Friday Performers |
Sean McGowan
Sean McGowan is a fingerstyle jazz guitarist who combines many diverse musical influences with unconventional techniques to create a broad palette of textures within his compositions and arrangements for solo guitar. His first recording, River Coffee won the Best Independent Release of the Year Award (2002) from Acoustic Guitar magazine and music from the recording has been featured on BBC’s “Great Guitars” radio program, Maine Public Radio, and has been published in Japan’s Acoustic Guitar magazine and Mel Bay’s Master Anthology of Fingerstyle Guitar, Vol. 3 (2005). His most recent release Indigo offers a compelling portrait of classic jazz standards performed on solo electric archtop guitar. As a soloist, Sean has performed at several festivals including the Novi Sad International Jazz Festival in Serbia, the Newport Guitar Festival, the Classic American Guitar Show in New York, and has collaborated with several dance and improv companies, as well as performances with jazz musicians throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
www.seanmcgowanguitar.com |
Frank James
Frank James started playing professionally in the early 1960's. "That's if you skip my first paying gig when I was 12. I was the entertainment at the local Grange Hall. I sang 'Danny Boy' a capella and they paid me, I think, five bucks." Frank started to play guitar when he was 17 years old, after already studying classical piano for six years. He almost immediately gravitated to the 12 string. "I'd been learning on a gut string guitar, playing folk songs with two chords and 20 verses. I decided to buy a decent steel string guitar. This was around Boston where the folk music scene was really starting to take off. I went into a music store next to Boston Common. They had about 50 guitars hanging on the wall, but there was this one on the end with too many tuning pegs. It was a 12 string. I took it down, played an E chord and that was it. I fell in love. So I bought it. And then all I had to do was learn how to play it. An activity that still occupies a lot of my time, by the way."
Website |
Saturday Performers |
Scott Goldman
 Scott Goldman has been playing guitar for over thirty years. He found his inspiration at Leo Kottke concert in the early 1970's and never looked back. As life takes its twists and turns Scott got a day job but continued to pursue guitar playing in his spare time.
The compositions on "Off Season" were written over the last three years. They range from moody and contemplative (A Sonar) to more aggressive pieces like "Traffic Stop." After sharing some of the tracks with friends, Scott was encouraged to put together this CD.
profile.myspace.com
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Peppino D’Agostino
Peppino D’Agostino doesn’t just play the guitar. He composes, arranges, collaborates, improvises and has even been known to sing a song here and there in both English and Italian. But what he does create on the guitar makes the difference between simply playing and truly making music apparent in the most wonderful ways.
D’Agostino has been hailed as “a guitarist’s guitarist” by Acoustic Guitar magazine as well as “a giant of the acoustic guitar” (San Diego Reader), and holds many top guitar awards, but the San Francisco Chronicle encapsulated the essential difference that distinguishes D’Agostino’s music when it dubbed him “a poet.”
That poetic eloquence, grace and magic suffuses Nine White Kites, his first album of new compositions for the guitar in a decade (during which time he’s done much else wonderful with his musical talents). The set of 11 songs and two bonus tracks launches with the soaring fingerpicking of the title track, leading the listener through a tour de force showcase of D’Agostino’s mastery and artistry.
www.peppinodagostino.com |
Tony McManus
To find a unique voice on so ubiquitous an instrument as the acoustic guitar is quite an achievement: to do so within a centuries old idiom where the instrument has no real history is truly remarkable. In little over ten years as a professional musician Tony McManus has come to be recognised throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic Music. From early childhood his twin obsessions of traditional music and acoustic guitar have worked together to produce a startlingly original approach to this ancient art. In Tony’s hands the complex ornamentation normally associated with fiddles and pipes are accurately transferred to guitar in a way that preserves the integrity and emotional impact of the music.
Self taught from childhood, initially through listening to the family record collection, McManus abandoned academia in his twenties to pursue music full time. The session scene in Glasgow and Edinburgh provided the springboard for gigs around Scotland and a studio set for BBC Radio, frequently rebroadcast, began to spread the word.
www.tonymcmanus.com |
Doyle Dykes
Although influenced by a wide variety of musical styles and musicians from the country of Chet Atkins to the rock and roll of Duane Eddy and the Beatles, Doyle has developed a distinct, recognizable sound that amazes audiences with skill while capturing hearts with sincerity and soul.
Doyle's appreciation for various styles of music is reflected in his albums as they include signature compositions like "Jazz in the Box" and "Martha's Kitchen" and hymns like the powerful "How Great Thou Art." "Gitarre 2000" was released by Windham Hill Records, and Doyle's music has appeared on several of the label's compilation albums like "Here, There, and Everywhere" (a tribute to the Beatles). In addition, Doyle's music has been heard on United Airlines, Air Canada, NPR's Morning News and All Things Considered, Disney's California Adventure, and even the Space Shuttle Atlantis in September, 2000.
www.doyledykes.com |
David Lindley
 Multi-instrumentalist David Lindley performs music that redefines the word "eclectic." Lindley, well known for his many years as the featured accompanist with Jackson Browne, and leader of his own band El Rayo-X, has long championed the concept of world music. The David Lindley electro-acoustic performance effortlessly combines American folk, blues, and bluegrass traditions with elements from African, Arabic, Asian, Celtic, Malagasy, and Turkish musical sources. Lindley incorporates an incredible array of stringed instruments including but not limited to Kona and Weissenborn Hawaiian lap steel guitar, Turkish saz and chumbus, Middle Eastern oud, and Irish bouzouki. The eye-poppingly clad "Mr. Dave's" uncanny vocal mimicry and demented sense of humor make his onstage banter a highlight of the show.
www.davidlindley.com
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John Jorgenson
The John Jorgenson Quintet features guitarist John Jorgenson, a founding member of the Desert Rose Band, the Hellecasters, and six-year member of Elton John's band. Artists ranging from Barbra Streisand to Bonnie Raitt to Earl Scruggs have sought out Jorgenson's guitar work. Recently, John Jorgenson was chosen to portray Django Reinhardt in the feature film Head in the Clouds.
At a John Jorgenson Quintet performance, audiences are amazed by John's dazzling guitar work as well as his mastery as a clarinet player and vocalist. Whether playing his own accessible compositions or classic standards, John and his band make music that is equally romantic and ecstatic, played with virtuosity and soul.
www.johnjorgenson.com |
Larry Carlton
 Larry Carlton’s own musical story began in Southern California. He picked up his first guitar when he was only six years old. He was introduced to jazz in junior high school after hearing The Gerald Wilson Big Band album, Moment of Truth, with guitarist Joe Pass. Larry then became interested in Barney Kessel, Wes Montgornery and the legendary blues guitarist B.B. King. Saxophonist John Coltrane was also a major influence on Carlton, beginning with Coltrane’s 1962 classic Ballads.
www.larrycarlton.com
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Jim Deeming
When Jim Deeming takes the stage, audiences know they're in for a treat
before the first song is over. His infectious love of the guitar is
evident in every arrangement, whether playing an original or covering
one of his heroes, including the likes of Chet Atkins, Merle Travis and
Jerry Reed.
Jim got his first guitar at the age of six. His ever evolving
fingerstyle technique produces an exciting one-man-band sound which he
applies to a wide range of songs from gospel to country, pop, classical
and bluegrass. He rounds out his sound with alternate tunings and
blistering banjo-style rolls that leave listeners looking around for
"the other guitar player"
In addition to performing and recording, he is also a fingerstyle
instructor for JamPlay.com with thousands of students in over 50
countries and recently won 2nd place in the 2011 Utah State Open
Fingerstyle Championship.
www.jimsguitar.com
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Sunday Performers |
Mark Selby Band
Mark Selby is a native of Oklahoma and Kansas now based in Nashville. He has established himself as a rare triple-threat talent: a gifted songwriter with serious guitar chops and a voice to match.
Songwriter: Selby has written more than 10 top-40 singles and 4 #1 hits, including the Dixie Chicks' Grammy-winning There's Your Trouble and Kenny Wayne Shepherd's Blue On Black -- Billboard magazine's1998 Rock Track of the Year. Wynona, Trisha Yearwood, Lee Roy Parnell & Keb Mo, JoDee Messina and many others have recorded Selby's songs.
Recording Artist: Selby's new Nine Pound Hammer CD on the ZYX label is garnering critical raves in Europe and will be released in the U.S. in late 2008. He has released two internationally acclaimed blues/rock albums for Vanguard Records -- More Storms Comin' (2000) and Dirt (2003) and contributed to the Grammy-nominated Avalon Blues: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt (2001). His single She's Like Mercury was the first charting rock single for the Vanguard label. A solo acoustic CD, Mark Otis Selby...And The Horse He Rode In On was released in 2006. His discography as a session musician includes recent releases by Wynona, Kenny Rogers, Jamie O'Hara, Ronnie Milsap, Johnny Reid, and the Keni Thomas album Flags of our Fathers, which Selby co-produced with Brent Maher.
Live Performer: A virtuoso guitarist and dynamic live artist, Mark Selby has shared the stage with B.B. King, Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Robert Cray, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Delbert McLinton, John Hiatt, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Collective Soul, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Levon Helm, Junior Brown, and many more. Selby has appeared on notable radio and television music programming including World Cafe, Mountain Stage, and Woodsongs, and continues to perform with his stellar backup band, as an acoustic solo artist, and in a duo with his wife and frequent collaborator, Tia Sillers.
www.markselby.com |
Bill Kirchen
Grammy nominated guitarist, singer and songwriter Bill Kirchen is one of the fortunate few who can step onto any stage, play those trademark licks that drove his seminal Commander Cody classic Hot Rod Lincoln into the Top Ten, and elicit instant recognition for a career that has spanned over 40 years and includes guitar work with Nick Lowe, Emmylou Harris, Doug Sahm, Elvis Costello and many more. Named “A Titan of the Telecaster” by Guitar Player Magazine, he celebrates an American musical tradition where rock 'n' roll and country music draws upon its origins in blues and bluegrass, Western swing from Texas and California honky-tonk. His current CD Word To The Wise on Proper American features duets with many of these artists he's worked with, including Elvis, Nick, Maria Muldaur and Dan Hicks.
www.billkirchen.com |
 Albert Lee
Albert Lee has become known as ‘The guitar players guitarist’. He can also turn his hand to playing the piano and mandolin.
Currently Albert is working and tours with Hogans Heroes on a regular basis.
http://www.albertlee.co.uk |
Carolyn Wonderland
A musical force equipped with the soulful vocals of Janis and the guitar slinging skills of Stevie
Ray, Carolyn Wonderland reaches into the depths of the Texas blues tradition with the wit of a
poet. She hits the stage with unmatched presence, a true legend in her time.
"She'd grown up the child of a singer in a band and began playing her mother's vintage
Martin guitar when other girls were dressing dolls. She'd gone from being the teenage toast
of her hometown Houston to sleeping in her van in Austin amid heaps of critical acclaim for
fine recordings Alcohol & Salvation, Bloodless Revolution, and most recently, Miss Understood.
Along with the guitar and the multitude of other instruments she learned to play – trumpet,
accordion, piano, mandolin, lap steel – Wonderland's ability to whistle remains most unusual.
Whistling is a uniquely vocal art seldom invoked
www.carolynwonderland.com |
Lee Ritenour
Growing up in L.A. in the 60's, Grammy award winning guitarist Lee Ritenour received a rich cross section of exposure to jazz, rock and Brazilian music. From one of his first sessions at 16 with the Mamas and Papas to accompanying Lena Horne and Tony Bennett at 18, his forty year eclectic and storied career is highlighted by a Grammy Award win for his 1986 collaboration with Dave Grusin, Harlequin; 17 Grammy nominations; numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious "Alumnus of the Year" award from USC. He has recorded over 40 albums, with 35 chart songs, notably the Top 15 hit "Is It You," which has become a contemporary jazz radio classic. In the 90s, Ritenour was a founding member of Fourplay, the most successful band in contemporary jazz, with keyboardist Bob James, bassist Nathan East and drummer Harvey Mason. The first Fourplay album in 1991 spent an unprecedented 33 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. Adding to this legacy is his latest CD Smoke ‘n' Mirrors; the recently completed Grammy nominated recording Amparo, (a follow-up with Dave Grusin to their highly-successful 2001 Grammy Award nominated contemporary classical crossover CD) and producer of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's latest CD Act Your Age (which is nominated for 3 Grammys.
www.leeritenour.com |
