Nels Cline profile picture

Nels Cline

The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist.

About Me

. Nels Cline Singers

Add to My ProfileYou're listening to a track from: The new Nels Cline Singers' Cryptogramophone CD, Draw Breath.*YES, THIS IS THE "OFFICIAL" NELS CLINE MYSPACE PAGE...BUT IT IS MAINTAINED BY HIS WEBMASTER. DUE TO NELS' TOURING & RECORDING SCHEDULE HE CANNOT RESPOND TO MESSAGES SENT TO THIS PAGE. SORRY! THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING!Some facts about Nels Cline:Born in Los Angeles in 1956.
Has a twin brother Alex (who plays drums).
Began playing guitar in 1967.
Plays guitar and writes music for a living.
Had no formal training.
In 1971 a guy named Bruce showed Nels how to play a major scale in chords, causing a major epiphany.Early influences:
Roger McGuinn, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, John Fahey, Duane Allman...Later influences:
John McLaughlin, Fred Frith, Jim Hall, Ralph Towner, John Abercrombie, Tom Verlaine, Thurston Moore, Otis Rush...Studied harmony, orchestration & arranging, 20th Century harmony and commercial harmony & arranging at Santa Monica College with Rule Beaseley until going to work in retail record & book shops for most of his adult life.Most valuable musical training came from his work with multi-instrumentalist/composer Eric von Essen, and from never turning down a gig.First appearance on a record was in 1978 on Vinny Golia's Openhearted album (Nine Winds).Other artists Nels has performed and/or recorded with include:Julius Hemphill, Charlie Haden, Mike Watt, Tim Berne, Mark Dresser, Bobby Bradford, Thurston Moore, Lydia Lunch, Gregg Bendian, Mark Isham, Bonnie Barnett, Quartet Music, The Geraldine Fibbers, Brad Dutz, Mary Lou Lord, Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Kaiser, Banyan, Bloc, Joel Harrison, Jeremy Toback, Devin Sarno, fIREHOSE, G.E. Stinson, Osamu Kitajima, Mark Weber, Two Dollar Guitar, Carla Bozulich, Wayne Peet, Walter Thompson, Elliott Sharp, James Carney, and the West Coast Modern Day Punk Rock Orchestra.Nels has scored two low-grade films:
Welcome, Said The Angel
Hard DriveHis own projects have included:
The Nels Cline Singers (Current)
Nels Cline Trio (1990-1997)
an early quintet
a 6-piece called Destroy All Nels Cline
a quartet with Mark Dresser, Billy Mintz & Zeena Parkins
an improvising acoustic guitar trio with Rod Poole & Jim McAuley
Blue Mitt EnsembleMany duo collaborations, including with:
Carla Bozulich (Scarnella, Carla Bozulich & Friends), Devin Sarno, Gregg Bendian, Woody Aplanalp, G.E. Stinson, Elliott Sharp, Thurston Moore, Christopher Garcia, and painter Norton Wisdom.Awards include:
California Music Award for "Outstanding Jazz Artist"
LA Weekly Music Awards for "Best New Genre/Uncategorizable Artist."
Artists currently working with most often:
Wilco, The Nels Cline Singers, Scarnella, Vinny Golia, Scott Amendola Band, Devin Sarno, Banyan, Gregg Bendian's Interzone.Buy Nels Cline music on iTunes and Amazon: Drawbreath iTunes Amazon
New Monastery iTunes Amazon
The Giant Pin iTunes Amazon
Instrumentals iTunes Amazon
The Inkling iTunes Amazon

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/20/2005
Band Website: nelscline.com
Record Label: Cryptogramophone + too many to mention
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Confection

CONFECTION is perhaps, as its title suggests, a bit of a trifle. Written quite at the last minute, it falls in with my penchant for "instrumental hit"-style writing, and is really just an excuse to r...
Posted by Nels Cline on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:17:00 PST

Recognize II

RECOGNIZE II is the second of two acoustic pieces on the CD, and is dedicated (like "Recognize I") to my parents. It is a little chamber piece, and is actually in a major mode - a rarity for me. Both ...
Posted by Nels Cline on Tue, 29 May 2007 01:21:00 PST

Mixed Message

MIXED MESSAGE had the working title of "The Megasuite" for quite awhile, and it is in 3 distinct sections. The opening is meant to directlyreference late-period Coltrane, and supplies the band with on...
Posted by Nels Cline on Tue, 22 May 2007 12:22:00 PST

Caved-In Heart Blues

CAVED-IN HEART BLUES was written while I was sitting around the Wilco loft in Chicago, playing with a lot of reverb. The title is actually literal. It IS a blues, but only one trip through 1-4-5-4-1. ...
Posted by Nels Cline on Tue, 15 May 2007 03:41:00 PST

Andrew Hill : In Loving Memory

I am sitting here in Sydney, Australia. April 20th would have been my father's 92nd birthday, were he still alive. And Andrew Hill has died. As most of you know, I love his music. I recorded some of h...
Posted by Nels Cline on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 07:32:00 PST

NEW MONASTERY CD - OUT SEPT 26, 2006!

"New Monastery : a view into the music of Andrew Hill" is the latest release from Nels Cline on Cryptogramophone Records. The CD features Bobby Bradford, Ben Goldberg, Andrea Parkins, Scott Amendola, ...
Posted by Nels Cline on Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:23:00 PST