New Acoustic Gallery concerts, 2009

Ana Vidovic: not a bluegrass guitar, but...

Oliver Waitze of the New Acoustic Gallery, Solingen, Germany, announces the Gallery's programme of concerts for the coming year:

08.03.2009: Ana Vidovic, superstar of the classical guitar! VV €30; AK €35
30.03.2009: The Krüger Brothers Band! VV €30; AK €35
02.06.2009: Joscho Stephan Trio & Richard Smith; VV €20; AK €25
31.10.2009: Duo (Trio) Vibracao featuring Max Schaaf; VV €18; AK €22
06.12.2009: Beppe Gambetta; VV €18; AK €22

Full details of performers are on the New Acoustic Gallery website.

The NAG's first Mandolin Festival is planned for the end of August/ early September 2009. More details will follow. For reservations and more info, telephone Oliver Waitze at +49 (0)212/2474007. Early reservations are advisable, as only 75 seats are available for each concert.

Beppe Gambetta in Belgium, 30 Nov. 2008

Bluegrass in Belgium reports:

Everyone present at the Sawmill Road concert in Toogenblik [17 November] will agree we had a wonderful evening. This reminded us of the good old days at Toogenblik in the 90s. We look forward to the next gig in Toogenblik !

Another nice place, 't Ey in Belsele (Sint Niklaas), will have the great Italian bluegrass guitar picker/singer/entertainer Beppe Gambetta.

Sunday 30/11/2008 at 16:00
't Ey
Koutermolenstraat 6b
9111 Belsele (Sint-Niklaas)

Spencer Bohren concert at New Acoustic Gallery, 9 Nov.

The New Acoustic Gallery in Solingen, Germany, hosts its next concert on Sunday 9 November at 20:00, when Spencer Bohren (USA) plays there in the second of twelve dates in his current Roots Music Tour of Germany. His repertoire is drawn from blues, folk, gospel, country, and rock 'with a shot of Voodoo', and performed on his acoustic Gibson guitar and 1930s lap steel. He has recorded five albums on Valve Records, and has been described as 'the best solo act in the business' by the Tucson Blues Society, and as 'one of us' by John Lee Hooker.

The concert is a cooperation between 'Die Provinz lebt!', Valve Records, and the New Acoustic Gallery. Tickets are €12 at the door, €10 booked in advance.

Oliver Waitze
New Acoustic Gallery
Neuenhofer Str. 122
42657 Solingen (Höhscheid)
Tel.: +49 0212/2474007

Roberto dalla Vecchia: CD and concert news

Roberto Dalla Vecchia ('Flatpicking Guitar with Italian Gusto') has been working on his new CD Unknown legends, due for release on 28 November 2008. It celebrates, in Roberto's words, 'all the people around the world working hard everyday to make this world a better place. They will never make the news and they don't really care about that.'

Other musicians on the CD are Stefano Versolato (upright bass), Henrich Novak (dobro), Paolo Bressan (whistles and bombo), and Giovanni Costantini (cello). Photos from the recording studio can be seen here, and all the tracks can be heard here. Roberto will be doing workshops about the CD in the next few months, talking about the whole process of recording an acoustic guitar CD: choice of tunes, arrangements, recording studio set up, etc.

You can practice your Italian on an interview with Roberto on the popular blog 'Vicenza Popolare'. Roberto's free tab page will soon be updated, and he invites requests for tunes to be tabbed.

His concert and workshop schedule is as follows:

Sat. 20 Dec. 2008: Teatro Sociale, Cittadella (PD), Italy: concert 21:00

Fri. 9 Jan. 2009: Akustik Gitarre Forum, Hallein, Austria; concert

Fri. 23 Jan. and Sat. 24 Jan. 2009: Soldiers' Theatre, Vicenza, Italy; concert 19:30 (both nights)

Sat. 31 Jan. 2009: UnpluGGed Chitarre, Milan, Italy; workshop

Sat. 28 Mar. 2009: 5 vicenzAcustica, Vicenza, Italy

Mon. 6 Apr.-Sat. 11 Apr. 2009: 24th Acoustic Music International Workshop, Virton, Belgium

Roberto's link of the month is of special interest to guitar players in Europe as it offers a digital subscription to the magazine for about half the price of a hard-copy subscription, without postage problems, etc.; also the link includes downloadable instructional books and 'backup tracks' as audio mp3 files.

Drop Roberto a line or sign the Message Board when you call at his website.

Guitar workshop date now 22 Nov. 2008

The Flatpicking Workshop with Oliver Waitze (above), originally scheduled for 29 November 2008 at the New Acoustic Gallery in Solingen, Germany, has been brought forward to 22 November 2008. Tel.: +49 0212/2474007.

The fee for taking part is €90 (maximum of ten participants). The workshop begins at 10:00 and ends at 17:00. It's designed for everyone who wants to learn, or improve their knowledge of, plectrum playing, and all levels of ability are welcome. The content includes bluegrass, fiddle tunes, cross-picking, G-runs, Lester Flatt runs, rhythm with bass, Django-style rhythm, Tony Rice style, Clarence White style...

The new flatpicking books Master technique and Flatpicker's tunebook will also be available.

New Acoustic Gallery
Neuenhofer Str. 122
42657 Solingen
Tel.: +49 0212/2474007
e-mail

Pierre Bensusan concert at New Acoustic Gallery, 26 Sept.

The multi-award-winning acoustic guitar virtuoso Pierre Bensusan will give a concert performance at 20:00 on Friday 26 September 2008 in the New Acoustic Gallery, Solingen, Germany, followed by a two-day workshop at the Gallery (27-8 September). For concert tickets (€25) and further info, contact:

Oliver Waitze
New Acoustic Gallery
Neuenhofer. Str. 122
42657 Solingen
Tel.: +49 (0)212/2474007
e-mail

This year Pierre Bensusan received the Best World Music Guitar Player award in the Guitar Player Magazine Readers' Choice Awards. He is also opening the Guinness International Clonakilty Guitar Festival (18-21 September) at Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Ireland, with a concert at 21:00 on Thursday 18 September at De Barra's, Clonakilty.

New: Reso Hangout and Flatpicker Hangout

Eric Schlange reports:

Just wanted to let you know that I just launched the Reso and Flatpicker Hangout sites. If you’re not familiar with the Hangout sites I currently run, I’ve run the Banjo Hangout for about eight years now, and started the Fiddle Hangout about a year ago [see the post on the European Bluegrass Blog].

I started up the Reso Hangout (for dobro players) and Flatpicker Hangout (for guitarists) recently. These sites have the same set of free features that Hangout users have grown to know and love - forums, MP3 uploads, blogs, photo albums, video archives, classified ads, event calendars, and much more.

Beppe Gambetta in Acoustic Guitar

The September 2008 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine includes a major interview by Scott Nygaard with Beppe Gambetta. While the main emphasis is on crosspicking technique, there is also a good deal about the influences of traditional Italian, Celtic, and gypsy music that Gambetta has brought into his style, and the importance of playing with depth and passion instead of being a 'human jukebox'.

This article can be read online, with video examples.

More from Flatpicking Guitar magazine

We've had some exciting new internet-based developments at Flatpicking Guitar Magazine in the past few months and we would greatly appreciate it if you could let your members/readers know about these new opportunities that are available to them.

Flatpicking Guitar Network:
Our new Flatpicking Network is a FREE on-line social network, like Facebook or MySpace, but just for flatpickers. On this site we post photos, mp3s, videos, blog news, flatpicking events, and our members can do the same on their very own individualised member home page! Members can also interact with other flatpickers, join various flatpicking interest groups, comment of various forum topics, access our podcasts, and much more. Check it out here.

Flatpickdigital.com Digital Download Site:
Flatpickdigital.com is our new digital download site where customers can sign up for a digital subscription to both the magazine and the audio CD, and they can also download all back issues and back-issue audio CDs. This option saves customers money, they get the magazine early, and it helps to save the environment by helping us greatly reduce our 'carbon footprint'! Check it out here.

Thanks,

Dan Miller
Editor and Publisher

See also the EBB post of 13 July.

Join Andrea Tarquini in Flatpicking Guitar Network

Andrea Tarquini of the Country Kitchen Revival Jamgrass Band of Milan, Italy, has a message for flatpicking guitarists in Europe:

Hey, guys, you should open an account here at Flatpicking Guitar Network that Dan Miller created. Let us see European presence.

You can accept Andrea's invitation through this link.

Flatpicking Guitar Network, set up by Flatpicking Guitar magazine, is dedicated to presenting all aspects of the art of flatpicking the acoustic guitar. It already has 1,024 members, and carries 586 photos, 145 music tracks, 29 videos, 50 discussions, 58 events, and 46 blog posts.

Gibson and Danish audio group: NO merger

The business deal discussed earlier this year, under which the Gibson Guitar Corp. (incorporating Epiphone, Dobro, Flatiron, and many other brand names) would have merged with the Danish TC Group, which manufactures audio equipment, will not now take place. The latest developments are reported on the Bluegrass Blog today.

Instrument workshops at the New Acoustic Gallery

Oliver Waitze of the New Acoustic Gallery in Solingen ('Home of Acoustic Music'), Germany, sends the Gallery's 2008 workshop schedule:

5-6 May: Blues and fingerstyle jazz guitar
Instructor: Felix Schell
Includes: Bossa Nova, swing, R&B, gypsy jazz, melodies, accompanying chords, intros, endings, improvisation, solo arrangements, various techniques...
Fee: €120

27–28 September: Fingerstyle DADGAD
Instructor: Pierre Bensusan
Includes: work on the following pieces - 'L’Alchimiste', 'Hymne 11', 'The day after the feast', tappings, harp effects, stretching chords, jazz and modal scales...
Fee: €195

24–26 October: Bluegrass mandolin weekend workshop
Instructor: Jesper Rübner-Petersen
Includes: Backup, fiddle tunes, bluegrass double stops...
Fee: €175

29 November: Flatpicking master technique
Instructor: Oliver Waitze
Includes: Crosspicking in the styles of Tony Rice & Clarence White, melodies, fiddle tunes, gourmet licks a la Tony Rice, right-hand exercises, typical bluegrass rhythm...
Fee: €90

All workshops are held at the New Acoustic Gallery, Solingen.
For details contact Oliver Waitze: tel. 0212/2474007; e-mail; website.

Roberto dalla Vecchia: news

Roberto Dalla Vecchia ('Flatpicking Guitar with Italian Gusto') has relaunched his website with new design and new content. Suggestions for further improvements are welcome!

All Roberto's CDs and tab books can now be bought online in the US via Marv's Music website, run by Marv Sobolesky. And his Grateful CD can now be bought in MP3 format via CDBaby.com as one zip download including the MP3s (suitable for any MP3 player) and a JPG of the album art, for $9.95. His upcoming concerts and workshops include:

Mon. 24-Sat. 29 Mar.: Flatpicking guitar workshop (which still has one vacancy), 23rd International Workshop of Acoustic Music, Virton, Belgium.

Fri. 4 Apr.: vicenzAcustica 4, with special guests Paolo Bonfanti and Chris Newman in concert, Astra Theatre, Vicenza, Italy; 21:00. +39 0444 505183. Tickets €14.00 in advance, €16.00 at the door.

Fri. 23-Sat. 24 May: 11th International Acoustic Guitar Meeting, Fortezza Firmafede, Sarzana (La Spezia), Italy; includes Roberto in concert, 21:00 on Friday, and the Italian Flatpickers Convention on Saturday.

Fri. 30 May-Mon. 2 June: Acoustic Guitar Workshop 4, Recoaro T., Italy, +39 0444 505183. For all levels of players; two vacancies still available.

Beppe Gambetta: news bulletin

In his latest newsletter Beppe Gambetta introduces a new videoclip based on his red shoes. Also included are:

* dates for his tours in North America (21 March-12 April, 4-22 June, 18 Sept.-25 Oct.) and Europe (22 May-1 June, 31 July-2 August);
*a long list of Beppe's favourite eating places in different countries;
*news of his 16th Annual Residential Workshop at Ambroz in the Slovenian Alps (3-10 August), with special guest Steve Kaufman, and of his next recording project; and
* links to several other videos, including 1985 footage of Red Wine when he was their guitarist.

Read more here.

Roberto Dalla Vecchia: news and 2008 gigs

Roberto Dalla Vecchia sends his wishes for everyone: 'a beautiful Christmas season with family and friends, and a New Year full of incredible music!'

Roberto recently made a twenty-day tour in the USA with guitar wizard Mark Cosgrove, receiving a warm welcome at venues in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, and Washington. He also played a benefit concert for Emergency in Washington DC, and would like to encourage everyone to support this non-profit organization. Pictures of the tour are here, and videos from the last show of the tour are on YouTube here and here.

More pictures from FlatMEETing, the first meeting of Italian flatpickers, are here. The Open Spaces tab book is back in stock, still at €12.00 euro (Paypal); shipping is free. Order from Roberto by e-mail, with your address. And Roberto's Christmas music favorites can be heard here; click on the 'Play' button.

As his 'Link of the Month', Roberto recommends Becky Taylor's radio programme 'Out of the box' on www.WorldWideBluegrass.com, every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (US EST).

2008 gigs:

Fri. 25 Jan. and Sat. 26 Jan.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia and Luca Francioso in concert at 7:30 p.m.; Acoustic Jam, Soldiers' Theatre, Vicenza, Italy. Info & tickets tel. 0444 717281

Sun. 24 Feb.: Workshop and concert, 'Un week-end di chitarre a Tombelle', Vigonovo (VE), Italy. Info tel. +39 328 871 9891

Mon. 24-Sat. 29 Mar.: 23rd edition of the International Workshop of Acoustic Music, Virton, Belgium.

Fri. 4 Apr.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia and guests in concert, 21:00; vicenzAcustica 4, Vicenza, Italy. Info tel. +39 0444 505183

Fri. 30 May-Mon. 2 June: Acoustic Guitar Workshop 4, Italy. Info tel. +39 0444 505183

Flatpicker's tunebook by Oliver Waitze

Flatpicker's tunebook, by Oliver Waitze of the New Acoustic Gallery, is a collection of thirty classics from the genres of traditional bluegrass, gypsy & swing, traditional Irish music, Italian music, and world music.

The bluegrass section includes 'Forked deer', 'Lost Indian', 'Golden slippers', 'Big Sciota', 'Sally Goodin', 'Salt Creek', 'Whiskey before breakfast', 'President Garfield's Hornpipe', and 'Golden Eagle Hornpipe'. Tunes are shown in tab and standard notation, and the book comes with a sixty-track audio CD. Flatpicker's tunebook is published by Schell Music at €22.95.

First Spanish tutor for bluegrass guitar

Josep Traver's La guitarra acústica: Bluegrass is the first book to be published in Spanish on bluegrass guitar. It is suitable for beginners, as well as for advanced players who want to deepen their knowledge of acoustic folk guitar in general and the bluegrass style in particular.

It covers different aspects of bluegrass guitar: general characteristics, repertoire, accompaniment, chord inversions, harmonic substitutions, improvising, scales, arpeggios, and techniques such as flatpicking, crosspicking, and Carter family style. The text is divided into nineteen parts of progressive difficulty, so that the sections of most interest to the reader can be treated as independent units.

Format: 74 pages and a CD with 99 audio tracks of all examples. All the exercises are shown in standard notation as well as in tablature. Price: €23. On sale at Casa Beethoven y Audenis, Barcelona; Musical tres y Platero, Badalona; or online from Dinsic Publicacions Musicals SL, Santa Anna 10, E 3a 08002 Barcelona; telephone +93 318 06 05; fax +93 412 05 01.

Coming gigs: Coppo-Dalla Vecchia

Roberto Dalla Vecchia reports that he'll be playing in sweet Switzerland again this coming weekend:

I'm really excited about it because I'll be playing these gigs with mandolin wizard Martino Coppo. He's been a guest musician in my previous CDs and I'm so happy about this musical partnership.

Sat. 28 Oct.: Restaurant Lerchenberg, Zurich. Info tel. +41 (0)44 271 5566

Sun. 29 Oct.: House Concert, Lausen BL. Info tel. 061 423 96 91; e-mail; Bluegrass in Basel

Hope to see you very soon,
Yours in Doc,
Roberto Dalla Vecchia
'Flatpicking Guitar with Italian Gusto!'
MySpace site

Steve Louvat at Gelbressée, 20 October

Laurent Eckhout reports that Steve Louvat will play fingerpicking guitar next Saturday, 20 October, at Gelbressée, Belgium, as leader of the trio Bartaba, performing original songs in French. The show starts at 20.00. Gelbressée is a few kilometers east of Namur; full details, including a location map, are on the event website.

A wealth of photos taken at this year's Picnic Festival at Namur can be seen on the Namurimage website. The next edition of the Picnic Festival (already the 4th!) will be on 6-7 September 2008. Details will soon appear on the festival website.

Beppe Gambetta: schedule 2007-8

Guitarist Beppe Gambetta has a busy schedule during the next three months, with four solo concerts and a residential master class in Italy during 17-20 October and 13-14 December.

He will also be playing nineteen solo concerts (as well as an 'Italian Guitar Night' with Franco Morone) and conducting three workshops during the 'Gitarre zweier welten' tour in Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, and Austria between Thursday 15 November and Saturday 8 December. Full details are on his website.

16th Beppe Gambetta International Workshop, 3-10 August 2008

Beppe Gambetta thanks all those who took part in the 2007 Workshop in Ambroz (Slovenia), which seems to have been one of the best yet. In response to the comments of students, further changes and improvements will be made in 2008. The program will be conducted by Beppe and Steve Kaufman (USA), and the two classes, each of fifteen students, will have alternate lessons from both teachers. Classes will be held only in the mornings, with afternoons being devoted to jamming and socialising. All details will be posted on the workshop website, which will soon be open to receive subscriptions.

FlatMEETing in Milan, 22 September

If you happen to be in Italy on Saturday 22 September, make sure not to miss the very first meeting of the Italian flatpickers organised by Roberto Dalla Vecchia in Milan. The meeting takes place at the Acoustic Guitar Village inside the MEET Music Fair. Bring your guitar and join Roberto on stage!!!

For more information contact Roberto by e-mail or visit his website.

Roberto Dalla Vecchia: news

Roberto Dalla Vecchia, who now has his own MySpace site, will be touring the US with guitar wizard Mark Cosgrove in the coming fall. The schedule is still being completed (see below), so anyone who can propose a new date should contact Roberto.

Thurs. 6 Sept.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia in concert, 21:15; Acoustic Franciacorta 2007, Chiesa di S. Maria in Zenighe, Colombaro di Corte Franca (BS); info tel. +39 329 4504500

Fri. 21/ Mon. 24 Sept.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia Manne design clinics, Meet Fair, Milan, Italy

Sat. 17 Nov.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia and Mark Cosgrove in concert, 8:00 p.m., the Palace Theater, Maryville TN, USA; info tel. +1 865 983 3330

Sat. 24 Nov.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia workshop, 3:00 p.m.; Roberto Dalla Vecchia,Mark Cosgrove, and Rolly Brown in concert, 9:00 p.m.; 2007 Bucks County Guitar Summit, Lahaska, PA, USA

Sat. 1 Dec.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia workshop, 3:00 p.m.; Roberto Dalla Vecchia and Mark Cosgrove in concert, 8:00 p.m.; Hope Grange, Winlock, WA, USA; info tel. +1 360 785 4932; e-mail

Sun. 2 Dec.: Roberto Dalla Vecchia and Mark Cosgrove in concert, 3:00 p.m.; Scotts Mills, OR, USA; info tel. +1 503 873 9611

The four-day acoustic guitar workshop in Altissimo (VI) in June was a success. Photos can be seen here. Roberto also reports on his new Mannedesign DSR model guitar; on the UK-based internet radio and music community website Last.FM, one of the world's largest social music platforms, which enables users to create their own playlists; and on another acoustic-guitar-oriented website, FingerstyleWorld, with links to players, luthiers, events, etc.