Guitar mayhem in southern Vermont

By CLARA ROSE THORNTON

Innovation does not equal fame. Talent does not equal recognition. It almost seems humorous to point this out, as the modern pop spectrum shows these truths as painfully obvious, and moreover, music history coughs and gasps with tales of geniuses slaving for commissions that were the equivalent of bread and butter, nothing more.

But then, of course, stages are occasionally graced with the exceptions of living legends, and their relative scarcity makes the live show that much more intense, and that much more of a personal memory. This weekend — in two separate shows Saturday in Bellows Falls, and Sunday in Brattleboro — Southern Vermonters have the delicious opportunity to grab such future memories by the reins and experience, back-to-back, two purveyors of “real” music who’ve been recognized for the mavericks that they are. Though not household names by any means, Peter Blanchette and Richard Thompson are no-brainers for serious modern music enthusiasts, the former an inventor of a completely new instrument in 1980 and the latter an enduring British folk impresario whose output has stood the violent test of time.

New England native son Peter Blanchette plays baroque, renaissance and modern classical music on an instrument that resembles a guitar on LSD. It is the “archguitar,” owning eleven strings and a much larger musical range than the six-string standby. Blanchette explains, “(When you strum) the top playable note on a six-string guitar with your right hand and the bottom playable note with your left hand, you have the typical range of a guitar.

“Well, with my instrument, it would be as if with your right hand you went up almost another octave and with your left hand you went down almost another octave. So it expands the range of the instrument both above the ordinary six-string guitar and below. It has more bass and more high notes, more treble.”

Therefore Blanchette can use it to play classical compositions written in the 16th and 17th centuries for the lute and piano, rephrasing Bach, Sylvius Leopold Weiss and Francesco of Bosnia into liltingly twisted modern echoes of themselves. His repertoire extends to modern composers such as Stravinsky and includes original compositions that tinker with the musical imagination, such as “Had Miles Met Maurice,” an imaginary collaboration between jazz great Miles Davis and impressionist pianist Maurice Ravel. An example of Blanchette’s talent and the archguitar’s capabilities, “Had Miles Met Maurice” puts Ravel in a smoky 1950s jazz club, milky tones taken hostage by peculiar backing strings.

Blanchette was born in Rochester, N.H., and grew up just north of Boston. Though originally drawn to Beatles tunes and the dirty blues of Chicago greats like Howlin’ Wolf, hearing the English classical guitarist Julian Bream drew him to his lifelong passion. Suddenly, after years in random rock bands, music took on a new dimension for him.

“When I got into classical music at first I learned it by ear, then I realized that this is the kind of music you want to learn by reading, so I taught myself to read (notation),” he said. “Then I went to conservatory for a while, dropped out and became a street musician over in Europe. I did that for most of my 20s.” This bohemian experiment paved the way for current nods such as composing for NPR programs “This American Life,” “All Things Considered” and “Prairie Home Companion,” as well as HBO’s “Sex in the City.”

Following a completely different trajectory, West London-born Richard Thompson founded and led the pioneering folk band Fairport Convention while still a teenager in 1968. Fairport Convention — admired by many as one of pop history’s underrated gems — contained less sunshine-coated, era-appropriate Brit folk and more complex balladry, in no small amount due to Thompson’s songwriting and somewhat dark guitar work and rougher vocals. The band underwent manifold personnel changes in the beginning years, and Thompson left in 1971 after five albums.

Already seeming possessed by his musical urges, the prolific output that has marked his 40-year career was well under way, debuting his first solo album, “Henry and the Human Fly,” just a year later in 1972. In between “Henry” and 2007’s “Sweet Warrior” stand dozens upon dozens of studio and live albums, comprising a songbook of incredibly enduring stature. It is Thompson’s deep-seated emotional treatment of subjects, his songs’ continual tone of slight darkness swinging between sadness and sardonic reflection and the ferocity of his live performance that have kept him in demand as a solo artist for so long, especially without the aid of constant chart hits. Thompson could be considered the very definition of an underground hero.

But, then again, maybe “underground” is not the correct word when he was recently voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top 20 guitarists of all time (an impressive No. 19 in a list of 100) and won the BBC Lifetime Achievement Folk Award in 2006. The list of greats who have covered his tunes include Elvis Costello, David Byrne, R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, Del McCoury, Graham Nash and Los Lobos.

It will be a weekend of serious guitar mayhem, to be sure, in towns just 20 minutes from one another. Blanchette appears at Immanuel Episcopal Church in Bellows Falls at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Thompson explodes into the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Prepare to be riveted.