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Archive: Sep, 2002

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Acoustic Spotlight
Jaquie Gipson
by Phyllis Stark

Let me give you a really good tip. The next time Jaquie Gipson performs in your area, run, don’t walk to get a front row seat. If you have not heard her brand of playing, you are in for a special experience. Jaquie does not just play the guitar. She strokes, drums, and double taps the instrument, coaxing beautiful thoughts, ideas, memories and emotions out of that piece of wood. “My music is a little hard to categorize. I play mostly finger style and tap style guitar. I like a variety of musical styles but can be more expressive with the finger style and tap styles, especially when they are combined with various open tunings. My trademark might be the tap style I play with both hands over the fingerboard using hammer-on and pull-off techniques much like playing the piano. I also drum out rhythms on the body of the guitar for some songs. My performance is very visual along with the listening experience.”

Jaquie Gipson at Trinidad Lake, 2001

Jaquie lives in Trinidad, Colorado with her husband, Keith; son Jeff, 17 and daughter Kali (pronounced kay-lee), 15. She and Keith met as students at Trinidad State Junior College where Keith is now a full-time faculty member teaching gunsmithing. Jaquie also teaches guitar there part-time and gives private lessons as well. Keith is a great contributor to Jaquie’s performance success. “He is my guitar technician, sound guy and roadie. He’s my all-around right hand man.” Jeff plays guitar and is really into extreme BMX biking. “He is very successful at it but it drives me nuts. It just seems so dangerous to be flipping around in the air.” Kali plays piano and is active in high school volleyball and basketball.

Jaquie grew up in Trinidad. Her father was business manager for the Trinidad school district. Her mother was founder of the Alta Vista School for the Developmentally Disabled. Jaquie’s name is a French variation of Jacqueline. “My mom’s best friend when I was born was French. She thought our family needed a little European influence. She gave me my name and the spelling Jaquie without the letter c.” Jaquie has an older brother and sister. She played sax and clarinet in the high school band and guitar in the jazz band. “Unfortunately no one in my family really played music but I believe that is one of the reasons my parents were so supportive of me and my music.” At fourteen, Jaquie took up guitar. Her brother left for the military service and she inherited his instrument. “The neck was so big it was like playing a tree. I begged my mother for a guitar of my own. My first real guitar was a blue Fender Mustang with a racing stripe. Yes, I still have it. I was supposed to take classical lessons from a teacher who came to the house but I would hide and not answer the door when she came. I was not interested in that kind of music. Later a young man visiting his grandfather down the street turned me on to finger picking. I heard him play the Allman Brothers’ “Little Martha” and I knew immediately I wanted to learn that song. He taught me the Travis pick and about open tunings. I was on my way. After that I studied the techniques of Preston Reed and Billy McLaughlin. Because I did not know it was hard to do, in my naiveté I just jumped in and did it.”

Jaquie and Keith lived in Denver for a couple of years. During that time she took private classical guitar lessons at Denver University. “I started from square one. I refined everything I had already learned. It was just the best instruction and I recognized the value in learning good technique. It really cleaned up my playing. I went in with a beginner’s mind set and learned about correct position. I now teach this to my students. It is very important to get the foundation. It makes playing much smoother. The correct finger positions allow you to play difficult passages without moving your hands so much. The students groan at first but are actually glad to know it when they understand that playing is much easier with proper technique.”

Jaquie is a favorite featured artist on the BRAS stage and has played at the Canon Rose Acoustic Society (CRAS) and the Summer Acoustic Showcases sponsored by BRAS at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. She has also played the BRAS open stage several times. In fact, the first time she was supposed to play at BRAS was the one time BRAS cancelled the performance because of snow. She and Keith fought their way up the interstate from Trinidad in the storm. Keith wanted to turn back because of the dangerous conditions but Jaquie urged him on. “I was so nervous and anxious to play. It was like a disaster movie. We arrived at the community center just as Charlie Hall was hanging the sign to cancel the evening’s performances. He was astonished we had made it from Trinidad and generously offered to put us up at his home but we declined. We found a motel in Colorado Springs where we waited out the storm for a couple of days. A good story and the song ‘Snowbound’ came out of the experience. I did return to play the BRAS open stage the next month and received a very warm welcome. BRAS instantly became my favorite place to play. It still is. It is such a great venue and CRAS is the same. The audiences come to listen and really appreciate the music. In that regard it is difficult, too. Since folks are actually listening, you know you have to do a good job.”

More and more people are taking notice of Jaquie’s unique talent on the six and the twelve string guitars. She was selected 2000 Entertainer of the Year by the Trinidad/Las Animas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Her music is used in a variety of promotional videos and local TV stations. Last year Jaquie performed at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention. She was sponsored by Pick Up the World, a manufacturer of pickups for acoustic instruments and she has a standing invitation to play on the Taylor stage at NAMM. She will do that again this year. Through Pick Up the World she has been booked for a series of house concerts in the Los Angeles area next spring. Last summer she performed house concerts for the first time and will perform several more in Denver in November. “I love the relaxed atmosphere when fifty to one hundred people come just to listen in the intimate setting of a home. It is laid back, warm and wonderful.”

Jaquie is a prolific songwriter, but she cannot easily explain the process. “I don’t think I write the songs. I know that sounds weird but I really do not know where the songs come from. I will just be piddling around in my studio when something comes from a memory or an emotion. Once the idea is there I go from that. I call it a happy accident. For me it would sound mechanical to do it otherwise.” Jaquie uses a variety of open tunings in her songs. (See her piece: “The How and Why of Open Tunings,” The Black Rose, September/October 2002.) “Using open tunings it is hard to play something that does not sound musical. They can really bring new voice to your music. I recommend you try it. You could come up with something very special.” Jaquie has released two CDs and is working on a third. You can hear samples of her music on her web site at www.blackroseacoustic.org. “Tap Dance” is one of my favorites, but then I also like “Visions” and “Chicken Chase” and “Quiet Man.”

Believe me, after a listen you will definitely be at the front of the line to hear Jaquie at the very next opportunity. Hey! Make room for me. Remember, I gave you the tip.