Celebration launches summer guitar festival
A summer guitar celebration launching events surrounding the 2012 Crown of the Continent Guitar Workshop and Festival will be held Friday, June 22, at the Saddlehorn Trapper Cabins in Bigfork.
The event features solo performances by guitarists Jody Fisher and Doug Smith, resident faculty members of the guitar workshop. They will be joined by Tennessee guitarist Bill Mize and Beth Bramhall, a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Missoula.
Fisher has played virtually every style of music professionally in venues ranging from the Hollywood Bowl to the Universal Amphitheater. Today he works as a jazz artist and educator holding positions as professor of jazz and studio guitar at the University of Redlands, the University of La Verne and the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts.
Smith is a Grammy Award-winning acoustic guitarist who weaves together folk, classical, jazz and contemporary forms into a unique, flowing fingerpicking style. He is nationally recognized for his playing, which recalls the style of Chet Atkins, Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges and Alex de Grassi.
Mize is a guitarist’s guitarist who appears on many “top” lists worldwide. A past winner of the Winfield National Finger-style Guitar Competition at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan., Mize is often recognized for his understated virtuosity, creative arrangements and memorable compositions. His music recently was featured in Ken Burn’s “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” on PBS.
Bring lawn chairs, blankets and food for the concert, which is presented by the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. concert. The show will be held rain or shine; in case of inclement weather, the event will be held at Bethany Lutheran Church in Bigfork.
A $10 donation per person is suggested to support the cost of the evening and the guitar foundation’s programs.
Saddlehorn is located at 150 Ranch Road in Bigfork. To get there, take Montana 209 approximately one mile east from Montana 35 and follow signs into Saddlehorn.
For more information, call 407-5962 or email mfox@cocguitarfoundation.org.