Tag Archives: electric guitar

Daniel Reyes Llinas: Strings and Things

On this episode of Strings and Things, Daniel Reyes Llinas loosens the pegs on his custom Strat while our host, Patrick Grant tunes up a sparkly Danelectro.

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Daniel takes us back to his childhood in Colombia, where he sang in the choir until his godfather gave him money for his first guitar. He was self taught until beginning formal instruction with Carlos Castilla and he went on to study classical guitar at Andes University in Bogotá.

But like many young musicians, Daniel was also drawn to pop and rock and formed a couple of bands with frends. He points to his early love of the Beatles, his Dad’s Pink Floyd and ELO records, New Wave and Latin rock, and finally, the discovery of King Crimson, as signposts in his musical development.

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Proving that one does get to meet one’s heroes, for the last decade, Daniel has studied in Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft courses, and performed in Fripp’s Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists. He released a first album called “Molino” and has worked on the scores for several films. He’s the composer and co-founder of Parias Ensemble, “an instrumental group dedicated to blurring the lines of improvisation and written music”.

Find out more about Daniel’s work at his website, llinasmusic.com.

Strings and Things Episode 8 Trailer

A Colombian-born, New York City composer brings in his custom Strat and looks back on his earliest musical influences.

Daniel Reyes Llinas, co-founder of the Parias Ensemble takes us back to his first 10 dollar guitar and traces his evolution as a musician through some of his favorite genres: classical, pop, new wave, metal, jazz and progressive rock. Then he’ll tell us what he’s cooking up when he’s not onstage or in rehearsal.

Join our host, composer/performer Patrick Grant, on the Strings and Things podcast, where guitarists come by to change their strings, tell some stories and play music. Look us up on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.

Angela Babin: Strings and Things

On this episode of Strings and Things, Angela Babin drops by to work on a Melody Maker that hasn’t been out and about in years, while our host Patrick Grant restrings his studio-weary Les Paul. They’ll swap stories about the weirdest gigs they’ve played in New York City, and talk about how numbers and math inspire Angela’s current compositions. Then they’ll amp up for a special Strings and Things duet.

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Since picking up the electric guitar at 14 years old, over the years Angela’s performed in a wide range of venues, from Folk City and CBGBs, to BAM and the Berlin Jazz Festival. She entered the downtown New York music scene with the band Off Beach, and played guitar in the nine-piece experimental rock group The Ordinaires. The Ordinaires were compared to Philip Glass, Captain Beefheart, Henry Mancini, Husker Du and Stravinsky – all at the same time! You may remember their cover of “Kashmir” was all over MTV at the time:

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Angela performed with Homer Erotic, founded by poets Maggie Dubris and Barbara Barg, as well as the groups Alpha Cat, Inviolate, The Raging Hormones, and The Blacklite Orchestra. She’s currently playing guitar with the blues-based Gotham Roots Orchestra, formed by composer/producer Cristian Amigo.


photo by Marc Latrique

There’s a great blog post on the Prepared Guitar website where you can find out much more about Angela Babin and her work. Check it out!