In New York City you cannot swing the proverbial "dead cat" without hitting a singer-songwriter. Periodically however, "Fluffy" strikes someone who makes interesting music. One such performer is Alexa Wilding. And she is a busy young woman.

"I'm leaving next week to go on a US Tour with Au Revoir Simone, followed a couple shows here in New York. Then in the fall I'm leaving for a longer US Tour with Danish singer, CALLmeKAT, " she says. "In both cases, I'm the lone acoustic performer! Some times I get nervous that people's ears have grown so accustomed to electronic music and manipulation that they won't understand what I'm doing, but so far so good!"

Wilding's "lone acoustic" music is performed using a Guild Model A25 NT HG (1995) which is the first acoustic guitar she ever owned.

"I've had it for sixteen years now. I learned at age 12 on an inexpensive Fender Squire Bullet series, and when it quickly became clear that music was more than a hobby--I started writing songs almost immediately--my dad and his friends all chipped in and bought me my Guild. It was a lucky guess on their part, and worth every penny, as I've been playing and recording with it ever since," says Wilding. "My dad said the size of the Guild is what initially caught his eye, as it looked especially delicate next to the other more standard models on the wall. When he played it, he knows some basic chords, he was struck by its friendly warmth. I couldn't agree more, and its pretty sweet to still be playing and loving it. Over the years I've toyed with trying new models, other brands--Taylor's small bodied Grand Concert was of interest to me--but no guitar had the same combination of size and tone. I'm sticking with this one!"

But it s more than a friendly vibe and a delicate size that appeal to Wilding. The guitar has a unique sound as well.

"The tone is unlike anything I can find in another guitar. It has an elegant, woody warmth to it that fits my somewhat reedy, breathy voice perfectly. I cringe when a guitar is too bright, for it overwhelms my sound," says Wilding. "I mainly finger pick so the balance between my arpeggios and voice needs to be pitch perfect. Since I developed my sound and have written all of my songs on this guitar, you have to wonder how much influence it had on my music! My music has been described as ghostly and haunting, and the deep warmth of the guitar is a big factor."

When you play a smaller bodied guitar you get some things tonally and you lose some. In this case, however, the trade off, in Wilding's eyes, is less than it often is with other instruments. Since the guitar is now 15 years old, the aging of the wood no doubt contributes to the tone she describes. The small body never appeared to her to make a difference.

"The sound is still strong, but its strong in its warmth as opposed to loudness. Bass notes resonate very deeply, which is one of my favorite things about the guitar. maybe that's part of the haunting quality," she says. "The small body also allows me to move on stage, which I do a lot of, rocking with music, swaying back and forth. It's a perfect fit, while more standard sizes to me seem cumbersome. I'm a physical player and some acoustic guitars feel like monsters!"

A certain sort of player is going to appreciate the Guild A25 NT HG more than others according to Wilding.

"It's not made for power player looking to bang chords away. There is a delicacy to this guitar, its for the more nuanced player for sure," she says. "I think the more poetic player will find this model to be special in its warmth. Even though I'm finger picking I'm very expressive with my playing, and this guitar lends itself to that."

She uses a LR Baggs M1 Soundhole Magnetic Acoustic Guitar Pickup.

"Tim (Foljahn, my band mate) installed it in my Guild as a Christmas present. It says a lot about my trust in him that I let him drill a hole in the bottom of my beloved guitar!" she says. "But this pick up has caused me no problems at all, there's never any buzz when I play big venues, its totally reliable."

Wilding, basically, has nothing but good things to say about this instrument;especially about its tone.

"I can't stress this enough, the warmth is one of a kind. Some guitars sound like a bunch of cans clanging, this is the smoothest sound I have ever heard. Its like velvet. Always, even on the rare occasion when I do strum it hard." she says.

She has not had any issues with the guitar itself (construction, parts etc.) but she has had some issues. Issues that illustrate the need to keep a guitar at as constant a temperature and humidity level as is possible.

"The only issues I've had is, after moving from apartment to apartment with in New York City, all with different temperature issues, I did have some cracking, one that went through the bridge," she says. "The folks at Matt Umanoff's on Bleeker Street, where I got the guitar, performed amazing surgery, but I do still worry about pressure, as it's such a delicate guitar. We'll see how it holds up flying on tour with me, I'm a little nervous!"