Vicki Genfan (born June 15, 1959) is an American singer and guitarist.

Biography

Genfan took up the guitar at age five. Her father played

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, mandolin and fiddle, and sang. Her older brother played guitar, too.Vicki Genfan's page at Luna Guitars.
Accessed on November 18, 2007. She studied classical music and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

in Ithaca, New York.''Tap Tones'' - Bill Milkowski writes about Vicki Genfan
in '' Acoustic Guitar'', issue 109, January 2002. Accessed on November 18, 2007. Besides guitar, Genfan plays piano, banjo, hand percussion, and trombone.Interview with Patty Larkin and Vicki Genfan by Ann Latner.
Accessed on November 18, 2007. In 1994, she produced her first album, ''Native'', on cassette, but it didn't sell in significant numbers. In 2001, she released a self-produced album, ''Outside the Box''. During the same year, she won the ''Just Plain Folks Award'' for the song ''New Grass''. In 2003, the German label Acoustic Music Records released ''Vicki Genfan Live'', an album recorded at Open Strings Festival in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

, Germany. In 2004, she placed second at Mountain Stage New Song Festival in West Virginia with her song, ''Eleanor''. In 2006, she released the double album ''Up Close & Personal''. Genfan has worked with

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

Laurence Juber Laurence Ivor Juber (born 12 November 1952) is an English musician, fingerstyle guitarist and studio musician. He played guitar in the rock band Wings from 1978 to 1981. Biography Early life Born in Stepney, East London, Juber was raised and ...

Kaki King Kaki King (born Katherine Elizabeth King, August 24, 1979) is an American guitarist and composer. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic and lap steel guitar, and he ...

, and

Jennifer Batten Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997 she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001 she toured and recorded wit ...

. Genfan appeared in several American and international magazines and was labeled "Queen of Open Tunings". Genfan won ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and politica ...

'' magazine's ''

Guitar Superstar Guitar Superstar is a yearly competition hosted by the Guitar Player magazine in which 10 finalists compete for the title of Guitar Superstar or Guitar Hero for the year. The competition started in 2005 as the Guitar Hero Competition but was change ...

'08'' contest at San Francisco's

Great American Music Hall The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconies ...

in September 2008. She has given lectures and taught at workshops and guitar clinics.

Technique and equipment

Genfan labels her music "folk meets funk". It's a blend of jazz, funk, pop and world music in a contemporary

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

context. She uses uncommon open tunings and what she calls a "slap-tap" technique. Her first musical inspiration was her father. Other influences include

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell,

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

, Marvin Gaye,

Jonatha Brooke Jonatha Brooke (born January 23, 1964) is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Massachusetts, United States. Her music merges elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies. She has been a ...

, and

Leo Kottke Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including parti ...

. Until May 2009 Genfan played a

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

L-140, a Gibson LG and an Alvarez Silver Anniversary guitar. The Alvarez uses a TrueTone pickup in which two microphones and a L.R. Baggs LB6 pickup send signals to two outlets. Genfan plays a custom Luna guitar built by luthier Gray Burchette and equipped with a MiniFlex internal microphone system and an under-saddle RMC hex pickup. She owns a

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

12 string guitar, a Muse 12 string by

Luna Guitars Luna Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Luna, is a musical instrument company that manufactures string and percussion instruments. Its range of products include steel-string acoustic guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, cajones, kalimbas, and bo ...

, and a Vega 6 string Deering banjo.List of artists using a Deering-Banjo.
Accessed on November 18, 2007 She uses medium-gauge EXP D'Addario strings. Her engineer, Tay Hoyle, plays a main role in producing Genfan's albums and accompanies her on tour.

Discography

* 1994 – ''Native'' (Vicki Genfan) * 2000 – ''

Outside the Box Thinking outside the box (also thinking out of the box or thinking beyond the box and, especially in Australia, thinking outside the square) is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. The phrase als ...

'' (Vicki Genfan) * 2003 – ''

Vicki Genfan Live ''Vicky Genfan live'' is Vicki Genfan's second available release. The album was recorded during the ''Open Strings Festival'' on September 21, 2002, in Osnabrück, Germany. Genfan was until then nearly unknown in Germany; the recorded concert in ...

'' (Acoustic Music) * 2006 – '' Up Close & Personal'' (Harmonic Touch) * 2008 – ''Uncovered'' (Acoustic Sounds) As guest * 1991 – ''Mistaken Identity'', Donna Summer (Atlantic) * 2000 – ''Home Away from Home'', Dee Carstensen (Exit Nine) * 2000 – ''Fourth Floor'', Sonya Heller

References

External links

Official site

Vicki Genfan plays "Atomic Reshuffle" (YouTube video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genfan, Vicki 1959 births American folk guitarists American funk guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists Living people People from Fairview, New Jersey 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women