Tim Brady: Multiple Guitars and More

Guitarist Tim Brady (photograph by Clayton Kennedy, courtesy of Riparian Media)

According to my records, my last account of guitarist Tim Brady was in April of 2023, when I discussed the release of his solo performance of his own composition entitled “Symphony in 18 Parts.” One week from today, his latest album will be released, entitled Imagine Many Guitars. Bandcamp has already created a Web page for processing pre-orders of this album. That Web page also provides a generous “preview” of the first track, which is a little under 25 minutes in duration.

The title of that track is “This one is broken in pieces: Symphony #11.” Regardless of what the title may suggest,  this consists of a single movement involving eight electric guitars (with effects pedals), along with sections for four, eight, and twelve sopranos. The vocalists are Bronwyn Thies-Thompson, Janelle Lucyk, Sarah Albu, and Marie-Annick Béliveau, singing texts from the book Coming & Going by Ian Ferrier. From this we may conclude that “Symphony” is the product of a fair amount of scrupulously calculated overdubbing. The same can be said of the following two compositions: “Slow, Simple” (scored for twenty electric guitars) and “Five Times: four guitars.” Only the final selection, “[very] Short Pieces of (jazz) Guitar” can be performed before an audience without any accompaniment.

Having written about a modest number of Brady’s albums by now, I have to confess that there are times when the act of describing can overwhelm the act of listening. There is no questioning his inventiveness when he lays out a plan for one of his compositions. However, after having gone “around the block” for a generous number times spent listening to Brady’s album, I am beginning to tire more than a little bit of his auditory perambulations. However adventurous his plans may be, my commitment to listening eventually begins to tire of those adventures.