First single “Jungle Josep & the Lunatics” is part of the most ambitious project of his career!
Top-notch guitarist, composer and Porin Award winner Damir Halilić Hal is unveiling the new single »Jungle Josep & the Lunatics«, which kicks off his upcoming original project and album »6&12 (Bonus 9)«. It’s the first official peek at a full-blown, conceptually rounded work that offers a one-of-a-kind tour of what the acoustic guitar can do across three different instruments – the 6-string, the 12-string and the 9-string guitar.
The single »Jungle Josep & the Lunatics« was written as a piece for the 12-string guitar, an instrument that has almost no tradition of original instrumental repertoire of this kind on the home front. Inspired by the blues and ragtime traditions of the first half of the 20th century, the track brings a modern approach through a rich sonic texture typical of double-string instruments, plus some inventive playing techniques, like changing up the flatpicking approach and playing with the fingers, which really stands out in the central solo section. The production was handled by Emir Grozdanić, and Neno Belan, one of the most prominent songwriters and producers on the Croatian pop scene, also contributed to most of the material on the album.
This single puts special emphasis on the 12-string guitar, an instrument with more than 130 years of history that first developed among street musicians in the United States of America, then boomed in the 1920s and 1930s thanks to the work of legends like Blind Willie McTell and Lead Belly. Their repertoire was later picked up and reinterpreted by some of the biggest names in popular music, and the sound of the 12-string has shaped plenty of iconic songs too, such as »Stairway to Heaven«, »Wish You Were Here«, »Hotel California« and »A Hard Day’s Night«.
Unlike the standard 6-string guitar, this instrument uses six pairs of strings, with each pair tuned either in octaves or in unison, which gives it a much richer, fuller, almost orchestral sound. That layered resonance lets the player create the impression of polyphony and complex harmonic structures without any extra instruments. Hal pushes this potential even further with techniques that go beyond classical guitar playing, including fingerstyle elements, as well as influences from related instruments like the mandolin and banjo, which he played early on in his musical development.
The album »6&12 (Bonus 9)« has been in the making for the past four years and grew from an initial idea about exploring the history of the 12-string guitar into an original project inspired by the evolution of guitar expression. Hal draws the inspiration for the concept from the album Leo Kottke’s »6 and 12 String Guitar«, which he reinterprets through his own modern approach.
The album is currently in the works, with a release planned for the fall. The project brings together three different instruments: the 6-string, the 12-string and the croatica guitar with nine strings, and delivers 51 tracks that blend original writing, improvisation and live experience. There’s a special focus on the pieces for the 12-string guitar, which fuse American tradition with Croatian and Mediterranean musical influences.
One of the defining traits of Hal’s music is its exceptional genre range. Hal, who’s formally classed as a classical composer, mixes elements of jazz, blues, classical, rock and traditional music in his work, the result of years of intense listening and exploring different musical forms. That approach makes him a one-of-a-kind phenomenon on both the domestic and international scene, as confirmed by plenty of praise from renowned musicians around the world.
Hal’s guitar virtuosity has been singled out over the years by a long list of respected players. Tommy Emmanuel stressed his dedication to the instrument and said he hopes Hal’s music reaches audiences all over the world, while Michael Messer reckons Hal’s music has the power to touch people on every continent. Woody Mann describes him as a musician of exceptional talent and technical breadth, and Alan Nimmo of King King compared his playing to the impression of “ten guitarists in one”.
Damir Halilić Hal has a rich international career behind him, six studio albums, countless collaborations with the world’s leading guitarists, and shows all over Europe and the US. Over the years he’s played and worked with musicians like Tommy Emmanuel, B.J. Cole, Muriel Anderson, Woody Mann, Barnie Marsden, Franco Morone, Peter Finger and Clive Carroll, while John Jorgenson, Suzy Bogguss, Stuart Duncan, Mike Farris, Jim Horn and Alan Messer have also appeared on his albums. He’s the founder and artistic director of several major festivals, including Baska International Guitar Festival and Jerry Ricks Blues Festival, which have hosted plenty of big names from the worldwide guitar and blues scene.
The single »Jungle Josep & the Lunatics« is thus the first step in presenting a project that pushes the boundaries of guitar expression and delivers a one-of-a-kind blend of tradition and modernity across three different instruments – 6, 12 and 9 strings.
