Bill Orcutt
Bill Orcutt is an American guitarist and composer whose work combines elements of blues, punk, and free improvisation.
Biography
Inspired by seeing Muddy Waters in The Last Waltz, Orcutt began playing the guitar as a teenager in Miami. An early group, between 1989-1991, was Orcutt? with drummer Tim Koffley. An aborted 2021 release It's All Meat comprised recordings prior to Orcutt? with Koffley and vocalist Lloyd Johnson, with whom he was also in Miami’s Trash Monkeys. Orcutt is quoted as saying this was "almost a band".In 1992, he formed the band Harry Pussy with his wife, Cuban/American drummer and vocalist Adris Hoyos. The group recorded three LPs and toured the US frequently, often in support of indie bands like Sonic Youth and Sebadoh. Their music, which drew from American no wave, hardcore punk and free jazz was influential and "served as a progenitor for the Noise movement." In 1997 the band dissolved and the couple divorced.
Orcutt moved to San Francisco and took a long hiatus from music, returning in 2009, with an LP of solo guitar entitled A New Way to Pay Old Debts which was well received, ranking third of 2009 in The Wire's annual "Rewind" list. His follow-up release How the Thing Sings was similarly praised, reaching number 3 on NPR's The Best Outer Sound Albums of 2011.
Orcutt has issued a great many cassettes and singles in highly limited editions, usually through his labels Fake Estates and Palilalia Records. Fake Estates principally covers music produced through Cracked, an open source audio programme which he published in 2016. He describes it as a "free app for Mac OS. It’s a JavaScript library and live coding environment for sound making".
Since 2009, Orcutt has toured often appearing at festivals in the US and Europe, including Hopscotch, Incubate, Le Nouveau Festival du Centre Pompidou, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Donau and Big Ears. Typically a solo performer, Orcutt has also recorded or performed with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Chris Corsano, Peter Brötzmann and Alan & Richard Bishop.
Discography
~ denotes a recording using Cracked.Solo albums
Untitled A New Way to Pay Old Debts How the Thing Sings A History of Every One Twenty Five Songs released as a box of thirteen 7" singlesSolo Acoustic Volume Ten Cracked Music ~An Account Of The Crimes Of Peter Thiel And His Subsequent Arrest, Trial And Execution ~Bill Orcutt Why Four Strings? compilationNeu Bros/OK Phone/Rural Beatles Live in LA ~Odds Against Tomorrow Slow Troll ~Reasons I Am Great A Mechanical Joey The Entertainer B/W New Words from the OED Music for Four Guitars The Anxiety of Symmetry Jump On It The Four Louies How to rescue things- ''Another Perfect Day''
Collaborations/split releases
The Raw and the Cooked with Chris CorsanoRoad Stories with Sir Richard BishopLive at Various with Chris CorsanoColonial Donuts with Jacob Felix HeuleVarious Live with Chris CorsanoParallelogram with Chris Corsano and Alan BishopLive in New York with Circuit Des YeuxElectric Guitar Duets with Michael Morley (musician)Live at Cafe Oto with Okkyung LeeOKK/OTT with Okkyung LeeOne Dollar Hits ~ with Chris CorsanoGucci Tops and Bottoms ~ with Chris CorsanoBrace Up! with Chris CorsanoElectric Smog with Chris CorsanoMade Out of Sound with Chris CorsanoFor Bill Who Will Be 100 In The Year 2062 with Tashi DorjiHemlock Tavern with Chris CorsanoThe Flower School with Chris Corsano and Zoh AmbaPlay at Duke with Chris CorsanoA Mouth at Both Ends with Tashi Dorji and Joe McPheeFour Guitars Live with the Bill Orcutt Guitar QuartetLive at Big Ears with Chris CorsanoAt Land and Sea with Alan LichtPlay Paris and Glasgow with Okkyung LeeSoundtrack for New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903 with Danishta Rivero and Jacob Felix HeuleSolo cassettes
Why Does Everybody Love Free Music But Nobody Loves Free People? My Friends When I'm Not There Gerty Loves Pussy Two Weeks in Another Town Daddy's Got a Spice Rack Recent Chrome Exploits ~Plays Songs Lonely People Live at Constellation Live at No Response Pure Genius ~Warszawa Real Feel Geel Reel Empire of Hurt Feelings- ''Roasted Memories''