ACOUSTIC GROOVE MASTER JACK WEST

A prolific musician, composer, and bandleader, percussive acoustic guitarist Jack West is a
singular musician with an immediately recognizable sound. His eight albums have received
widespread critical acclaim and he has performed at leading festivals and venues since the
early 2000s—including SXSW, Atlanta Jazz Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, San Francisco
Jazz Festival, The Freight in Berkeley, Yoshi’s in Oakland, and Catalina’s in Los Angeles. In
parallel with his music career, West is also an inventor and has patented various new musical
instruments and solar technologies, pursuits that have also born generous fruit. West released
two albums in 2026, Essential Curvature and Guitars on Life.

Jack West’s music may best be described as highly rhythmic, modern acoustic guitar music.
With his innovative percussive approach, West simultaneously plays percussion, bass, and
guitar parts. West is also known for his highly unique approach to acoustic slide guitar, which
hints at his roots—including a family lineage of musicians in northern Alabama—while solidly
moving acoustic slide guitar into the present era.
West’s latest project, an Acoustic Guitar Duo with Walter Strauss, has been blowing up on
YouTube with over 1 million views. Described as “bracingly creative” (AllMusic.com), the Duo is
establishing a new level of rhythmic and dynamic possibility with just two unadorned acoustic
guitars.

Jack West is an acoustic music pioneer who is creating a new style of acoustic music that is as
compelling and original as other acoustic innovators like Leo Kottke, David Grisman, Rodrigo y
Gabriela, or Michael Hedges. What makes West’s playing unique is his seamless integration of
percussive slapping and thumping with seriously infectious grooves that leave room for
improvisation.

James Nash is no stranger to musical diversity. As at home with Charlie Parker and Bill Monroe as he is with Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix, the accomplished guitarist embraces the potential challenges of playing multiple genres with both joy and aplomb.

Nash’s broad vocabulary, both as scholar and stylist, has led to a genre-bending approach that has served him well for a decade as a lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter for the eclectic and virtuosic Americana ensemble, The Waybacks. Similarly, they make him a fitting helmsman for both the electric rock 'n soul grooves of The Nomads and the daredevil acoustic escapades of The NashVillains.

Honored in 2017 by Guitar Player as one of "50 Transcendent Acoustic Guitarists," James’ musical breadth is readily matched by his astonishing facility as a player and dynamism as a performer, leading reviewers to describe him as "graceful but fiery... elegant and colorful... rampantly eclectic" (Guitar Player), and praise his “near-ideal balance of irreverence, chops, discipline, and originality” (Chicago Tribune). Heralded by Acoustic Guitar as a “revered new-acoustician,” he approaches the flat-top steel-string guitar with both the subtleties and bravado of a rock guitarist. His spirited improvisational flights, whether on his Santa Cruz acoustic or electric Fender Stratocaster, are dazzling to behold, a deft combination of innate musicality and jaw-dropping technique.

Raised in Nashville, his musical career began to take shape when he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1991 to attend Stanford University, where he earned a BS from their Engineering School while spending his nights gigging in local clubs and making the rounds cutting tracks in legendary rooms like Fantasy Studios and Coast Recorders.

Along that musical path, James has recorded a dozen albums and performed at countless festivals and venues across the country, serving as bandleader for ensembles with the likes of everyone from Elvis Costello to Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck to Bob Weir, Chris Thile and Jerry Douglas to Darol Anger and Mike Marshall.

Wedding his musical and tech-savvy sides, he worked with the founders of Pandora to create the Music Genome Project. He also served as co-curator of TEDxAlcatraz 2010 and was a featured performer of the 2011 TEDx Global Music Project, offshoots of the renowned TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference.

James has been interviewed, featured, and had his solos transcribed in numerous magazines, Wired, Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, Flatpicking, and Dirty Linen among them. His music has been featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Folk Alley and he is a contributing writer and reviewer for Guitar Player. His forthcoming instructional DVD, “Acoustic Guitar on the Edge,” evidences both the technically disciplined and free spirited player he has become.