Bio

Kinloch Nelson has been playing guitar since 1956, seriously since ’68 and professionally since ’73. Over a decades-long career he has played folk, classical, ragtime, American primitive, new-age, R & B, surf, rock, oldies pop, country, and jazz music in bands, ensembles, and as a solo performer/composer/arranger.  Nelson has contributed transcriptions and instruction videos to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, performed for NPR radio and TV, and released CDs/&vinyl on Tompkins Square, Heartland, Sampler and BKNjr Records. His recent CD/vinyl recording, “Partly On Time” on Tompkins Square Records garnered positive reviews from Rolling Stone, Fretboard Journal, Mojo Magazine, Underscore Music Magazine and others, and was featured in Acoustic Guitar Magazine.  Nelson studied classical guitar with British guitarist/composer Stanley Watson, jazz guitar with Gene Bertoncini at Eastman music School, and theory at The University of Rochester, (NY). Teaching credits include 25 years at Rochester NY’s Hochstein Music School, four years at Maryland Summer Center for the Arts teaching Music As A Creative Language, and numerous workshops at guitar and folk festivals in the US and Canada since 2004.

   “A gifted performer and brilliant arranger who can do wonders with virtually any song.”  ~ Dave Walker – Just Jazz Magazine

   “In a genre where players often seem to rush to mysticism, Nelson plays as if he has all the time in the world to leave his mark.  ~ David Fricke ~ Rolling Stone

   “A musician with incredible depth and breadth. Kinloch Nelson plays with the virtuosity of a classical master and the sensibility of a pop performer.”

                                                                                                                                                                  ~ Portland Press Herald, Portland ME

    “Kinloch Nelson’s guitar playing is an infuriating lullaby: it can soothe with its complex yet subtle dexterity while mystifying those of us in the six-string set who wish we could play half as well.  Watching Nelson play guitar is essentially witnessing the deconstruction of the instrument.  Listening is a journey through American roots: jazz, country, blues, classical, folk and whatever it is that ties them all together. Nelson’s knowledge of the guitar and the dexterity with which he explores its intricacies is simply amazing. I swear the guy’s got more than ten fingers. “      ~ Frank De Blaise ~ 

City Newspaper, Rochester NY

Bio

“It was the mid-1950s when I first saw Elvis on TV. Although I was only three or four years old, I realized I had just witnessed something incredibly powerful, and for me music was what it was going to be all about.”

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Grammy-winning guitarist Bill Mize is a son of Tennessee, and a fitting representative of his state’s rich musical heritage. His critically lauded fingerstyle compositions are fluid and intricate, and their delivery masterful. One suspects an influential teacher, and one would be right. “I received most of my musical education from a cheap Zenith radio,” says Mize, who as a child drifted off to sleep to the decidedly non-sleepy lullabyes emanating from Nashville’s WLAC and WSM and Knoxville’s WNOX.

Maybe that’s why critics speak of his ability to “transport” the listener; the music itself has been transported. The links to his Tennessee roots are unmistakable, but so are the elements of the far wider musical realm he inhabits, and the mixture is as intoxicating as Tennessee moonshine. With a twist.

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Bill is a past winner of the National Fingerstyle Guitar Competition at The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. Guitar Player Magazine has labeled this event the “U.S. Open of guitar competitions.” Bill received a GRAMMY Award for his collaboration with musician and storyteller David Holt on the recording Stellaluna, and has been featured on the popular guitar compilations “Windham Hill Guitar Sampler” by Windham Hill Records and “Masters of the Acoustic Guitar” by Narada Records. In 2009, Bill’s music appeared in the Ken Burns documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” Mel Bay Productions transcribed Mize’s second CD, “Tender Explorations,” into a songbook, and his original compositions have been transcribed for Fingerstyle Guitar and Acoustic Guitar magazines.

Bio

With over a decade of touring and competitions across the world, Matt Thomas has crafted one of the biggest guitar sounds in the industry today! With mind blowing techniques and deep songwriting, Thomas takes the audience on a wild ride of melodic and theatrical highlights that transports listeners to an imaginary world. With stories files with scientific knowledge and wonder, he not only brings listeners a world-class performance… but also educates and challenges our everyday patterns in life. Thomas uses some of the most complex technology to bring the audience along the journey with him, including 4 individual pick-ups that are sent to a psychedelic array of pedals to achieve a larger-than-life sound.  Seeming like a mad-scientist, Thomas combines technological wizardry and a plethora of guitar techniques such as Percussion, Flamenco, Classical, Bluegrass, Jazz, Swing, Blues, and Acoustic Rock to sound like a complete full band.

Awards and Achievements

• 1st Place International Fingerstyle Collective Competition 2019
• 1st place International Contemporary Thumbpicking 2006
• 1st place International Open Thumbpicking 2006
• 1st Place International Open Thumbpicking 2007
• Kentucky Hall of Fame Inductee 2007
• Winfield 3rd place International Fingerstyle Championship 2017

Bio

Born in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA, Peter Janson began playing guitar at age 7 and started composing as a young teen. His early influences were eclectic – from Django Reinhardt, Andres’ Segovia, Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Earl Klugh, Jim Hall, and Grant Green, to Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Steve Reich, Arvo Part, Neil Peart (Rush), and Brian Eno – and remain so to this day.

While attaining his Master of Guitar Performance degree at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston he focused on early music for stringed instruments, jazz, Indian classical and contemporary classical composition where he studied under David Leisner, Robert Sullivan, Thomas Oboe Lee, Thomas McKinley and others. It was at this time that becoming his own artist, through intense study of a variety of music from his interests as well as his multiple heritages, ignited in his soul, and his unique style of guitar music began to reveal itself: his passion for weaving elements from his roots in jazz, classical, and acoustic instrumental styles was formed. Since that time his performances have mostly been as a soloist playing six-string guitar and occasionally singing.

As an experienced independent performer having played across the US and Canada, from the legendary Carnegie Hall, to Freight & Salvage in Berkley CA, to the Montreal International Jazz Festival, to the iconic Club Passim in Boston, and CBGB in New York, he’s performed with a variety of diverse artists including GRAMMY® winner Wouter Kellerman, American Fingerstyle: songs for 6&12-string guitar tours with Steve Davison and Tracy Moore, A World of Guitar: virtuoso guitar music from six continents tours with Aaron Larget-Caplan, American Guitar Masters tours with Larry Pattis and Steve Davison, Artistry of the Guitar tours with Ken Bonfield, String Songs concerts with luminaries Tim Farrell and Michael Manring, Friends concerts with Steve Hunt, Henrik Bridger and Bertram Lehmann, and Peter has shared stages and co-bills with Tim Lerch, Ed Gerhard, Roger Hudson, Alex DeGrassi, Dakota Dave Hull, Chris Proctor, Jamie Bonk, singer-songwriters Brooks Williams, Shane Jackman, Greg Greenway, and Tim Harrison, Ugandan artist Kinobe and Celtic artists Aine Minogue, Aoife Clancy, Robbie O’Connell, and others.

Peter won an NAR Lifestyle Music Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his Beautiful Day CD, and Album of the Year and Best Instrumental Album Acoustic awards for his co-writing and performing on Smooth Jazz Canada Awards nominee Jamie Bonk’s My World CD. He has composed and recorded music on 25 national and international CDs including nine CDs under his name, music for video games, and music that has been featured on TV, and a variety of regional and national documentaries including CBS News’ “Living in the Shadows: Religion’s response to human trafficking.” All of his CDs have been featured on PBS, commercial and college radio, syndicated radio, Apple, Daily Motion, Groove Music, Rhapsody, Tidal, Sirius/XM, Music Choice TV, Pandora, Spotify, and in-flight programming resulting in over 3.5-million verified broadcasts in the USA, and more internationally spanning 116 countries. (BMI, SE, MLC)

Last, but perhaps most importantly, Peter Janson directs jazz ensembles and teaches a variety of courses, including private guitar instruction, at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is a long-time artist-educator in its Performing Arts Department and is proud to be serving the students of such a wonderful minority majority campus.

Awards

• Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, BEAUTIFUL DAY
• Best Instrumental Album – Acoustic, BEAUTIFUL DAY
• Best CD of the Year, BEAUTIFUL DAY
• Album of the Year, JAMIE BONK – MY WORLD
• Best Instrumental Album – Acoustic, JAMIE BONK – MY WORLD
• Top 20 of the Year, FIRELIGHT MOONLIGHT ~ KTEP-FM (El Paso TX)
• Essential Audiosyncracy Collection Award winner, SOMETIMES FROM HERE ~ KTEP-FM (El Paso TX)
• Best New Age Album Nominee, SOMETIMES FROM HERE
• Top 20 of the Year, SOMETIMES FROM HERE ~ KTEP-FM (El Paso TX)
• Top 20 of the Year, SOMETIMES FROM HERE ~ KRSC-FM (Tulsa OK)
• Best Acoustic Instrumental Album Nominee, ACROSS THE BRIDGE
• Best of the Year, ACROSS THE BRIDGE ~ KGOU-FM (Norman OK)

Bio

“a world-class finger-style guitarist and lap slide player.”

–DownBeat

No less an authority than legendary Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen admiringly described Mary Flower as “a national treasure in your own backyard.”

Indeed, the internationally renowned award-winning Portland, Oregon-based singer/guitarist/songwriter is a prodigious talent whose seasoned skills have established her as one of America’s foremost roots performers. Flower combines a deep historical knowledge with a restless creativity that keeps her music evolving into new creative territory while echoing influences from Piedmont to the Mississippi Delta, with additional stops at ragtime, swing, folk, and hot jazz.

Midwest native Flower relocated from Denver to the vibrant Portland music scene in 2004. Since then, she’s continued to impress crowds and critics at folk festivals in America and abroad, including Merlefest, Waterfront Blues Fest, King Biscuit, A Prairie Home Companion and the Vancouver Folk Festival, while maintaining a parallel career as a renowned guitar teacher. Mary has shared her guitar skills at over 25 guitar “camps” and is about to celebrate 10 years at her own guitar intensive near Portland, Oregon, Blues in the Gorge.Along the way, she’s twice been a Finalist in the National Finger Picking Guitar Championship, as well as being nominated three times for the Blues Foundation‘s prestigious “Blues Music Award.”

For more information regarding Mary Flower, please visit: maryflower.com

Bio

Hailed by John Renbourn as ‘the best Celtic guitarist in the world’ Tony McManus has been listed as one of the 50 transcendent guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine. Conjuring a unique but universal language from that most ubiquitous of instruments, the acoustic guitar, Tony McManus has both extended and transcended the parameters of contemporary Celtic music. Ranked by peers and predecessors alike alongside the guitar world’s all-time greats, his fiendishly dexterous, dazzlingly original playing draws on traditions from the entire Celtic diaspora – Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Galicia, Asturias, Cape Breton, Quebec – along with still further-ranging flavours, such as jazz and east European music. Long applauded for his uncanny ability to transpose the delicate, complex ornamentation characteristic of traditional bagpipe or fiddle tunes – even the phrasing of a Gaelic song – onto his own six strings, McManus is increasingly being acknowledged also as a pioneering figure in bridging the realms of Celtic music and other guitar genres.

Early on, having heard his session work on several albums, Nashville based Compass Records released “Ceol More” in North America to universally ecstatic reviews. Critics hailed the focussed, spell-binding nature of the music, from the plaintive Jewish hymn “Shalom Aleichem” to the ingenious arrangement of the Charles Mingus tune “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”. Having been nominated as Musician of the Year by both the BBC Folk Awards and The Scottish Traditional Music awards, in 2002 “Ceol More” hit the Critic’s Album of the year list in Acoustic Guitar magazine and named “Live Ireland Awards” Album of the Year.

Since then, Tony’s music has come to define a new role for the guitar in Celtic music. He has come to represent Celtic music in the guitar world, making regular appearances at guitar specific events where just a few years ago jigs and reels would be unheard of. His solo work aside, McManus is also a wonderful accompanist, and he has worked with (among many others) Dougie McLean, Phil Cunningham, Mairi MacInnes, Liam O’Flynn, Martin Simpson, Kevin Burke, Alison Brown, Martyn Bennett, Natalie MacMaster, Patrick and Jacky Molard, Mairead ní Mhoanaigh and Dermot Byrne.

Tony is now also invited annually to the Chet Atkins Festival in Nashville, has appeared at Guitar Festivals in Soave and Pescantina, Italy; Frankston, Australia; Issoudun, France; Kirkmichael, Scotland; Bath and Kent, England; Bochum and Osnabruck, Germany and has taught at five of Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps in Maryville, Tennessee. He recently appeared at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in the “All Star Guitar Night” featuring Steve Morse, Bryan Sutton, Muriel Anderson, Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten and headlined by the legendary Les Paul. He has performed and taught at the Ellnora Guitar Festival in one of Illinois’s most prestigious venues, the Krannert Center, with the likes of Pat Metheny, Kaki King, Molly Tuttle, and Steve Dawson. He is a signature artist for PRS Guitars in Maryland, and has performed at their venue with Carlos Santana, among others, and done PR tours for different guitar companies such as Paul Reed Smith and Greenfield Guitars both here and abroad, even to Japan.

Tommy Emmanuel says of Tony “This music is beyond beautiful, its. PERFECT!” and Dick Gaughan says “I have no superlatives to do this justice.”

Bio

Eric’s involvement with music started before he ever played the guitar. As a youngster, he was a first soprano in the Philadelphia Boys’ Choir. His mom sang in nightclubs and played piano. “She was French and would burlesque around the house imitating Edith Piaf and singing French folk songs,” Eric muses.

Eric’s oldest brother was influential early on and seeded his interests in music. “While my brother was in Vietnam, I had access to his record collection – the jazz greats like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dave Brubeck.” It was after his brother returned and started to take guitar lessons, that Eric began to play. “I would sneak into his room, pick up his guitar, and figure out the tabs on my own. That was my introduction to Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Doc Watson and Pete Seeger.”

Achievements

In 1983 Eric won third place at the prestigious National Fingerpicking Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Inspired by his competitors, he came back the next year along with some of his original compositions and won first place. At age 25, he was the youngest winner at the time. The win gave a boost to his burgeoning career as a fingerstyle guitarist, which launched him into the national, and later international, spotlight. Soon after, Eric released his first recording, Strike, which is an original suite for guitar, flute and bass. Then in 1988, Eric moved from Philadelphia to the Midwest and started teaching at the renowned Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago where he remained for 25 years teaching fingerstyle guitar classes and private lessons.

Although Eric is best known as a fingerstyle guitarist, he is also a talented songwriter.

Eric’s recording, Making Models, released by Waterdog Records in Chicago, is a reflection of his songwriting talents. It also demonstrates his bent for incorporating eclectic instrumentation – steel drums and accordion – with guitar and vocals.

In 1997 after performing the opening set at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley for legendary fingerstyle guitarists John Renbourn and Duck Baker, Duck offered to submit

Eric’s music to the guitarist Peter Finger, who is the owner of Acoustic Music Records in Germany. Duck’s recommendation worked, and Eric’s next three recordings were released by the label: Black Key Blues, Kind Heroes, and New Tradition.

Black Key Blues is considered by many as one of the finest solo fingerstyle guitar albums ever produced. It is a collection of original tunes and interpretations of jazz and traditional American music. Kind Heroes and New Tradition contain these same trademarks and additionally include some of Eric’s original songs. New Tradition features duets with some of Chicago’s finest musicians. The title of the recording reflects Eric’s contemporary take on “pop songs of the 1800’s”.

Eric’s recording REVision is an homage to the great Rev. Gary Davis. According to Pat Donahue, “(Eric) has internalized Davis’ style to the point where he can improvise within that style and still have it come out his own.”

Eric continues to record and tour and also has been a contributing writer for Fingerstyle Guitar magazine, Acoustic Guitar magazine and Fingerstyle Journal.

Touring

Eric has performed and taught globally in festivals and concert halls including:

– International Guitar Meeting, Sarzana, Italy

– Stamford Folk & Blues Guitar Festival, Stamford, England

– Wirral International Guitar Festival, Liverpool, England

– Ullapool Guitar Festival, Ullapool, Scotland

– International Guitar Night, Germany

– Acoustic Guitar Weekend, Boblingen, Germany

– Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, California

– Chet Atkins Appreciation Society, Nashville, TN

– Guitar Night at the Woodstock Opera House, Woodstock, IL

– Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL

– S.P.A.C.E., Evanston, IL

– New York Guitar Festival

– Michigan Fingerstyle Guitar Society

– Schoenberg Guitars, Tiburon, California

– Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, Kansas

– Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp, Maryville, Tennessee

– Schorndorf International Guitar Festival

Eric has shared the bill with performers such as:

– Doc Watson

– Taj Mahal

– John Prine

– David Bromberg

– Leon Redbone

– Pat Donahue

– Duck Baker

– Stephen Bennett

– Preston Reed

Teaching

Eric currently teaches privately from his home in Evanston, IL. He developed and maintained the popular Fingerstyle Academy, an online collection of lessons put together from his years of teaching at the Old Town School. He has two books of transcriptions available for purchase: Black Key Blues and Fingerstyle Academy as well as single transcriptions of his music.

Bio

“Music” isn’t something that was invented. Nobody can take credit for it. It’s always been here; an esoteric force with the ability to crystalize passing moments into lasting memories, and to forge new connections for any within earshot, be it to another person, a feeling or the cosmos. Picture a young kid who’s trying to figure out whistling through her own whiffs and hisses as cars whizz by on the interstate while she walks home from school, or the 72-year-old widower whose eyes well up with tears when he hears the first notes of his wedding song on the radio while he’s out to dinner with his grandkids. Or imagine a hushed audience comprised of different backgrounds, ages, nationalities and beliefs standing side-by-side in a shared serenity, all facing a man on stage with a guitar as the final notes of his song ring through the air.

It is moments and experiences like these — the precious beauty that’s discovered amongst the screaming chaos of everyday life — that artist Trevor Gordon Hall commits his mind, heart and fingers to. Whether it’s through his compositions, collaborative live performances, musical education, or basic interactions, Trevor is on a journey to enable engrossing musical possibilities, both communal and intimate, for people all around the world.

Through his work, Trevor has established himself as a unique and pioneering voice on the international stage, albeit one who speaks through his guitar and every sound that it’s capable of, rather than words. On top of a touring calendar that’s taken him through 17 countries and counting, his discography has amassed millions of listens and views through streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube, allowing his music to connect meaningfully with listeners across all borders, regardless of their language or location.

Since emerging on the fringe of the Philadelphia, USA, music scene as a young guitar virtuoso in the early 2000s, Trevor’s fingerpicking style of textured instrumentalism took little time to leave an impression on listeners. He was rated a top 30 under 30 guitarist by Acoustic Guitar Magazine and has shared the stage with or drawn praise from peers and guitar legends who helped blaze the path before him, including the likes of John Mayer, Steve Miller, Graham Nash, Steve Hackett, Dar Williams, Will Ackerman, Pat Martino, Stanley Jordan, Phil Keaggy, Tommy Emmanuel, Pierre Bensusan and Andy McKee to name a few. He’s also been featured on NPR, NBC, PBS, and many international outlets and publications around the world.

Trevor’s musical style is difficult to describe with words, and that’s partly what makes it so relevant. While he is a gifted guitarist capable of elaborate technicality, his compositions put expression and experience first, rather than technique for technique sake. He’s always striving to strike a chord that’s somewhere between adventurous and accessible. Many of his works are driven by highly textured soundscapes that engulf the listener in melody and rhythm, while others carve out a space for reflection and stillness. Rather than a genre or style, think of Trevor’s music as the sound of a man who is continually exploring every nook and cranny of his guitar for a new sound or a new way to connect meaningfully with big ideas in ways that others can relate to. It is experiential music that could be the soundtrack to your morning walk as the sun rises, lighting you up with inspiration for the day ahead. It could be the meditative melody that helps one maintain precision in their work, whether that’s delivering packages around town or performing open-heart surgery. It’s music that doesn’t tell you what to feel, but instead invites you to feel.

FINDING HIS WAY

While cutting his teeth in the clubs and coffeehouses of the Philadelphia suburbs early in his career, Trevor caught the eye of nine-time Grammy award winning producer Joe Nicolo (James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan) who produced two of Trevor’s releases, “Finding My Way” and a Christmas album “Let Your Heart Be Light.” As Trevor began to refine his sound and plot out his next compositions in a new decade, he began to collaborate with various engineers to develop an instrument that combined his own redesign of the kalimba, an African finger piano, with an acoustic guitar. The resulting “kalimbatar” fully demonstrated Trevor’s ability to innovate as a songwriter and unlocked a new suite of sounds and textures that he was able to weave into his music. While he had explored the kalimba on earlier recordings in a limited capacity, the kalimbatar phase of Trevor’s career was first fully realized on his 2011 Candyrat Records debut, “Entelechy”, which left a mark on the iTunes singer-songwriter and YouTube charts at the time, gathering millions of views and widespread reach.

THE INNOVATOR

Following on the success of Entelechy, Trevor worked with master luthier Sheldon Schwartz to redesign the kalimbatar. Once perfected, Trevor recorded his next album with longtime hero and decorated Grammy winner Will Ackerman, the founder of Windham Hill Records, which was a treasure trove of inspiration for Trevor on his musical journey. The resulting work, titled “Mind Heart Fingers,” was written to honor the acoustic guitar tradition that Windham Hill records popularized in the 1980s and 1990s. It was released in 2014 and peaked at #4 on the World International Music radio charts.

This was followed up in 2015 with the first of an EP series, titled “Kalimbatar Classics Vol. 1”, which featured arrangements of classical piano standards reimagined by Trevor on the kalimbatar. Never one to rest on his laurels however, Trevor swapped out the kalimbatar for electric guitars and electronic texturing with 2016’s “Late Night With Headphones, Vol. 1”, which revealed a moodier palette, and a different side of his artistic reach.

As he worked through each album on his artistic journey, mining new connections, it became clear that Trevor’s explorations of the guitar were leaving an impact on other artists around him. In 2018, he was invited to share a stage with several other guitar titans, most notably John Mayer and Steve Miller, to honor the retirement of Dick Boak, a renowned figure in the guitar world and an artist relations director for Martin Guitar. During that evening, Mayer offered his admiration to Trevor, praising his set and acknowledging Trevor’s usage of the kalimbatar as a humbling and refreshing reminder that the guitar is still revealing new approaches and sounds, even after all of these generations. Trevor’s hard work and innovative writing had earned him recognition within the pantheon of guitar luminaries.

THE COLLABORATOR + THE TEACHER

With more command of his craft, came more shows around the world and more opportunities to make new musical connections with other artists. Trevor has recorded and performed with dozens of musicians across the continents on a variety of different projects and compositions. 2021’s “The Other World on Our Planet” is perhaps Trevor’s most dynamic example of branching out to new territory as a collaborator, which saw Trevor utilizing his artistry to support a different discipline: investigative journalism. The EP serves as a musical compliment to The Outlaw Ocean, a New York Times bestselling book about lawlessness on international waters by award-winning reporter Ian Urbina.

Outside of writing and performing, formal education has also played an integral role in Trevor’s journey. He’s currently an instructor for two of the world’s largest online guitar course websites, JamPlay.com and TrueFire.com and has trained hundreds of students to date.

THIS BEAUTIFUL CHAOS

Now a family man with a mortgage and an additional mouth to feed, Trevor finds himself on a new personal frontier that he’s eager to explore in his solo work. After several years of a life lived loudly — performing his music around the world and immersing himself in different cultures, sounds and experiences — Trevor retreated to the solitude of his Pennsylvania home for his next solo album, “This Beautiful Chaos.” Written in the early morning hours from the shed in his backyard while his wife and daughter slept, the album finds him at his most vulnerable, contemplating these growth experiences and channeling them into a set of warm, vibrant songs. This is the sound of an artist who is fully confident in his voice, free within his constraints and precise in what he has to say, seasoned by years of literally growing up on record and stage. It’s a tantalizing signpost of what he’s capable of in the years ahead.

JUST GETTING STARTED

As for what comes next, Trevor is already thinking about the songs he hasn’t written yet, and acknowledges that he isn’t capable of playing them … yet. He thrives on the discovery and lives for the possibility, and that’s what makes him such a thrilling artist to follow and grow old with in the years to come. His style is recognizably his own, but the next note he plays is never predictable, or the obvious choice. It’s exciting to consider all of the music that currently sleeps undiscovered in his fingertips, or remains locked away somewhere inside his guitar, waiting to be unearthed. This is a musical career you’ll want to stick around for, because the next show or the next song is always a new possibility.

Bio

Finger Food is a feast not only for guitar lovers, but also for anyone with a passion for acoustic music. The guitarists perform “in the round” and trade songs and stories about their compositions and their approach to the guitar in a casual concert setting. The music focuses on contemporary instrumental American Fingerstyle Guitar with folk, jazz, Celtic, classical and blues influences.

The guitarists are very different stylistically and these different styles contribute to an evening of broad musical tastes. They will play solo, duets and trio work.  The guitarists also will be performing on some very unique custom built instruments and historic instruments.

Danny Dozier is a legendary guitarist in the state of Arkansas. Danny’s solo performances showcase his wide range of guitar styles and his superb choice of material. He has performed at the Ozark Folk Center in many configurations over the years, fronts the Danny Dozier Band at gigs around the state and the country and is the two-time winner of the Merle Travis Fingerstyle Guitar Championship at the Ozark Folk Center. Danny has just released a CD with fiddler extraordinaire and producer Tim Crouch.

Steve Davison is a Little Rock guitarist who performs on the 6 and 12 string guitar. He tours the country with artists such as Ken Bonfield and Peter Janson. They have performed at acoustic venues around the country and shared the stage artist such as Larry Coryell, Muriel Anderson, Peter Janson, Tim Farrell, Dakota Dave Hull, Ken Bonfield, Doug Young, Teja Gerken, Tim Sparks and other guitarists.. Steve was also the winner of the 2005 Arkansas Acoustic Music Festival in the solo category and has been a featured artist on AETN Presents. Steve has performed at the Montreal Guitar Festival, the Healdsburg Guitar Festival in California and the Memphis Guitar Festical in Tennessee. In 2015 Steve won the Ozark Folk Center, Merle Travis Fingerstyle Guitar competition in the contemporary section. Steve was chosen Guitarist of the Year for 2019 by the Arkansas Country Music Associatio. More information about Steve is available at www.stevedavison.com

Micky Rigby is an exceptional guitarist from Little Rock who has performed at multiple acoustic venues across the state. Micky was a runner up at the Merle Travis Fingerstyle Guitar Championship at the Ozark Folk Center and was a familiar face at Acoustic Sounds Café in the past in Little Rock. Micky has an extensive repertoire and is an accomplished player of the guitar and the banjo.

Bio

Inspired by the examples set by instrumental guitar duos ranging from folk-baroque legends John Renbourn and Bert Jansch to the sophistication of the Duo Assad, Teja Gerken and Doug Young seek to create arrangements that are larger than the sum of their parts. The duo also takes advantage of the timbres available through a dazzling array of tunings and by pairing a wide variety of guitars. Having performed together for more than a decade, they released their album DUETS in 2020. Drawing from their individual catalogs of original compositions, Celtic tunes, arrangements of jazz standards, and the occasional classical piece, Teja and Doug present a varied repertoire. For an introduction to the album, please check out this video: https://youtu.be/3xv5rG1STLg

DUETS represents fingerstyle guitar at the highest level – Acoustic Guitar magazine

DUETS is a beautiful and touching debut – Gitarre & Bass (Germany)

DUETS will be a welcome addition to your collection – Fingerstyle Guitar Journal

“Employing an impressive battery of artisan guitars, Teja and Doug produce a wonderful range of sonorities and musical directions that updates the classic chemistry of the "Bert & John" (Jansch & Renbourn) recordings of the sixties–a treat for fans of both acoustic guitar music and the art of lutherie.” —Alex de Grassi

“I’ve been enjoying DUETS. It is both a celebration of great fingerstyle pickers like John Renbourn and a sumptuous sampling of guitars, all of which is really well recorded. —Tim Sparks

I love guitar duets. The richness of sound approaches that of a piano, and the interplay of gifted players can be thrilling. With this CD, Teja and Doug provide us with an abundance of both. Happily recommended!

— Mark Hanson, Accent On Music

Teja has shared the stage with many guitar visionaries, including John Renbourn, Alex de Grassi, and Andy McKee, as well as with his mentors, Duck Baker and Peppino D’Agostino. He is a familiar face at most Northern California acoustic music venues, and has toured throughout the USA and parts of Europe, including as a part of the International Guitar Night series. Teja has also taught guitar workshops at events such as the Healdsburg Guitar Festival, Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration, the University of Colorado, San Francisco’s Blue Bear School of Music, and Boston’s Club Passim. His two solo album, On My Way, and Postcards have received critical acclaim. Teja is a co-founder and video producer for the music instruction website Peghead Nation, he was an editor for Acoustic Guitar magazine from 1997 – 2013, and he has has written extensively for guitar magazines and guitar- related book projects for more than 25 years. Doug is the winner of the 2011 International Acoustic Music Awards in the instrumental category. He has released two albums, Laurel Mill, and Closing Time which feature his solo guitar playing, compositions and arrangements. Doug has written several best-selling guitar instructional books, he is a contributing editor for Acoustic Guitar magazine, has an ongoing fingerstyle guitar course on Peghead Nation, and is in-demand for teaching workshops at guitar events throughout the country.

Teja and Doug Videos

“Locktender’s Reel”: https://youtu.be/7xUgNXvBMHs

“Bermuda Triangle Exit”: https://youtu.be/MgbjEx1s_FI

“The Water is Wide”: https://youtu.be/ZuXFf3sBt8s

“A Toye for Two Lutes”: https://youtu.be/iT3guzcyED4

For more information, please visit www.tejaanddougguitar.com, www.tejagerken.com and

www.dougyoungguitar.com.