Review: Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern

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Does technical mastery yield good music? This is the question that will likely frame the early part of Marnie Stern’s musical career. Her guitar-string-tapping technique (think Eddie Van Halen’s intro to “Hot for Teacher”) is jaw-dropping, sending forth notes in such rapid succession that it allows us to conjure other fret-board wizards like Earl Scruggs, Les Claypool, and the aforementioned Van Halen brother. Indeed, if publicity and fate were fair and Ms. Stern willing, her photograph would grace the cover of Guitar World. But back to the original question: does guitar prowess foster good songs? If last year’s debut In...