Nick Schillace

Nick Schillace’s third album of acoustic solo guitar is a phenomenal record of all original works, recorded live without overdubs. On tracks like “Soft as a Flame” and “Exponential Love,” strands of melody unravel themselves and wrap around competing strains like proteins in an RNA chain—all in an effort to give nothing so much as pure joy to the listener. Other tracks on A Rich Boy’s Measured Blues are more lilting and simple, to great effect. “Gold Dusted” or “My Side of the Mountain” might be stuck inside your brain for days, but you won’t mind. Schillace gets a little weird and deep in a raga style, too, notably on the eight-minute “Blood Meridian.” This is not a manifesto, because 50-year-olds don’t need to write manifestos. But it is such a powerfully woven-together record that it has all the power of one.

Already a successful educator (with his own music…