The Trans-Pecos is a land of stark beauty, dotted with javelinas, ghost towns and small mountain ranges. There’s Marfa, known for its lights and minimalist art, and Terlingua, a tight-knit community of old-timers near the Texas-Mexico border; Alpine, 12,000 strong, is the region’s center. The winter holidays of 2018 found Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter touring through that part of the state. Each night they played solo and duo sets, interpreting traditional folk songs and showcasing their own, unifying seemingly disparate approaches to the guitar. Anticipation, the first album of gorgeous duets by the two young gun guitarists, is the product of this trip, documenting a musical juncture between desert and city, Chicago and the Southwest, folk traditions and America’s musical avant-garde.

Cameron Knowler & Eli Winter – Anticipation