Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout Podcast with Adam Rafferty

A native of Italy, D’Agostino has made his considerable international mark as a musical artist on the guitar since he arrived in America 37 years ago. In 2017 Guitar Player listed him as one of the 50 transcendent superheroes of the acoustic guitar.

The CD, “Every Step of The Way,” was awarded by Acoustic Guitar’s People’s Choice Awards with a Bronze medal for Best Acoustic Album of All Time. His signature Seagull acoustic guitar has been voted among the ten best signature guitars by Guitar Player magazine.

To date, Peppino has recorded 19 CD’s, performed in over thirty-seven countries at international festivals and concert halls. He has shared the stage with such greats as Leo Kottke, Sergio Assad, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel, Martin Taylor, Roland Dyens, David Tanenbaum, and many more.

(Timestamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

Jon Gomm is a singer songwriter considered to be one of the world’s true virtuoso guitarists possessing a unique style most elite musicians consider revolutionary.

Jon was born and continues to live in the North of England. His songs are driven by his use of one acoustic guitar to create drum sounds, basslines and twisting melodies all at the same time with no external effects. The emphasis remains on his soulful vocals and songwriting with his original material influenced by everything from Robert Johnson to Radiohead.

His live shows combine deeply personal performances allied with a natural wit, with a once seen, never forgotten two-handed guitar style, both physical and complex, producing sounds people can barely believe are coming from a humble acoustic guitar.

(Timestamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

Thomas Fellow is a musician with an almost inexhaustible supply of innovative energy. He is a first-rate acoustic guitarist, a stunning virtuoso, and is considered one of the best musical collaborators in the guitar world.

His name is associated with the development of the pioneering education program called the “Acoustic Guitar (concert music, world music, jazz, and pop)” at the “University of Music Dresden” (Germany). He’s the artistic director of the “European Guitar Award” and he is also known for authoring the comprehensive book entitled the “FELLOW GUITAR BOOK” – which focuses on the role of the guitar as an accompanying instrument.

35 years after his first full-length concert (at the age of 17) he has performed over 3000 concerts in more than 30 countries.

Muriel Anderson is one of the more multi-dimensional guitarists on the scene today. She plays primarily nylon string but also plays a 20-string harp guitar in her concerts, frequently accompanied by a backdrop of visuals by photo-artist Bryan Allen. Her current program includes a virtual re-enactment of the solar eclipse, with music and images from around the world.

She is host of the renowned Muriel Anderson’s ALL STAR GUITAR NIGHT and is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and has performed/recorded with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, and Victor Wooten among others.

She is currently working on a music and cookbook project, and is dedicating this year to working more on behalf of the charity she founded, The Music for Life Alliance, to support music education for kids.

For twenty years, Billy McLaughlin astounded audiences around the world with his complex and rhythmic music. At the height of his international recording and touring career, Billy was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, a mysterious and yet-to-be-cured neuromuscular disorder that rendered him unable to play his own music.

Despite every effort to combat his condition, soon Billy’s career was over.But the long deafening silence was broken when Billy began a historic comeback.

He was doing the unthinkable – relearning his songs one note at a time with his opposite hand…

(Timestamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

Richard started playing the guitar at age 5 and has never looked back. Focusing early on with the fingerstyle guitar of Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, he began transcribing classical music, Jazz, the gypsy style of Django Reinhardt, bluegrass, ragtime and the blues to Sousa marches.

Richard is a seasoned performer with thousands of performances worldwide to his credit – he’s performed in five continents – North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia solo and alongside Tommy Emmanuel, Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, Dave Peacock, Martin Taylor, Brent Mason, Gary Brooker, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, Joe Brown, Ralph McTell and many others.

(Timestamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

Don Alder plays acoustic fingerstyle guitar with a passion that has quickly earned him a reputation as Vancouver’s “best kept little secret”. Don is a world-class fingerstyle guitarist with a “wow factor” that has let to multiple endorsement deals with major manufacturers and a collaboration with Greenfield guitars to produce a signature acoustic guitar- the “Don Alder G4” model.

Don currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His unique style of playing incorporates fingerpicking with simultaneous percussion on the soundboard to create a wall of sound. He is often referred to as sounding like a four piece band. Don’s music is his own unique weave of deeply textured melody and story. Lyrical and compelling, his original songs are notes of exploration – some passionate and haunting, some hard-driven, others light and teasing. In quiet pieces or pushing right to the edge, Don’s phenomenal fingerstyle playing and rich voice captivate.

“Alder can make a single instrument sound like a 4 piece band. The Guy’s like the acoustic Hendrix”. Picque News Magazine”

“Don is Canada’s secret fingerstyle weapon – it’s only a matter of time until everyone discovers this world class player. I am honored to have Don endorsing my guitars.”

(Timestamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

In 1988, Don became the first Canadian to win the U.S. National Fingerpick Guitar Championship. He won again in 1996, still the only two-time winner of the competition.

Don has toured regularly since 1989, across Canada, the USA, a dozen European countries, Japan, Taiwan, China, Australia, Russia and India.

He has played live and on recording with U.S. guitarist Andy McKee, Canadian singer/guitarist Brooke Miller, Canadian guitarist Calum Graham, & Toronto bassist Jordan O’Connor. Don composes scores for television, radio and film, and does production and recording engineering for a variety of other musicians.

He’s released numerous CDs and DVDs for the Candy Rat Record label, including his new album, A Million Brazilian Civilians, on CD and see-through orange vinyl.

(Timestamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

Jim Nichols has an unusual approach to the guitar – he uses a thumb pick and fingers to play everything from Chet Atkins style to modern jazz.

He served as master instructor for the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Workshops, Stanford Jazz Workshops and held clinics on both jazz and Atkins style for the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society national convention in Nashville.

Jim’s solo CD, “Jazz and Country” was chosen by Guitar Player Magazine as a “pick of the year” for ’96 and in 2001, he was featured in Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine and Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

In this episode, Jim and I talk about how he started playing guitar, his inspirations, and his approach to blending Chet Atkins fingerstyle and jazz guitar.

(Time stamps are for audio version of the podcast.)

Over the past 25 years, Michael Fix has released fifteen albums, together with several DVD’s, songbooks, singles and EPs, tours internationally each year, and has established himself as one of Australia’s finest guitarists and composers, writing evocative music for television, film and documentaries.

He’s won numerous awards for his music, and is a Maton guitar endorsee (with his own signature model guitar), his guitar workshops are in high demand all over Australia and internationally.

As a record producer working from his own studio in Brisbane, he is in great demand. He’s toured and recorded with a diverse range of artists, and regularly appears at festivals and concerts throughout the world.

In this episode Michael and I talk about his philosophy, his approach to guitar, technique, stage sound and more.

(Time stamps are for audio version of the podcast.)