Alec Stone Sweet

In addition to playing music, Alec is a professor, having held chaired professorships at Oxford University, the Yale Law School, and (presently) the Faculty of Law, the National University of Singapore. Alec’s hometown is Bellingham, Washington State; he graduated from Sehome High School, and attended WWU.

Music

Alec Stone Sweet has released two solo guitar recordings – Memory and Praise and Tumblin’ Gap – and he contributed to Clawhammer Guitar: The Collection – all available on Solid Air Records. In addition, his music can be found on a number of compilation albums, including Appleseed’s 21st Anniversary, Root’s and Branches: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Appleseeds-21st-Anniversary-Roots-And-Branches/release/12735973, featuring Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Lila Downs, and many others.

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWDgf2JKAklugJyvM49Eo0Q

Solo Recordings:

Tumblin’ Gap: Clawhammer Guitar Solos (Solid Air) released in the fall of 2005, demonstrates the power, range, and beauty of the clawhammer style. Most of the tunes are traditional to the mountains of Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia, but the recording also includes Celtic tunes, and three originals in the old-time style. Reviews:

“Alec Stone Sweet is a guitar virtuoso. This record would be delightful on a late night, with the lights off, a dying fire in the fireplace, a bit of whiskey left in the glass. It would also serve to explain to the uninitiated just why we care so much about these old melodies, about just what a tune is really about.” – The Old Time Herald “Entrancing, the rhythmic sense and phrasing are spot on. Compulsory listening for guitar fans, Tumblin’Gap is the kind of surprising recording that inspires new movements” – Acoustic Guitar

“Spacious, haunting, exquisite” – Best of the Year Selection, Radio National Australia

Memory and Praise: Acoustic Guitar Solos (released on Appleseed) was one of five recordings nominated for an Indie Award in the Best Acoustic Instrumental category for 2001. It features five pieces composed by the great Irish harper, Turlough O’Carolan, as well as traditional Irish and Appalachian dance music. The two medleys, Ducks on the Pond/Frosty Morning and Shady Grove/Salt River, are the first solo clawhammer guitar pieces ever recorded. Reviews:

“As beautiful a solo guitar recording as I have ever heard” – Eric Schoenberg

“Extraordinary guitar playing, resembling no one else in touch, technique, or feel” – Jody Stecher

“First-rate guitar playing, as enjoyable a collection of traditional music on solo guitar as I have ever heard.” – Minor 7th Acoustic Guitar Reviews

Regional auto-harp legend Richard Scholtz has been playing with Alec for 35 years and they have a chemistry and rapport rarely achieved.