Gwenifer Raymond: Tiny Desk Concert

Bewitching tones from Welsh finger-picking master   20-Apr-26

Gwenifer Raymond is a phenomenal finger-picking guitarist, known for the incredible speed, intricacy, and melodic tapestry of her music. Here she is summoning spirits for Tiny Desk Concert after years of adulation on the folk and finger-picking circuits; touring the world signed to Tompkins Square for years, and more recently Fat Possum. Next month she supports Mitski at London's Royal Albert Hall.

She was a guest on the 'midierror meets...' interview series a few years ago, covering her career history and sharing stories of the weird and wonderful...sometimes haunted guitars she owns. 

"My name's Gwenifer Raymond. I mostly just play guitar." There's an understated charm about the Welsh guitarist's limited banter behind the Desk, but little prepares you for what howls from her instrument. Raymond's fingerstyle guitar drones with a haunted quality, but her flurry of bends, slides and chord clusters rip open the firmament.

Steeped in pre-war blues, but picking up on the acoustic innovations of John Fahey and Jack Rose, Raymond started releasing records a little less than a decade ago. But it's on Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, one of NPR Music's best albums of 2025, where the Cardiff-born and now Brighton-based guitarist forged an unmistakably distinct sound: a controlled recklessness that conjures spells with six strings. Exhilarating, but also terrifying.

After the dizzying shred of "Jack Parsons Blues" and the scenic storytelling of "Bliws Afon Ta_f," Raymond comes up for air, suddenly aware of the audience in awe. It's just her back there, after all, with an acoustic guitar - we're lost in the trance, too. And then, as if on cue, she takes us to hell.

Check out her Bandcamp here

Two of her previous releases will soon be available and newly remastered. 

Gwenifer Raymond - You Were Never Much Of A Dancer (Pre-Order)

Gwenifer Raymond - Strange Light Over Garth Mountain (Pre-Order)

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