Records: Django Haskins' Folding Stars

Check out Folding Stars sound clips at
The Planet of Sound.

By Carl Ehrhardt

Then I realized how I know the name. National Guitar Summer Workshop. My friend Ken and I signed up for a week's worth of lessons at the Connecticut campus. My teacher was Django Haskins, a long-haired, friendly type of guy with a Telecaster. At a place where fiery 200 notes-per-minute solos were the norm, Django was a rebel who believed in the subtleties of rhythm and the beauty of a one- note solo. A bend, held and slowly released over the course of 12 bars. He was a great guitar teacher, and I still think about the techniques he taught me. I bought the tape of his funk-rock band, Earl's Comfort Station, which actually originated at Yale a few years back.

Django's new solo album, Folding Stars, was recorded in Brooklyn, which right now seems to be the home of a burgeoning folk-pop scene, a space also occupied by Jason Morphew, TC '95. The twelve songs on Stars range from the lilting acoustic guitar of "Lullaby" to the raucous and distorted "Out of Town." Django's voice is well-tuned and powerful throughout, and his guitar still has that attractive earthy modesty. The band is great, recalling the garage sound of early Lemonheads, or maybe the sweetness of Polaris. Some of the songs evoke memories of southern rock revival bands like Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. Django sings and plays with a wonderfully wistful romance. It makes me wonder if the inspiration for songs like "Beautiful" was that pretty blond I saw him standing with on the last breezy summer day of my week at the Workshop. (Alyosha Records)

Django Haskins is playing at Rudy's this weekend.

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