World-renowned French guitarist Pierre Bensusan sat in the middle of the Santa Maria community television studio, waiting for his cue as a small cadre of guests and technicians looked on. He broke the silence by scatting. Then his guitar joined in, filling the room with a harmonious sound that was both familiar and foreign—definitely a mix of musical genres.
Bensusan is a fingerstyle guitarist known for his DADGAD tuning. He grew up with a variety of musical influences: European musicians and composers, as well as Americans. Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and the like caught his interest when he was young.
“I sang Bob Dylan,” he said. “I worshipped his songs. I learned better English by singing his songs even without knowing what I was singing. It took me years to understand his lyrics and try to figure out who Mr. Tambourine Man was. Can you believe some people have gone all these years and still don’t know who Mr. Tambourine Man is?”
Bensusan may have had trouble understanding Dylan’s lyrics, but his own music has been similarly difficult to pin down. Critics struggle to define his sound: Some call it world music. Others call it closer to folk, Celtic, new age, or chamber jazz.
The wide range of descriptors for his music may be because it’s not his music at all. Bensusan said he’s just the maker, not the owner.
“The music will say, ‘OK, now you can do something to me. I’d like to come out and see the world. And then the next time I sit down and play the piece, it’s like a visit, and I ask ‘How was the world? What did you see?’” he said. “The musician is the maker, not the owner. The piece starts its life outside the maker.”
Bensusan is currently spreading that music across the world as he tours in support of his latest album, Vividly, which features a mix of songs in French and English and some instrumentals. He said he gets a lot of his inspiration from his travels; he then takes that inspiration to his home studio just outside of Paris to make beautiful music.
“I go home and I sit down with all my information like postcards and I look at my patchwork,” he explained. “And I start making my fabric from it.”
After a recent performance in Santa Barbara, Bensusan stopped in Santa Maria for an appearance on All About Guitar, Manny Mestas’ community access television show.
The program has aired on community access for 10 years, and was one of the first shows on the station. Mestas provides lessons, interviews with musicians, and information—anything and everything—about guitar. Mestas said he’s always tried to appeal to a variety of guitar players.
“A lot of people have given up guitar—or maybe they’ve always thought about playing,” Mestas said. “I want to dispel the mystery behind guitars and learning to play. I’ve always wanted to inspire people to go to the next level.”
Mestas is a fingerstylist like Bensusan, but strives to expose viewers to more styles.
“I try to bring guests on the show that represent everything, but my favorite is classical,” he said.
The episode with the performance and interview with Bensusan will run throughout the month.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone uses a DADGAD-tuned keyboard. Send comments to scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 17-24, 2011.