The author, with his Fahey collection. Krist Novoselic is a regular contributor to Reveb and writes a column about music and politics for the Daily Weekly.It was in 1985 when I first heard the guitar of John Fahey. The late Ben Zain, a member of Seattle’s Love Family, put on a Fahey record. It was more than folk. I heard what has been described as transcendental guitar.John Fahey started releasing records in the early 1960’s. I was discovering a lot of music from that decade when I was first turned-on to the guitarist. This introduction opened my ears to sounds outside of the mainstream of that era.Fahey was a master finger-picker. He combined his gifted ability with unique string tunings that created sound-scapes. Folk guitar with a Blues groove was blended with Raga or medieval European. Fahey formally studied music and his knowledge is apparent on the records.Fahey also worked sound effects into his work. This is most pronounced on the album Requia – a collage of The Master on guitar with abstract sounds fading in and out of the music. One could call this psychedelic folk.John Fahey – Guitar is a great early work and an example of what a journey laying one of his records on the turntable can be. Put on side two to enjoy “John Henry Variations”; a beautiful exploration of this traditional song. The next song is “The Downfall of the “Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill”. It’s a low-fi recording of guitar and flute. Some microphone, somewhere in time, captured an esoteric moment – or perhaps the music takes you to such a place in your mind?The record keeps spinning while the minds eye keeps traveling. We then arrive at the “Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Palace Of King Phillip XIV”. No – it’s not some kind of renaissance fair moment, but rather really wicked slide guitar!I had the pleasure of seeing Fahey play at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard in the mid 90’s. He shuffled on stage with his guitar in one hand and a Big Gulp soda cup in the other. The performance was wonderful. It was inspiring to see the master at work.Fahey was the original “Freak Folk” and his sprit lives on with great contemporary artists like Devandra Banhart. John Fahey recorded a lot of music and there’s much to discover. Dig into the folk section of the vinyl bins and you’ll likely turn up some of his gems. Take these discs home and, in turn, they’ll take you and your mind to fantastic places