Bill Orcutt
Events
Adjunct Ensemble + Bill Orcutt
BIO
One of experimental music’s most influential guitarists, Bill Orcutt weaves looping lines and angular attack into a dense, cracked landscape of American primitivism, outsider jazz, and guitar music reimagined.
Whether he’s playing his decrepit Kay acoustic or his gutted electric Telecaster (both stripped of two of their strings since 1985), Orcutt’s jagged sound is utterly unique and instantly recognizable, and as comparable to avant-garde composers as it is to rural bluesmen.
Orcutt originally appeared on the underground scene as a co-founder of Harry Pussy, a band that built the prototype for noise-rock in the ‘90s and Pitchfork described as “just about the most abrasive band America has ever seen.”
After a hiatus of over a decade, Orcutt reemerged as a solo artist exploring the invisible threads linking free improvisation to the forgotten crevices of the American songbook.
With each recording and performance, Orcutt continues to invent a sonic vernacular built around raw and tortured tones, ragged minimalism, and seemingly inexhaustible improvisational stamina. “No one is playing guitar like Bill Orcutt right now. No one.” – NPR
“When Bill Orcutt starts playing the guitar, it’s clear there are still so many new things to be said with it.” – The Guardian