Guitarist, harp guitarist and composer Muriel Anderson recently joined Larry Black and crew for a live taping of “Larry’s Country Diner” set to air in March.
Anderson embraces music from all over the world, and her playing reflects a sense of grace and joy, infused with humor. The Chicago Tribune called the acoustic guitarist “one of the world’s best, and most versatile, guitar instrumentalists.”
Born in Downers Grove, Illinois, Anderson’s great grandparents emigrated to the United States from Finland. Her grandfather played saxophone in the John Philip Sousa band, and Anderson learned piano as a child.
However, when she was eight a family friend gave her a guitar slated for the garbage, and she began taking lessons a few years later at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Her talent earned her a spot as a member of her high school’s jazz band.
Before entering college on an academic scholarship, Anderson helped form a bluegrass band with which she performed throughout her years at DePaul University in Chicago.
One of her classical guitar teachers at DePaul was Leon Borkowski, who had been a student of celebrated classical guitarist Christopher Parkening, from whom she later tood master classes in Montana
“She has demonstrated excellent technique and has the fine musicianship to communicate well to her audiences,” Parkening said of his former student.
At DePaul she took mandolin lessons from Jethro Burns, who introduced her to his brother-in-law, Chet Atkins. Atkins became a friend and mentor to Anderson.
“Muriel Anderson is a good friend and a great guitarist,” Atkins said of Anderson, adding that she deserved national recognition.
That, she has earned. Anderson is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Her CD, “Nightlight Daylight,” was chosen as one of the top 10 CDs of the decade by Guitar Player Magazine, and her “Heartstrings” recording accompanied the astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery. Her recording of “El Noi de la Mare” can be heard in Woody Allen’s feature film, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
She has recorded an album with the flamenco duo Tierra Negra and performed with such diverse musicians as Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, Earl Klugh, Doc Watson and Les Paul.
“Just one hell of a great player …a great personality, and what I like is the touch that Muriel has on the guitar, the way she plays it like we all wish to play,” Paul said in praise of Anderson, who usually plays a nylon string guitar and a Doolin custom 21-string harp guitar, which has both nylon and steel strings.
Across her career, the 60-year-old Anderson has released more than a dozen solo albums and instructional CDs and DVDs through TrueFire and Homespun. Her double-album, “Nightlight Daylight,” won 11 national and international awards. The CD cover contains fiber optics that illuminate an image of the sky when the cover is pressed.
Last year she released “Acoustic Chef,” a cookbook with a CD of music for each recipe.
A gifted composer who began writing music at age five, her compositions include commissioned classical works for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and the Vox Caelestis Women’s Choir. Her songbooks have been published by respected companies like Hal Leonard, Zen-On Japan and Mel Bay, for which she serves on the advisory board.
Her new TrueFire channel brings her in-demand musical instrument teaching to a wider audience through online classes.
“After reaching the top in her field – she is widely recognized as the premier female fingerstyle guitarist today – Anderson hopes to encourage and inspire a younger audience, to turn them on to the beauty of making music, and maybe in some cases, even turn their lives around,” writer Melissa Erickson stated in The Reporter, referring to Anderson’s commitment to teaching.
Among her many projects is All Star Guitar Night, an initiative she launched to support the Music for Life Alliance, a charity founded by Anderson.
More about her recordings, classes and upcoming live-streams can be found at murielanderson.com.
Article by Claudia Johnson for Country Reunion Magazine.