CAAS 2010 and Artisan Guitars Chet Atkins Tribute Show

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The 2010 Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) Convention has come and gone for another year. This was my tenth year to have had the good fortune to perform at it. Ten years? Yikes, where does the time go?

Kicking the week off on the night before CAAS began, Tuesday (July 6), Artisan Guitars held their annual Chet Atkins Tribute evening in Franklin, TN. Over the past five years this show has developed in to a pre-convention tradition. I was honoured to be asked once again to perform as part of that evening, sharing the stage with Muriel Anderson, John Knowles, Thom Bresh, Tommy Emmanuel, Sean Weaver, Andy Walberg and Earl Klugh. Whew! That’s an evening of pretty heady company.

There are so many great players every year at CAAS that you can’t possibly take them all in in one year. So every year I’m making “new” discoveries of players I’m hearing for the first time, even though they may have been there before. The highlights of the “new guys” for me year would include Adam Palma from Poland via Britain playing some terrific fingerstyle funk; the duo of Loren Barrigar and Mark Mazengarb played some stunningly great guitar duets; and Bobby Cochran who displayed a most tasteful and discrete use of a looper pedal to play some fine rockin’ guitar.

If you’re a lover of the guitar, be sure to put CAAS on your list of to-dos. Four days of great guitar music and company. It’s held each July in Nashville. Full details can be found at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society website

At Last, My Name in Lights!!!

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All performers dream of their name in lights. My turn has finally come.

True. It’s not outside Carnegie Hall. But it is on an 80′ billboard on a major US interstate highway – the I65 heading south out of Nashville, to be exact. And I’m so proud to say it’s not related to some exhaustive FBI manhunt. What more could I ask for?

This is a digital billboard advertising next week’s (July 6, 2010) Chet Atkins Tribute concert presented by Artisan Guitars in Franklin, TN. While this picture shows “Featuring – Bob Evans”, if you stand there for a few minutes you’d also see the following fellow featured artists mentioned: Sean Weaver, John Knowles, Muriel Anderson, Thom Bresh and Tommy Emmanuel. It’s going to be a great show.

If you’re in the area (Franklin, TN), come on down. Tickets for the show are available through Artisan Guitars .

And even if you can’t make it to the show, be sure to drop by Artisan Guitars next time you’re in Franklin, or visit them online. This is one of the best “little” acoustic guitar stores around

Be there or be square.

CD Preview

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4 ON 6 (2007)

Outstanding Instrumental Album – 2008 Western Canadian Music Awards

Instrumental – The Beatles for solo fingerstyle guitar.

Dr. Bob’s Acoustic Tonic (2010)

Dr. Bob's Acoustic Tonic

Vocal and guitar – a collection of classic and contemporary tunes in the ragtime-blues style.

The Voice in the Grain (2004)

Nominated Outstanding Instrumental Album – 2004 Western Canadian Music Awards

Nominated Best Instrumental Album – 2005 Canadian Folk Music Awards

Instrumental – a collection of orginal compositions and arrangements for solo fingerstyle guitar.

Caffeinated Coffee (1999)

Outstanding Instrumental Album – 2000 Prairie Music Awards

Instrumental – a collection of orginal compositions and arrangements for solo fingerstyle guitar.

Killer Thriller – Gareth Pearson

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If you’re a fan of Michael Jackson, you’ve got to check out Gareth Pearson’s latest Youtube posting. It’s a terrific fingerstyle arrangement of Jackson’s Thriller. And be sure to check out Gareth’s many other Youtube entries.

If you don’t know of him, Gareth is a 20 year old (as of 2009) fingerstyle guitarist from Wales. Many people are aware of him from his “boy-wonder” phase where as a teenager he wowed people with his a technical ability beyond his youth and the ability to keep up on stage with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel.

Many kids go through the “boy-wonder” phase of dazzling audiences while emulating their early influences but then can’t seem to move on to the next step of finding their own voice through their own compositions and arrangements. Gareth is making that shift and is emerging as an artist with his own voice. Definitely keep an eye on him.

Six Strings North of the Border – 3 CD Box Set

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Six Strings North of the Border – 3 Disc Box Set

Borealis Records has taken the three volumes of its Six Strings North of the Border series and packaged them as a box set.

This collection features 47 of Canada’s finest acoustic guitarists. It’s a great introduction to the Canadian acoustic guitar scene.

Six Strings North of the Border Box Set Cover

Please Note: Copies can be ordered directly from Borealis Records

Disc 1

  • Gordie Sampson – The Black Jigs
  • Eve Goldberg – Watermelon Sorbet
  • Bruce Cockburn – Foxglove
  • Jason Fowler – Shi Big, Shi Mhor
  • Ken Hamm & Doug Cox – Dave Macon Rag/Strawberry Creek
  • Rick Whitelaw – Bottom Dollar
  • Jean Hewson – Scotty MacMillan’s G Minor Jig
  • Thomas Handy Trio – Spring
  • Stephen Fearing – Martin’s
  • Don Ross – 3 Hands
  • Rick Fielding – Hesitation Rag
  • David Essig – Berkley Springs
  • J.P. Cormier – The Mathematician/Sleepy Maggie
  • Bob Evans – That Infernal Optimist
  • Dave Clarke – Katherine

Disc 2

  • Terry Tufts – Dorval’s Descent
  • Marc Atkinson Trio – Frederic’s Closet
  • Art Turner – Invitation To Circumstance
  • Zubot & Dawson – Wedding Song
  • Alex Houghton – Dear Peace
  • David Rogers – Dallas Rag
  • Jon Park Wheeler – Reverie
  • Dave MacIsaac – The Green Mountain Boys
  • D’Arcy Wickham – New England Rag
  • Colin Linden – In The Deep Field
  • James Cohen – The Wind
  • Martin Posen – Django Townshend
  • Craig Brown – Steeplechase Lane
  • Kristin Sweetland – Hermetica
  • Michael Jerome Browne – Guitar Mama
  • Bob MacLean – Rose of Allendale

Disc 3

  • October Browne – Waterford Girls
  • Andy Sheppard – Dragonfly Helicopter
  • David Gillis – Mr. Skippy Pants
  • Kevin Breit & Harry Manx – Curly Ray and his Brother
  • Alpha YaYa Diallo – Cette vie
  • Mose Scarlett w/ Margaret Stowe – Blue Skies / Somewhere Over The Rainbow
  • Rick Taylor – Ocean Avenue
  • Joël Fafard – Voodoo Hoodoo
  • Olivier Demers – Du haut du balcon
  • Paul Mills (Curly Boy Stubbs) – Stubbs Stomp
  • Amos Garrett – Always Got Your Hands On That Guitar
  • Bill Garrett – Birds Hill
  • Grit Laskin – Paddy Fahey’s / The Road To Lisdoonvarna / Comb Your Hair And Curl It
  • Rick Bockner – Kootnay Jig
  • Ken Whiteley – Summer Sunday Night



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