An Interview with Isaac Low Strings for Guitardoor.com
Groove is the Game: Talking Hill Country Blues, Cigar Box Guitars, and Horror Stories with Isaac Low Strings
We recently caught up with Isaac Low Strings, the musician behind the unique project whose take on R.L. Burnside-inspired hill country blues instantly caught our ear. But the journey here isn’t a traditional one. As it turns out, the creator of Isaac Low Strings is primarily a bass and double bass player who found his way to the blues groove through psychobilly, slide playing, and a love for instruments like the cigar box guitar. We talk instruments, influences, the horror-comedy album concept (That hillbilly in every horror movie), and why busking is the next big step.
Guitardoor: Hello Isaac Low Strings! Thanks so much for agreeing to do this. We love the music you’ve been putting out. To start with a basic question, how long have you been playing guitar and what got you into playing? The more details the better.
Isaac Low Strings: That’s a fun question, because I’m not really a guitar player. My main instruments have always been the bass guitar and the double bass. I started playing bass about 11 or 12 years ago, soon after I formed my first band, Deaf Mass, which you can find on my channel.
After Deaf Mass broke up, me and one of my best friends formed a band, called The Oil Drinkers (we are currently finishing our first album), and that’s where my blues journey really started. Since our music is heavily influenced by hill country (despite being a psychobilly band), I started to explore slide guitar. I realized that in the hill country, groove is what predominates, so as a bass player it was quite interesting to explore the guitar in that way. And that’s how I really started playing guitar.
Guitardoor: That’s an interesting evolution from a bass player. You mentioned your instruments aren’t always traditional guitars. Can you elaborate on the cigar box guitar and banjo elements in your music?
Isaac Low Strings: Absolutely. If you listen to most of my songs (both Isaac Low Strings and ERM), there’s no guitar in it. It’s usually a cigar box guitar or a banjo. I really love the raw, elemental sound those instruments bring to the music, especially in the hill country style.
Guitardoor: Your project, Isaac Low Strings, has a unique background story. Can you tell us more about the horror-comedy concept behind it, which is featured on your album That hillbilly in every horror movie?
Isaac Low Strings: The Isaac Low Strings project is linked to a horror-comedy story that I originally posted on Reddit. That’s why my first album is called “That hillbilly in every horror movie.” It’s basically a slasher, but told from the point of view of the hillbilly who warns the victims about the dangers. It gives the music a really cool, gritty context.
Guitardoor: Focusing now on your goals. What are your main musical goals right now, beyond getting more YouTube subscribers?
Isaac Low Strings: My main goals are to keep working on new music and, rather than getting more subscriptions on YouTube, try to reach more people. I’m actually going to start busking soon in my hometown, Girona. I’ve never done it before and I think it’s a good way to improve my confidence and connect directly with an audience.
Guitardoor: Busking is a great way to put yourself out there. Who would you say is your favorite guitarist and why? Also, what’s a song of theirs you’d recommend?
Isaac Low Strings: Well, that depends on the music genre, since I’m still mainly a bass player.
- If we talk about bass, one of my biggest influences is Les Claypool.
- For double bass, I would say Jimbo Walllace, Marshall Lytle, and probably Steve Whitehouse. It’s all about the groove.
- For guitar, the genre that has influenced me the most is hill country blues, especially R.L Burnside (obviously) and Mississippi Fred McDowell.
I must also mention Mark Sandman from Morphine as one of my biggest influences. That’s where the idea of the 2 strings slide bass came out.
Guitardoor: You have some really distinctive tracks out there. If you had to pick two songs that serve as your “cover letter” to new listeners, which ones would they be and why?
Isaac Low Strings: That’s a tough choice! I would say my two cover letter songs are “The Devil Spoke” and “Carcosa.”
- “The Devil Spoke” was the first song that I ever wrote (originally played on a 2 strings slide bass), so I feel very attached to that song. You can hear it early on the album, starting with the dialogue before the main song begins.
- “Carcosa” on the other side, was basically an improvisation, but it became one of my most listened songs. Both of those tracks really capture different sides of my sound.
🎸 Networking with Guitardoor: Meet the Musicians
Guitardoor: Isaac Low Strings, thank you for sharing your unique musical journey with us. As part of these interviews, we aim to connect musicians and facilitate collaboration. Your work with bass, cigar box guitars, and hill country groove could be a fantastic match for guitar players interested in exploring slide, open tunings, or unique sonic textures.
To our readers who are guitarists, bassists, or percussionists interested in connecting with Isaac Low Strings for a potential collaborative project or just to talk shop, please reach out to us! We hope to use this platform to help expand the circle of musicians working in the blues, psychobilly, and experimental genres.
Listen to the Music
You can check out the full album discussed in the interview here:
- Isaac Low Strings – That hillbilly in every horror movie [Full album]
