|
|
Frank Wallace is a highly regarded and expressive musician/guitarist currently based in Antrim, New Hampshire (U.S.A.) who denotes his playing style as modern classical, as a music fan can hear on his most recent recording, "His Own New Works".  His workhorse guitars consist of a Fleta and a Traphagen. Wallace has been playing guitar since 1967, and unreservedly relates his career objective, "I want to combine my interests in guitar, lute, vihuela and singing and re-establish an active touring schedule throughout America and Europe, presenting music from many eras, always featuring my own compositions - for each instrument."
When asked to disclose his top choice for an effect for the guitar, Wallace resolutely answered, "Natural reverberation, particularly, stone churches are what turn me on," and outlined his musicial goals, "Music is music to me - I don't know where it comes from or why - but it is a beautiful thing that it does. That is to say, it all comes from the spirit - music is the spirit to me - I want to be an agent of beauty, not destruction, not ugliness and hate - music should lift us up above those emotions, even when expressing fear or confusion. It should still be beautiful. Too much music is now designed to be aggressive, negative - we need not wallow in those emotions, but rather try to transform them into beauty." He keeps open the possibility to, at some point, study rock with Santana, and is at the moment listening to the Assads, Santana, Andrea Bocelli, Masayuki Kato and Georgian choral music. His most important gratification? "Finishing a new composition," he muses confidently.
 Wallace winds up by mentioning long-term and forthcoming endeavors insightfully, by saying, "My wife [Nancy Knowles] and I are totally involved in creating CDs - we plan to finish seven in the next year: a second solo guitar CD [I am still writing for that]; one of her reading her own poetry [some with my guitar improvs] and singing spiritual songs [Shakers and medieval]; and several of songs from the 16th to 19th centuries. My most exciting project is a song cycle that includes guitar solos and songs for two singers - man and woman - using poetry that she and I have written along with Rumi and other texts."
Wallace's discography (available here at Guitar Nine Records) includes several solo albums ("His Own New Works", "Sketches", "Delphin", "Joy").
|
