Layers of cleanly picked guitar, shuffling drums and an organ (or is that a distant train whistle?) weave around Cabic until the whole song sounds like a sigh.

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The quartet Alt-J, whose "An Awesome Wave" won last year's Mercury Prize as Britain's best album, did much with little on stage as odd two-part vocal harmonies, a gently picked electric guitar, lush synth lines and syncopated percussion coalesced into a distinctive blend that united folk, prog rock, electronica, show tunes and hip-hop.

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In an interview with Guitar World he said he still picked up a guitar "pretty much every day".

BBC: Alvin Lee

For all of the reasons I ever picked up a guitar or sang a tune in a Fargo, N.

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And I picked up a guitar because he plays, and he--very patient.

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At 17 she picked up a guitar, learned a few chords, and discovered her gift for crafting music and lyrics was still very much intact.

BBC: David White: Holly Williams interview

Armed with freshly crafted lyrics to "God Save the Queen, " Mr. Alexander picked up his guitar and posted one of the first YouTube entries for the competition.

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He first picked up a guitar at the age of 12 while in exile in Algeria, where he had fled with members of his family after the first Tuareg rebellion in Mali and Niger.

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Since his days in The Yardbirds as part of the British invasion of the 1960s, Beck has picked and plucked and whammy bar'd his way to true Guitar Hero status ( and not the video game kind).

NPR: First Listen: Jeff Beck, 'Emotion And Commotion'