Full Rig Details: bit.ly/AmericanFootballRR
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Inventive open tunings, offset time signatures, jangly Teles, and dream-machine pedals help illuminate the cinematic melodies and moods for the archetype of Midwest emo.

The 15-year history of Rig Rundown has established that guitar gear fascination (and obsession) runs deep in our community. It’s the life blood of our show. But if there was ever antithetical example to guitar gluttony and equipment idolatry, it would be American Football. Their original self-proclaimed “bedroom college project” focused on self-expression, musical creativity, and working with what you had, which wasn’t much.

For the recording of their pioneering American Football album released in 1999, they borrowed most of their gear, shared a single guitar cable and tuner, didn’t use bass, and formulated odd open tunings that allowed for sinuously melodic cinematic passages between Kinsella and Holmes. Their exploration of unique open tunings inspire a legion of players include 6-string virtuoso Yvette Young. (She now ships all her signature Ibanez guitars in a tricky open tuning—F–A–C–G–B–E—derived from American Football.) Their ingenious and scrappy methods went on to inform the brand of Midwest emo that simmered a devoted fanbase waiting for their return after disbanding in 2000. First returning to the stage in 2014 and delivering two more American Football albums in 2016 and 2019, the band continues using minimal gear for maximum art.

Ahead of American Football’s headlining show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, cofounding members Mike Kinsella (vocals/guitar) and Steve Holmes (guitar) invited PG’s Perry Bean onstage for a refreshingly practical gear chat. Kinsella recalls the band’s basic beginnings and explains how he starts every American Football demo. Then, Holmes shows off his “gorgeous and favorite” Tele. Plus, we encounter a Rig Rundown first where the tech has veto power over setlists.

Full Rig Details: bit.ly/AmericanFootballRR
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[Brought to you by D’Addario Trigger Capo: www.daddario.com/TriggerCaposRR]

00:00 - D'Addario Trigger Capos
00:15 - American Football Soundcheck Intro
00:55 - Perry Bean & Mike Kinsella Intro
01:44 - American Football's Beginnings
02:41 - Exploring Open Tunings
05:08 - Mike Kinsella on Playing Telecasters
06:57 - Fender Player Plus Telecaster from Joe Trohman
08:36 - Mike Kinsella's Fender Vintera 70s Tele Custom
09:20 - Mike Kinsella's Fender Tele-Sonic
11:30 - Mike Kinsella's Fender Deluxe Reverbs
12:32 - Mike Kinsella's Pedalboard
17:41 - Tunings with Tech Mike Garzon
19:01 - Steve Holmes' 2014 Fender American Elite Tele
19:41 - Steve Holmes' Jazzmaster & Jaguar
20:44 - Steve Holmes' Twin Reverbs
21:17 - Steve Holmes' Pedalboard

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