Mike Rutherford

Invisible Strings: Guitars, Bass Pedals, and Songcraft from Genesis to Mike + the Mechanics

De: Caius D. Merrow

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

From the chapel halls of Charterhouse to the stadium stages of Genesis and Mike + the Mechanics, Mike Rutherford – Invisible Strings traces the quiet architecture behind one of rock’s most enduring careers. Rutherford was never the flashiest member of Genesis, nor the loudest voice in interviews, yet his bass pedals, 12-string arpeggios, and unshakable patience built the frameworks that allowed progressive epics and global hits alike to endure.

This definitive biography follows his path from Guildford childhood and dorm-room bands to the disciplined experiments of Genesis’s early albums. It explores the interplay of guitars and pedals on Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound, the logistical and creative daring of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and the reinventions required after Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett departed. It charts the rise of concise songwriting on ...And Then There Were Three and Invisible Touch, where Rutherford’s parts balanced radio immediacy with structural depth.

The narrative widens to Mike + the Mechanics, showing how hits like “Silent Running” and “The Living Years” distilled Rutherford’s ethos of clarity, melody, and restraint. Alongside music, the book examines governance—publishing rights, catalog stewardship, touring economies, and the discipline that kept both Genesis and the Mechanics viable across decades of industry upheaval.

Rutherford emerges as a craftsman of durability: a songwriter who shaped counterlines that redefined harmony, a guitarist who understood restraint as power, and a leader whose quiet authority sustained complex ensembles through shifting eras. Invisible Strings situates his story within the broader ecosystems of progressive rock, MTV dominance, and digital reinvention, offering readers not just biography but cultural history.

For fans of Genesis, students of rock composition, and readers fascinated by the machinery behind music, this is the definitive account of how invisible frameworks can carry songs—and careers—across generations.