Review: Trace Bundy at World Cafe Live 05/08/14

I've seen him several times before. After all, his videos were what inspired me to pursue this whole percussive fingerstyle craziness. And every time it’s a great show.

And the songs will always be great; that’s what we’re there for. Secondarily, we go for the stories; Trace is an excellent story teller. His personality lends well to entertaining, yet very emotive story telling. He makes you feel like you’re there, sharing in his life’s highs and lows.

But, for seeing him over the course of several years, the stories hadn't changed much. Actually, it seemed like, with the exception of a few songs from his latest album, Elephant King, there wasn't much changing in his sets either. And that’s after several years.

So I was hesitant to go. I mean, hadn't I already seen it all?

My week had already been a lot of traveling, late nights, and early mornings. Did I really want another late night? Philly, with traffic, is about an hour and a half away, so it was a bit of a trek to get there. The physically exhausted part of me wanted to stay at home.

But then Trace sent out this email. He had flown in with one guitar, but wanted to borrow a second to play his song, Joy and Sorrow. So I didn't reply to it. Because I was tired... In addition to having a long week, I was also preparing to drive up to VT, snowboard, and drive back all on Saturday, so I didn't want to be too tired for that.

After a day of not replying, I got to thinking. Trace is one of my biggest inspirations, and he only comes through the area once a year. Was I about to miss that opportunity to see him because I was too tired?! That’s definitely not me. So I decided to go.

But I was also not going to throw away a chance at having Trace play my guitar. So I shot off the email. I figured it had already been a day since his first email and he had probably gotten inundated with replies, but maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t. I sent the email with a brief description and a link to the Live From the Yellow Room video that the kids at Messiah put up …you know, so he could hear what the guitar sounded like. I’m not gonna lie; honestly, it’s been a dream of mine to one day share the stage with Trace, so the video plug was intentional to maybe get a little toe in the door to maybe someday make that a reality.

To my surprise, I got a response later that day! Trace was going to use my guitar. And the marathon week continued.

Next thing I know, I’m at World Café Live, and Trace Bundy is sound checking with my guitar.

So I geared up for seeing yet another great show, wondering what Trace would be playing. I had heard it all, right? Even from last year’sshow, I had written:

Trace is engaging and a great performer. However, I desperately want to hear more of his songs that I haven’t seen him perform. It seems like he’s stuck playing “Trace Bundy’s Greatest Hits.” The hits are hits because they are justifiably the most interesting, exciting, and innovative, but I want to see the whole story. And I want to hear the whole story; I want to hear the stories to all of songs I haven't seen him play...

And I’m thinking he probably never read that, but he may as well have. Because he did exactly what I’ve wanted to see from him; he played a much less “flashy” show with fewer of the regular “hits.” So we got some new stories and insight into his writing process.

Yes, there were still some of the “hits,” and a few that I’ve seen him play before; I think I’ve seen him play Pachelbel’s Cannon at every show. But that’s okay, because there were new pieces and there were stories behind them. He played a lot off of Adapt and Elephant King, but he also threw in a few unique covers, like Michael Jackson’s, Beat It, on Iphone (which seems to be getting more intense as the years go on), GNR’s, Sweet Child O’ Mine (New? I hadn’t seen him play it before), and U2’s, Where the Streets Have No Name.

We got to hear about his recent stint with an EPSN contest, more about his growing family, and about who he wants to be as not only a guitarist, but also as a person. It wasn’t like you were with that guy who has the same set of stories that he tells at every party. Trace is a growing, dynamic human being, and he showed that through his performance.

And we got to hear about the more technical stuff. This is something that I’m always taking notes on when I see Trace. He makes this music incredibly accessible, in spite of him being, as they say, an Acoustic Ninja. He explains delay, and the purpose of delay as it relates to songs like Overtime. Then he explains looping and reverse loops, saying and playing familiar pieces in reverse. And, of course, the capos come out, but not without sufficient explanation.

The man is a brilliant guitarist and proves, time and time again, that he is just as brilliant a performer.

After the show, he came out to do an encore.

That’s when he played Joy and Sorrow. Unfortunately, my guitar was Sorrow; it represented “utter despair.” It’s a conversational piece that uses the two guitars in two different keys, D major and D minor, to illustrate the dichotomy of life’s more delicate moments. (I got a video of it, but I’m going to try to get Trace’s permission before posting it).

After the show, I got to hang out with Trace a bit while he packed things up. And, like most other solo musicians I’ve met, he’s incredibly approachable and a genuinely nice guy. It shows through his performance, but then really stands out in person. I got to find out about how he ended up going from being an Engineering professor to a professional guitarist (apparently I have to get my Masters for this to work), about some of his experiences playing things like LIFE, and a little bit about how he writes.

It’s inspirational; seeing guys like Trace definitely raises the bar. I’ve accomplished a lot in the past year, releasing my second album and playing B-Sides, so I think my new guitar goal will be to get to the level where I can share the stage with Trace. It’s ambitious, but isn’t ambition what gets us places?

Review: Trace Bundy at World Cafe Live 05/05/13

I’ve seen Trace Bundy before. He puts on a good show, but I almost didn’t go this time. Some people like to relax on their weekends. My weekend consisted of going to see presentations at Messiah, going to VT to snowboard (yes, in 70° weather), a cookout, and a few miscellaneous extra pit stops; about 1000 miles on the road, plus several hours more in the car to camp out and sleep. However, Kelly convinced me to go to the show, got the tickets, and made dinner reservations.

Now the first time I had seen Trace Bundy, in Vienna, VA, he had young prodigy, Sungha Jung. The kid could play, but was so emotionless and mechanical. Sure, he was a kid (12 or 13 at the time?), but it was just such a stark contrast to Trace’s playing and persona.

Last year at WCL, I saw Trace again, but this time as a solo act. That gave him a little bit more time to play and to tell stories. He can hold your attention well enough to be a solo act, so that worked.

This time, Trace brought youtube sensation, Sandra Bae. She’s this 18 year old fingerstyle guitarist whose youtube videos garnish views numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Conveniently, she’s from Philly (Korea, but is with a host family near Philly).

As it may be apparent, my life is fairly busy. I don’t get time to check up on youtube or anything like that; the latest internet sensations to reach me. So I went into this without seeing any of Sandra’s videos. Admittedly, I went in with low expectations. I expected something mechanized and dry; note-for-note perfect with no life.

But that’s not Sandra. She’s transparent; you know what she is thinking because she’ll say it. If she’s nervous or thinks she’s going to mess up, she’ll tell you, make an awkward joke about it, and then …just rip. There’s something that being on stage causes sometimes, where your mind is all over the place and the only thing you know is playing guitar; your mind is racing and if you do anything that isn’t playing guitar, you flounder. I’m sure it could come off as unprofessional, but if you’ve got the chops to back it and the wit to play it off, you can use the candor to your advantage.

And there was something about her playing that felt right. Like her stage presence, you could sense the excitement and nervousness, but it just seemed like she belonged there. As a player, she has an impeccable sense of melody, intertwining the melodies with bassy rhythms and leads that draw you in. She only played covers (of which I’m not a huge fan), but her original arrangements blended the familiarity with her personality in such a way that set her apart from being just another face doing a cover at an open mic. She drew from a number of inspirations, ranging from Michael Jackson, “who was black,” to Queen, to Tommy Emmanuel, to Andy McKee. I was personally rather impressed with her cover of Apologize, as she took a cover from a genre I’m not fond of, and made it interesting and original, without having to sing. So often the basis of a cover is limited to dumbing down the music and singing it differently, based on the limitations of the individual’s voice. Instead, Sandra took the mundane and gave it flare and technicality and …well, check it out:

Listening to her arrangements, at age 18, made me take a serious look at some of my music. She’s got a bright future ahead of her. She has talent, personality, and a massive following. Right now she’s just arranging covers. If she can get into composing original pieces, she’ll be golden. Yes, there is a niche in playing artsy covers on youtube, but music is bigger than that and it sounds like her aspirations are as well. I mean, she’s only played a handful of shows and she’s playing with Trace Bundy …that’s a good start.

And, like I mentioned previously, she’s living with a host family outside of Philly. So, if you’re in the area, keep an eye out for her dates over the summer!

Back to the show; the stage then opened for Trace Bundy.

Now something about Trace - First and foremost, he is a musician. You can’t deny that; he’s musically talented beyond what any individual could reasonably hope for. And I say musician, because his approach appears appears to be well rooted in theory; he knows what he’s playing; he’s not just a guitarist. Beyond that, however, he’s a performer.

You’ve gotta have personality. For solo acts, if you want people to like your live show, you need them to like not only your music, but who you are as a person. Because we’re in the day and age where you can get music anywhere, you have to sell more than just notes.

Trace has stories, jokes, and crowd engagement. Even if he were an average guitarist, I think he’d make out pretty well just on personality. I try, in my own performances, but I’m well aware that I don’t quite have the same charm. When I see Trace Bundy, I take notes.

So since Sandra opened for him, his set was a bit shorter than last years. Unfortunate on one hand, but on the other, it’s neat to see the up-and-comings.

His set started out with Elephant King, the title track to his latest album.

Next, was Overtime; a delay-based tune centered around playing 1.5x (pay for working overtime) the speed of the delay. It’s a great way for him to introduce the idea of delay to an audience and a great tutorial on how to use delays more dynamically. I had seen him perform both Elephant King and Overtime before, but I’m fairly certain this was the first time I got to see him play Bristlecone. To play this song, he plays a little riff prior to the song and then plays it in reverse to start the song. Again, it’s a nice little demo of how he is actually processing the sound and an interesting look into another artist who uses such effects.

The Oldies medley seems to come out at every show. I think there may have been a few new references, but this one is kinda getting gimmicky. Maybe that’s just my disdain for covers?

Pachelbel’s Canon is a classic arrangement for Trace. He was the first I saw to actually do something innovative with a more classically arranged piece. This was part of the inspiration that Kelly and I had for having Trevor Gordon Hall play this at our wedding. Trace brought Sandra back to the stage to accompany him in this one. When I had seen him with Sungha, they basically played the same thing, but, for this, Sandra had written an accompanying part that really went well with Trace’s version.

Next was Traverse, a song about a rock climbing accident, that resonated well with Kelly, as she was still in her boot from her accident.

Trace got more of the entertainer out with Happy Birthday, played backwards, followed by Beat It on his Iphone. Both arguably gimmicky, but still entertaining nonetheless, especially when seeing peoples confused faces during Happy Birthday. And, actually, I hadn’t seen Beat It on the Iphone before; previously he had played superstition. Personally, I think Superstition worked out better, but it was good to see things switched up.

The night wrapped up with Joy and Sorrow, Dueling Ninjas, and Hot Capo Stew; three crowd favorites. Aside from the frenzied capo use on Hot Capo Stew, I think Joy and Sorrow is one of my favorites. It uses two guitars in different tunings, weaving between major and minor keys.

For an encore, Trace came back out to play a U2 cover, Where the Streets Have No Name.

Also, at some point throughout the show, he recounted the story of the crème brulee from last year. Consequently, I now know how to make crème brulee.

In all, yes, I would go see this exact show again. Trace is engaging and a great performer. However, I desperately want to hear more of his songs that I haven’t seen him perform. It seems like he’s stuck playing “Trace Bundy’s Greatest Hits.” The hits are hits because they are justifiably the most interesting, exciting, and innovative, but I want to see the whole story. And I want to hear the whole story; I want to hear the stories to all of songs I haven't seen him play...

Again, I’ve been challenged. Two weeks, back-to-back, I have seen phenomenal guitarists who challenge what I write, how I write, and how I perform. Ultimately, as a guitarist and performer, that is what I want to see; my songs and performances challenging and inspiring others.

Review: Kaki King Retrospective Tour at World Cafe 04/28/2013

I've written about Kaki King before. But let's back up with the years-long quest that was finally satiated last night, seeing Kaki King live at World Cafe Live in Philly:

It was the fall of 2007. I was at Messiah College, playing a coffee house. If I recall correctly, it was a song later entitled, Unwinding. After I played and was heading back to sit with my friends, this guy, John, stops me, congratulates me, and tells me of this other, similar guitarist, Kaki King, who had played at school the previous fall.

Usually I don’t listen to people’s recommendations. Part of it is that there are so many that I usually forget names; the other part is that I really don’t trust other people’s taste in music. Tonight was different, though. Whether it was later that night, the next day, or the next week; eventually I looked up Kaki King. And this is what I saw; ultimately the inspiration for Bea and the Rock Elephant:

Similarly to my discovery of Trace Bundy, I was completely blown away and had no idea that all of that was possible on a guitar. Everyone else is just so blindly drawn to big power chords and the same set of 3 or 4 progressions.

Jump ahead a few years and I've missed seeing her every time I've had the chance. Seriously, I've had the chance to see her FOR FREE and things just never work out. I've been chomping at the bit for years!

But I finally got a chance last night. And it was one of the best shows I've seen. Ever.

To start, this was her 10th anniversary show (or tour?). 10 years ago, she released, Everybody Loves You, to make money while playing in the subway. It caught, and the rest is history. But for this show, since it was the 10th anniversary, she played the album, start to finish.

And at first I was super excited when she mentioned that she was doing this; her first album is one of my favorites. After the first few songs, though, I was confused. Turns out I didn't have her first album. Later in the show, I would discover that I didn't have the second album either! Some fan I am? Actually, though, I'm excited because that means more new music of hers without having to wait for another "new" album ;)

But that left me coming to the table with no idea of how the songs should sound. Knowing her latest 4 albums, hearing the start gave insight into the makings of a musical genius. She told stories of her early struggles as a musician, rejection, playing drums for a band in college, and how this one little imperfect demo to sell in the subway blossomed into a career of 10 years and counting.

And Kaki really surprised me. Not that I didn’t expect her to rip; I just didn’t expect the personality. I had heard before that she was quieter and bitter/angsty. Maybe the report had come from a bad show? Everyone has them. But for this she was transparent. She was imperfect and made a few mistakes; she was quirky and stumbled over her words a few times. But she was genuine and she was having fun. When a world class musician can have a less than classically-inerrant performance, yet laugh, joke, and smile, it sets them apart from the mechanized and interjects soul and emotion. Kaki King had that.

And maybe it was because her family and friends were there? Some sisterhood banter to lighten the mood? Comfort from her wife? I don't know; I just know that it was just a good time; it felt like the intimacy of a house concert.

And I was somewhat afraid that after she played through the album that would be it. Instead, she finished up the album and started in on more. She ended up playing an hour and a half long set of just acoustic guitar. It was great.

Except there was more! Yes, a second set; 3 hours total. The second set was King with drummer, Jordan Perlson, and Dan Brantigan on the EVI (electronic valved instrument) and trumpet. For this, Kaki rose to her feet and dawned several other guitars (I think I counted 7 total for the evening) and a tenor(?) uke. Rather than sit, she stood in order to rock out a bit harder to some more of her newer material, mixed in with some of my old favorites off of ...Until We Felt Red. The second set also saw King’s voice transition from stories to singing. It played much more like a technically dazzling indie rock show.

Essentially, King had opened for herself and her band. Half dreamy acoustic music and half indie rock show, the sets were intertwined with the frenzied plucks, pats, and taps that set King's music into oceans of texture. Were there some slips here and there? Yes. Were there technical difficulties with the EVI? Yes. It’s not about hitting every note and having everything be technically flawless; mechanized music is lifeless. Music is about life; it’s about the breath of the instruments, how the artists interact with them, and how meaning can be drawn from feeling.

Kaki King nailed it. All I can think is how much it sucks that I missed her for YEARS and, prior to that, had missed this genre. I will now be locked in my guitar room for the foreseeable future (except for going to work and, perhaps, the bathroom).

And I'll leave you with this: another of my favorites, as well as King's encore -

Review: Trace Bundy at World Cafe Live

If you've ever seen Trace Bundy, you know it's more than just a guy playing guitar. Everything around you is part of the experience. It's not just music; not just stories...

Which is why I'm going to start this review off with a review of my meal. See, the Trace Bundy experience leaves you remembering the details. You've got this journey leading up to one of the most exciting shows of your life. The details get you there.

And understanding what a show I was in for, I decided to start the night off with a good meal. Not that you shouldn't ever not eat well, but World Cafe Live does a pretty good job at good food.

The Meal
I got the halibut fillet. It was served over sauteed broccolinni, topped with a chilled corn relish, and roasted yukon potatoes on the side. A savory garlic butter sauce topped the dish.

The flavors were great. The richness of the garlic butter tied together an otherwise light dish. The halibut was good, not great. Despite being cooked perfectly, melting in your mouth, half of it was under-seasoned and rather bland. The potatoes and broccolinni went very well with the dish, but the star of the show was the corn relish.

Yes, the corn relish. To start off, it was chilled. That helped to set it apart from the rest of the dish as not only a textural element, but also a contrast in temperature. To top it off, it was slightly charred. This brought out a lot more sweetness than you would generally associate with it, as the sugars in the corn had started to caramelize. The end result was this sweet, zesty, slightly acidic element sitting atop a plate of much more savory-oriented food. I wanted more.

To end the meal and start off the show, I got creme brulee. It was good. Actually, it was the first creme brulee I've ever had. I can't compare it to others, but can say that I enjoyed it. I was looking for a little bit more egg flavor, but then again, I don't know if that's what it was supposed to taste like or not... Regardless, it was quite enjoyable. Trace actually asked for a bite of mine when he saw it (he was joking), and then got one of his own after the show.

Now on to the show:

The Show
For this we'll have to back up. Earlier I mentioned that every Trace Bundy show includes the journey you took to get there. Well, our journey didn't begin with dinner. It began with buying the tickets. See, originally Kelly was going to go, so I got two tickets. And originally Andrew was going to bring Jean and Joe, so he got 3 tickets. Our dinner reservations were, therefore, for 5.

Well Kelly dropped out. She was off to a bachelorette party early the next morning. And Joe dropped out. He was headed to a wedding early the next morning. And then there were 3. We exhausted our list of people who may be around/may want to go and ended with 4, adding Casey.

It was unfortunate that we didn't get a 5th. Or was it? Once we got there, they seated us at our table for 5, which was really a table for 6. But we only needed 4... A few minutes and some of Andrew's charm later, we were relocated to the table for 4, sitting front and center.

Here's a picture Trace took on his phone of the crowd. Note that we are the closest. #win

Now we get to the actual show.

This was the last show of Trace's CD release tour for Elephant King. His last show at World Cafe Live was a year and a half ago, right before his son was born. Right before the show after that (the D.C. show I was at), his wife had gone into labor. Seemingly irrelevant to the show, but I guess when stuff like that happens in your life, you remember the details. Trace's memories of Philly, in this case, were good ones; a great way to start off the show!

So as the show progressed, there were a handful of things that were the same as the previous shows: the medleys, the iPhone version of Superstition, and some of the stories. I knew what was coming. Part of me wanted to think that it was gimmicky. But it's not - everything that was the same was just as good, if not better, than the first time. The version of Superstition, for instance, that he plays with a guitar app on his iPhone - way better this time. After another year and a half of practice he went from looking super nerdy, sitting and playing his phone, to standing up and rocking out.

And the stories... he's just a great story teller. Take his opening song, Patanga, for instance. What is the meaning behind it? The beauty of a made up word is that you can make up the meaning ...which is what he does every single time. Maybe a few of the times he uses the same stories, but it's unlikely that you will ever hear the same definition/story of Patanga twice.

The stories go from complete nonsense of how Patanga is the film on top of SPAM to how he had a nearly-fatal climbing accident 10 years ago and how the song, Traverse, is partially about that. And they touch everything in between. Elephant Kings. Ninjas. The baboon guard. A monkey referee. He has the imagery of the great song writers, only he builds it into the dialogue surrounding his compositions.

It takes a lot to be great. Some people say 10,000 hours. But that's only to be good at your instrument. To be a good entertainer. To make people laugh To make a dining room fall silent. That's something you don't just have. I'd like to think that I have some pretty good stories surrounding my songs, but I don't have near the delivery. When you see Trace Bundy live, you see a real person. Rock and pop stars are so disconnected from reality that you don't get them. Singer/songwriters are generally more real, but they're a dime a dozen; it's the same thing time in, time out.

With an instrumental act, you've got to work hard. First, you've got to be able to hold people's attention with your ability. If you don't have the chops, you're going to fail. But in order for people to listen, you have to get their attention. And you get peoples attention by relating to them. You relate to them with songs like Joy and Sorrow; telling about how there is this dichotomy that governs life, making you feel joy when seeing your newborn son, but sorrow when he pees into your eye...

And then you do things for the people. Stories about your life experiences are great. Stories that are just stories are too. But something that people like, for whatever reason, are covers. And Trace does a few. He turns them into feats of finger ninjary, doing the one-man-band bit on Oldies, Zeppelin, and Eminem.

But in the end, for me, it comes down to the music. He's brilliant. And for once in my life, I made the brilliant decision to write down the setlist. Since you most likely weren't here, you can watch the videos sans-stories (for the most part), on youtube:

Patanga

Pachelbel's Cannon

Elephant King

Oldies Medley

Superstition on iphone

Overtime
     Couldn't find a video
Tres Capos
     Couldn't find a video
Traverse

Dueling Ninjas

Joy and Sorrow

Lose Yourself Kashmire

Hot Capo Stew

U2: Where the Streets Have No Names

Review: Guitar Masters (McKee, DuFour, Bennett) @ World Cafe Live

I started down the path of percussive fingerstyle and experimental acoustic guitar about 4 ½
years ago. It’s hard to believe that it hasn’t been longer. Right before that time I had seen my
first Trace Bundy youtube clip. A friend forced me to watch it and I was hooked.

Shortly thereafter, the world of percussive fingerstyle would explode via Andy McKee and his
candyrat records youtube videos. No one had seen anything like it before and they went viral.
Like 41 million views viral. Doing my homework on McKee, I discovered the candyrat record
label. THE label for guys of this sort.

The candyrat roster is just about as jaw-dropping as you can get in a single genre. McKee,
Antoine DuFour, Guitar Republic, Craig D’Andrea, and the newly added Trevor Gordon Hall
just to name a few. You can’t beat them. And you really don’t ever want to. It’s unattainable
with so much talent spread so diversely, and on this playing field, that’s not what it’s about. You
want to join them. And once you’re in, that’s what happens.

So you end up with these A-list lineups every time. And it seems like they’re always either far
away or at times when I’ve got my own gigs.

But not this time. Last Tuesday I finally got to see some of my earliest fingerstyle influences,
Antoine DuFour and Andy McKee. They joined up with Stephen Bennett, all on the same stage
at the same time. It was the Guitar Masters Tour.

Antoine DuFour:
The night opened up with Antoine. He’s my favorite of the three. He’s got a really smooth,
rhythmic Canadian fingerstyle sound that’s coupled with technique. Solid technique. Every note
is meticulously placed around every percussive motion. The way the melody and percussion are
coupled is seamless.

He started the night off with Spiritual Groove; one of my favorites. Once upon a time I had
watched the youtube video for it, but it’s so much more intense live. And so complex. He played
a handful of tunes off of that album, Development, and some newer material as well. It was a very well-
rounded selection, showcasing many different tunings (DAEFCE is one I’d like to play around
with a bit) and even a harp guitar, aptly referred to as a bazooka. Sure, he’s a bit awkward on
stage, but his playing and writing ability is superb.

Stephen Bennett:
This was the first time I had ever heard Bennett. I had heard the name in passing, but, like so
many other suggestions and name droppings, it was never followed through with. So I had
no clue what to expect. My best guess would have been someone very similar to McKee and
DuFour. And that guess would have been wrong.

Bennett actually had very little in common with the other two. He played a more traditional
fingerstyle, sans percussion. This guy knew his guitar inside an out. Not having fancy effects
or a flashy playing style, he relied on chords and melodies. I’m an engineer, so I’ll always have
somewhat of a bias towards whatever is more innovative, but this guy had what it took to hold
my attention. Which wasn’t just in the guitar playing.

Bennett toted 4 or 5 guitars, including a baritone, a harp guitar, and his antique National
resonator. All throughout the performance, he was telling stories and cracking jokes. Though he
didn’t have the tricks of the young guys, he had the skill and stage persona of a seasoned veteran.

Of his pieces, my favorite was a new lick he played, entitled, “Chocolate Mo.” The song was
on the National resonator with slide. Named after a nickname his granddaughter (?) had given
to Andy McKee, the song was constructed around the sound of the name, “Chocolate Mo.”
Genius, really. And it was new. Being the second crowd to hear a song that just so happens to be
awesome? Not a bad evening.

Andy McKee
He’s a legend; perhaps one of the first to really “blow up” via youtube. He’s doing nothing that
hasn’t been done before, but he’s doing it really well and really accessibly. On one hand, this
has turned him into a crowd pleaser, obligated to play a variety of hits. On the other hand, he has
developed more as a guitarist, gotten to collaborate with others of his caliber, and has been able
to settle in to his place on the stage. He’s comfortable and relaxed and makes it look way too
easy.

His performance consisted of almost all tunes that I was familiar with. There was some material
off of his newest album, but it was a lot more “hits” such as Drifting and Rylynn. When people
started calling out requests, Andy started to engage the audience a little more. He answered
questions from a drunk old man and even, after being told to “play them all,” made up an
impromptu medley of a bunch of his songs. It’s always good to see someone great at an art who
also has people skills. I think that is a lot of why Andy is where he’s at.

Trio:
Now if you are very creepily stalking me, you might know that I went to see Joe Satriani’s G3
tour about 5 or 6 years ago. 3 world class guitarists (Satriani, Gilbert, Petrucci), each with a
solo set and then with a combined set at the end. It’s a show I’ll never forget and one that really
hasn’t had anything to be compared to up until this point.

And really, when you’re comparing rock guitarists to fingerstyle guitarists, you still don’t have
a comparison. The G3 jam is all about soloing and rocking out – not so much the case with the
Guitar Masters Tour.

So at the end of their solo sets, McKee invited DuFour and Bennett back up on stage for some
collaboration. They played 3 tunes together, a DuFour cover, a McKee cover, and tune that
Stephen Bennett wrote specifically for the three, entitled: “Tres Padres.” Apparently that means
3 fathers in Spanish.

Maybe a fingerstyle combo isn't as exciting as a G3 jam, but the caliber of the players was definitely on par. One negative I did notice was that parts of the trio seemed a little cluttered, with just too much going on. I guess that happens. Regardless, it was something that you really only ever get to see once or twice. These guys killed it with a great line up and provided a wonderful evening of music.