Charlie Hunter’s 8 String Funk

Every time I listen to this live track, or any Charlie Hunter song in general, I’m amazed that all of the sounds are emanating from one guitar. Charlie is a Bay Area master of his custom-made 8-string guitar. He plays the role of both bass and guitar player. Nope, there isn’t a bassist in the band. What you hear is coming from one man. On this song, “Crossings”, Charlie and Adam Cruz (on drums) lay out 12 and a half minutes of rhythmic laid back guitar funk. How Charlie can negotiate those kinds of bass and guitar parts simultaneously is beyond me.

About his guitar:

custom-made Novax eight-string…..Designed by Ralph Novak, the instrument features special frets and separate signals for its guitar and bass portions. Picking bass notes with his right thumb while fretting them with his left index finger (while at the same time fingerpicking guitar chords and single notes with his right hand’s remaining four digits as he frets with his left hand’s other three fingers), Hunter achieves the real sound of two-for-one. – from All Music

Huh? I lost track of all the fingers! If you want to see what his guitars look like, check out the cool Gear Page on his site. Anyway, this and a whole lot of others tunes are available to you on his web site, CharlieHunter.com. There’s a ton in the Audio section.

Facts of the day:

Charlie used to be a member of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Michael Franti’s group before Spearhead.
Jay Lane of Primus used to be Charlie’s drummer.

So without further ado:

Charlie Hunter (and Adam Cuz in drums) – “Crossings” – recorded live in Detroit, MI, 20 Nov 1999.
Buy Charlie’s music on Amazon (plus a lot of unreleased downloads available for purchase on his site).