Today we have a guest rec from Tom Rose, a writer and artist living in DC. Tom’s creative projects include bands, websites, magazines, photography, and most recently large scale puppets.

“He was born in a coop, raised in a cage / Children fear him, critics rage / He's half alive, he's half dead / Folks just call him Buckethead!”

I was surprised to hear this artist has yet to be featured on Flow State, so today I offer Buckethead, the guitar prodigy known as much for his skills as his enigma: a puppet-wielding horror who wears a white Michael Myers mask and KFC bucket crown. As an artist, Buckethead has been pushing the boundaries of guitar playing for over 35 years. He has released music that spans genres from metal, funk, progressive rock, bluegrass, and beyond. And he has collaborated with legends such as Bootsy Collins, Bernie Wornell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, and more. With 31 studio albums and 662 self-released records in his “Pikes” series, Buckethead’s catalog is more than a discography — it is a constantly expanding musical theme park woven with lore. In addition to his studio and self-released works, he has also contributed to soundtracks for films such as Mortal Kombat, Beverly Hills Ninja, and Saw II, as well as the unlockable bonus track “Jordan” for the game Guitar Hero 2.

For Flow State, we’re spinning one of his ambient works, Electric Tears (2002), and the fifth in his Pikes series, Look Up There (2011).

Electric Tears - Buckethead (70m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Look Up There - Buckethead (30m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Have a great Wednesday.