Loren Claypool is a Wisconsin-based multi-instrumentalist/composer from West Virginia. He plays acoustic, electric, baritone electric, fretless electric, lap steel, baritone lap steel, touch and synthesizer guitars. Loren composes, arranges, loops, improvises, and manipulates sounds across genre boundaries as diverse as progressive, ambient, Guitar Craft-style acoustic ensemble, and spaghetti western. The common thread is guitar as the basis for his instrumental music.
Loren's album "One Feather Shy" can be ordered from Clayphonic Records - no shipping, no sales tax, just music! It is also available for digital download at iTunes.
The description of genre-indifferent instrumental guitar music is appropriate for this work, as Loren crosses musical boundaries with little regard for convention. Sometimes delicate, sometimes aggressive, the music is textural, visual, thoughtful, and emotional. Moving from sparse arrangements to densely orchestrated compositions with over a dozen tracks of guitar, each song is fascinating on its own, but clearly an integral part of a larger work.
"One Feather Shy" is as diverse tonally as it is musically. Loren is fascinated with the sounds that can be made with the instruments he plays. He is just as likely to ferociously manipulate a guitar's sound, as he is to preserve the traditional tone of the instrument. The result is a unique sonic approach to instrumental guitar music. And, on this recording, it's all guitar.
Loren is currently at work on his new album "Breathe". In addition to his solo work, he is a member of Guitar Circle of Chicago, a group of musicians committed to working with the principles of Guitar Craft as a "way of doing things." Guitar Circle of Chicago performs throughout the Midwest, featuring songs from the Guitar Craft repertoire, original material, circulations, and improvisations. Loren is also an endorsing artist for Industrial Guitars.
Loren has contributed to an upcoming project by Lee Fletcher in the UK. He was asked by Markus Reuter of the German experimental duo Centrozoon to provide audio commentary for their CD "Lovefield". The result, described by Mr. Reuter as "a piece of art," is available as a download on the band's website. He also contributed spoken word to the UK-based Will Cruttenden Spingere album "Recall". Loren co-scored and recorded the soundtrack for the award-winning independent film "Lost Love". He has an extensive background in recording as a solo artist, under the guises of Loren Claypool Guitar Ensemble, ClayLoop, Claytronica, and The Basement Ensemble, and as a member of the progressive jazz fusion duo Fingerdance.
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Loren currently resides in Mequon, Wisconsin with his family and a lot of guitars.
