Anticipation [CD]

Anticipation, the first album of gorgeous duets by young gun guitarists Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter, documents a musical juncture between desert and city, Chicago and the Southwest, folk traditions and American avant-garde.

Knowler, 24, came to guitar through an obsession with Norman Blake, teaching himself over years of practice sessions 12 to 16 hours long; he's honed a measured approach to the guitar informed by wide-ranging folk cultures and desert silence. At 23, Winter (named an artist to watch by The Guardian and “generational talent" by NYCTaper) has developed a moving command like that of inspirations Daniel Bachman and Jack Rose.

On Anticipation, the pair play outside of their comfort zones, building a new vocabulary of playing. “Strawberry Milk" sets the tone: sweet, inquisitive, daring. The result? A record experimental, learned, eager and uniquely their own, further establishing Knowler and Winter as musicians to watch.