Rodney Branigan: The one man dynamo

Some musicians just can’t be tied down by genre or instruments. American artist Rodney Branigan is one of them. He blends rock, folk, flamenco, madrigal, classical, bluegrass and jazz all into one, inventing a whole new genre.

The Texas musician’s USP is his ability to play three instruments at one time. His most popular combination is a 12-string guitar, a six-string guitar and a tambourine but he can also play the paino-hand percussion, percussion-xylophone and the guitar-piano combination too, making him a one-man band.

“I am excited to see how the crowd responds to me playing percussion-xylophone at the same time which I have been practicing recently,” says Rodney who is all geared up to perform at the Bonobo Roots Festival on Sunday.

The idea came to him when he saw guitarist Michael Hughes play high notes with the left hand and low notes with the right hand, making it sound like a whole band was performing. “I saw him perform in my teens and I was like, I want to do something like this,” he says.

Rodney’s biggest high, apart from performing in front of new audiences, is to meet different musicians and exchange cultural influences. He has been to India thrice before and even got a chance to jam with the Shaa’ir + Func duo last time around. He’s been to many cities like Jaipur, Delhi and Mumbai and has distinct impressions of each one of them.

Though he has had three album releases and with Live Across being the most popular one so far, he is mainly known for his live acts. He takes on the audience solo handed and most people end up stunned when they see his dexterity at work. “It gives me a great high,” he says.