Yasmin Williams turned heads a few years ago with her brilliant solo acoustic music, often playing the guitar flat on her lap and tapping on the neck, like a piano. With her latest, Acadia, she connected with other great musicians, framing her guitar work with larger ensembles and collaborations including guitarist Kaki King, singer Aoife O’Donovan, and multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons. Even better, she rips on electric guitar, which is almost as thrilling as her uncanny acoustic virtuosity.
When we first heard you, it was mostly solo guitar, but you have multiple collaborators on Acadia. What’s the process like when someone else is in the room?
Having so many collaborators meant traveling to some folks, flying others in, and waiting for folks to have free time to send ideas and record remotely. There are many other factors that aren’t involved in recording solo, but the extra effort is worth it when the collaborators bring their talents and play things I couldn’t dream of playing. Everyone on the record put forth so much effort into realizing my vision, which was super-humbling.
“Cliffwalk” is outside of the musical box for Dom Flemons (VG, January ’19), whom we associate with historical Americana.
Dom recorded his rhythm bones parts remotely and sent them to me. I did some editing to his takes and played around with them to accent the offbeats of the song. We weren’t in the studio together but I wanted it to sound like we were! I played acoustic and the speedy hammer-ons at the end.
On “Harvest,” did you teach Kaki King her part visually, or did you notate it?
I wrote “Harvest” several years ago as a solo guitar tune and forgot about it until 2021, when Kaki and I performed together in a live stream. Not knowing what to play and having to figure it out quickly, I remembered this song and sent her the notation and guitar tabs I had written out. Later, I thought “Harvest” would go very well on the record so I asked her to record it with me and Darian Donovan Thomas contributed the amazing violin parts. It took a few takes for she and I to get the guitar parts to gel, but it was a really fun session!
Did you write “Dawning” with Aoife O’Donovan’s voice in mind?
I wrote that as a solo-guitar piece and, after finishing the song, kept thinking something was missing. I eventually settled on vocals and knew that Aoife had the perfect voice for it. It’s angelic, agile, and sincere, which is exactly what the song needed.
What are your main guitars?
My main guitars are my Skytop Grand Concert and my Epiphone ES-339 with pickups made by Diliberto YW Clean. I used a Marshall stack for the electric parts in “Dream Lake,” and the Archetype: Tim Henson amp sim by Neural DSP for the electric tracks in “Malamu.” There was another amp sim that engineer Jeff Gruber had at his studio for the doubleneck guitar in “Nectar.” I also used my harp guitar in “Virga,” and my Veillette Gryphon mini 12-string for some parts in “Sisters.”
Which tunings do you use?
I use open D most of the time and it’s definitely my favorite. Even though open tunings get flack for being one-dimensional, it’s extremely versatile and lots of fun to play in.
You play guitar both conventionally and laid flat on your lap. Why the different approaches?
Lap tapping allows me to do things I can’t when playing in the conventional way. It allows me to use complex percussive and harmonic techniques that are super-difficult using any other method and is a really natural way of playing for me. I love how lap tapping opens the fretboard and gives me a bird’s-eye view of it. I use conventional playing methods when I’m playing tunes that don’t call for much tapping or tunes that are more-lyrical. I switch between the two when necessary, like in “Juvenescence,” “Hummingbird,” and “Harvest.”
“Hummingbird” is another tour de force.
I wanted banjoist Allison de Groot and fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves on that tune. I didn’t tell them what to play since they don’t require guidance from me, but I wanted it to be high-energy, dynamic, and fast.
Your solos on “Dream Lake” and “Malamu” are impressive. Have you always played electric, or is that a recent passion?
I started playing when I got my first electric 16 years ago, so I’ve been playing for a long time! – Pete Prown
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
