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New YouTube videos/my pursuit of playing the most beautiful music 

I have been busy this summer with weddings, corporate events, and private parties but I have found some time to upload some videos I have been making over the last few months. The musical selection is wide, and eclectic including recordings of the Beatles, gypsy jazz guitar recorded using a looper pedal, Stevie Wonder, classical/Spanish pieces, and of course some Brazilian pieces.

The longer I play guitar the more I feel like I could cover all the great music that has ever existed regardless of genre. If you check out my repertoire, you can see the range I cover.  I hope to one day be able to say that I came closer than anyone in playing the most beautiful and meaningful music known to mankind. Sure, it's a lofty goal, but one worth pursuing!

Check out some of my new videos, and subscribe to my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChsIXGji61zRPFipr-yYLuA.

Guitar Reveries CD Release Concert 

I have spent a considerable amount of time working on my newest album "Guitar Reveries." It is always difficult picking pieces to put on the album with such a large selection of pieces to choose from. My previous album's mostly focused on classical pieces that fit a specific geographic area (Sounds Of Europe, Latin American Guitar Legends). I wanted to create an album that combined classical pieces with contemporary pieces from many different areas ie Spain, Brazil, France, America, etc. The result is an album that will please many a listener.
The pieces on Guitar Reveries are connected by a deep nostalgia, and filled with romantic charm. 
A piece that I enjoyed recording was Dilermando Reis's "Valsa da Despedida" (Farewell Waltz). This is a piece he recorded for Brazilian radio, possibly in the late 60's. His arrangement was taken from the Scottish folk song "Auld Lang Syne" and is most often heard at the turn of the New Year around the world. This may be the first transcription and recording of Dilermando's arrangement. I remember learning the piece on an afternoon I had open before a wedding, which I would play later that same day as the bridal party wanted romantic Latin and Spanish music. The original recording by Dilermando sounds very poor, with a few sections briefly cut out. I think it may be the most beautiful piece ever played on guitar. 
 The combination of classical guitar favorites like Asturias, Capricho Catalan, Lagrima, Andaluza, with contemporary favorites like Can't Help Falling In Love, La Vie en Rose, What A Wonderful World, to a modern day acoustic guitar arrangement of Baby, I Love Your Way, the album is truly diverse.

Many of the pieces I have included have become popular staples in my gigging repertoire, and it will be a real pleasure to play these pieces at my next concert at Studio Z  in St. Paul on Friday, November 4th. I hope to see you there to celebrate the release of this album!

Concert info - Get your tickets here!

Purchase Cd's/Mp3's through my website here!

Album also available on I-Tunes

New album "Guitar Reveries"  

I am currently in the middle of a new project that I'm extremely excited about. I have been working on a new album entitled "Guitar Reveries" which will feature the widest mix from my repertoire including classical pieces from Spain, Brazil, and contemporary arrangements from famous artists including The Beatles, Etta James, Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis Presley among others. My past albums had the pattern of playing classical pieces from a region of the world like "Sounds of Europe," and  "Latin American Guitar Legends." 
Over the years of playing many weddings, my repertoire has shifted to include many more contemporary and nostalgic pop classics that people have grown to recognize and love. I love nostalgic music, and this album will be chalk full of nostalgia. I think it will be fun and ironic to mix Albeniz's legendary, and "virtuosic Spanish right of passage "Asturias" with Etta James "At Last." The difference in timbre between the two makes me smile. Also, Elvis Presley's music next to a Brazilian Choro by Dilermando Reis. The eclectic mix will make the album stand out from the rest of my previous recordings.
With my album, I'm hoping to bridge the gap and play music that celebrates the guitar in all its eclectic beauty, containing both classical and steel string guitars. I hope to have the album completed by the end of summer, and released in the fall or early winter. Thanks for reading, and check back often for updates on the album, and to hear samples from the new album in the store. 

Tags: #minnesotaclassicalguitarist #twincitiesacousticguitarist #twincitiesclassicalguitarist #minneapolisfingerstyleguitarist #stpaulfingerstyleguitarist #twincitiesweddingguitarist #stpaulweddingguitarist

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