RANDOM NOTES, PART 1

WHAT DO YOU do for a third act when you’ve spent three decades as one of the planet’s most influential solo acoustic players, renowned for fingerpicking your signature Taylor 12-string jumbo with a thunderous tone in lowered tunings? How about forming a duo with a jam-band bass player who not only thumps in the low end but also tends to meander melodically up into guitar territory? What seems unfathomable to most mortals makes perfect sense for musical mutants like guitarist Leo Kottke and bassist Mike Gordon.

There’s no one quite like Leo. It’s been nearly 50 years since the improbable troubadour dropped the sound heard around the world via 1972’s on mentor John Fahey’s Takoma label. Despite his gargantuan influence on countless would-be folk heroes, Kottke remains a singular figure on the acoustic landscape. The bone-dry wit in his stage banter is arguably as instrumental to his act as his fingerpicking prowess. He truly doesn’t need anything but his guitar and his creaky, bass-heavy voice to sing, play and spin endlessly entertaining anecdotes that can quickly win over practically any audience. Yet, the past two decades of the 75-year-old’s career, with both men playing Oscar.