Ten Telecaster Tales: Liner Notes for a Guitar and Its Music

Ten Telecaster Tales remakes the idea of the “concept album.” It is music that arrives inside a book. It’s also, arguably, the most comprehensive attempt at liner notes in the history of electric instrumental fingerstyle guitar albums.

In his latest offering, Rik Emmett delves into the creative process — the roots, influences, philosophy, and spirituality involved in writing and recording. Even the story behind these stories explores creativity. (Emmett dreamed of then commissioned a guitar — a one-of-a-kind Telecaster-style guitar — then wrote and recorded with and for it.)

Playfully, beautifully, Ten Telecaster Tales lays bare an artistic journey in an act of discovery — that the storytelling inherent in writing good musical compositions translates into good storytelling about the process behind the songs, and how compositions turn into recordings. A generous amount of fairy-tale mythology is sprinkled throughout — despite the whole process being assimilated by digital technology. The notion of a “telecaster tale” implies something “vintage” at its heart, and it is humanity that glues the layers together.

Principally, though, Ten Telecaster Tales is the next logical step for Emmett after publishing his memoir, Lay It On The Line. It represents the evolution of his life story into a combination of musical composition, guitar playing, and prose. After all, writing has always been the solid backbone and lifeline of his multi-faceted journey.