Like anyone who's really good at something, Yoshiki Sakurai makes it look easy. On stage, as he lets fly with complicated riffs and rhythms in any variety of styles, he stands expressionless.
I've seen him play African guitar with Mandinka, avant-garde world mixtures with Strada and Cicala Mvta, Hawaiian guitar with Sandii and tango with Ryota Komatsu. He's also played on several of my favorite Okinawan albums, including releases by Tetsuhiro Daiku and Tsuha Kotoku. But while he's one of Japan's most talented guitarists, he's used to being in the background.
Now he's formed his own band, Lonesome Strings, with similarly proficient musicians usually found in the shadows. Contrabass player Takayoshi Matsunga is best known as a former member of Japanese dub pioneers Mute Beat. Genichi Tamura, who plays Hawaiian, pedal steel and National steel guitar, has worked with Calypso/dub outfit Little Tempo, while Satoshi Hara has been playing banjo with Japan's Tsugaru shamisen wonderkids Yoshida Kyodai.