages features soundbites from the artist. Visit the Jim Cole and Al Petteway & Amy White featured artist pages to access them.

If you've enjoyed what you've heard here, please consider supporting the work of these artists by buying one or more of their CDs. All of the CDs mentioned here are available online, in some cases at the artists' web sites, or from on-line music distributors such CD Connection or Amazon.