Richard Gilewitz
His tales - trips into the world of a touring musician. His tunes - adventures as instrumental wanderings reveal surprises with each note. His shows – lively journeys topped with laughs. His workshops – a player’s ultimate experience.
This powerhouse of a performer creates fingerstyle gymnastics on his 6 and 12-string guitars with standard and open tunings, right-hand wizardry, with a balance of hard driving percussion and the delicate touch of the classical.
His ability to make one guitar sound like an entire orchestra stems from 35 years of well-honed technique and 25 years of on the road worldwide appearances from headlining festivals in Ireland to the intimate listening rooms in New Zealand, creating his own signature sound that has been captured on his CDs, DVDs, and songbooks.
Fondly known as one of the strangest men in music today, Richard constantly fascinates his audiences with colorful samples of originals and covers, turning the evening into a magical instrumental journey. His live shows - that defy a specific genre - are laced with sounds of acoustic fingerstyle guitar of the Americana and traditional, folk and blues, Spanish and European classical and somewhere in between as this veteran performer captures a history of fingerstyle guitar. Headlining festivals such as the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival, Ullapool Guitar Festival, Taupo Festival (New Zealand), and other too numerous to list, Richard brings a sense of preserving the style of fingerstyle guitar as he delivers an unforgettable performance.
As a master teacher, Richard conducts guitar seminars, artist in residence sessions, and guitar workshops from New Zealand to the Pacific Northwest, is the creator of GillaCamp (a unique 3 day guitar experience) and Meet the Artist (a 1 to 5 day school program for students from elementary to university level). A detailed agenda of the in residence program is available upon request.
Whether playing solo or sharing the bill with such greats as John Hammond, The California Guitar Trio, Taj Mahal, Steve Morse, John Jorgenson, the late John Fahey, Greg Brown, or Patty Larkin, Richard delivers acoustic magic that sparkles in a live setting. He offers a variety of programs such as Richard Gilewitz Acoustic Adventures, Strings for a Season, History of Fingerstyle Guitar, and Richard Gilewitz Live as a solo performer or with special guest artists in a duo or trio arrangements of guitar, piano, cello, violin, and mandolin.
