Guitar champ to give 2 local shows

National fingerstyle guitar champion Chris Proctor performs two local shows this week.

Proctor will perform Saturday in Kalispell and Nov. 21 in Ronan.

Proctor, winner of the U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship and popular Sugarhouse, Rounder, Flying Fish and Windham Hill recording artist, is an internationally recognized six- and 12-string guitarist, composer, performer and clinician for Taylor Guitars.

Proctor has produced several books and videos that teach his techniques and compositions for solo guitar, and writes extensively for the guitar press. He is touring to promote his new release and 10th solo recording, “Close and Personal Friends,” and his recent concert/interview DVD on Stefan Grossman’s Vestapol Video Guitar Artistry series, “Morning Thunder.”

Proctor is known around the western world as one of the modern masters of fingerstyle guitar and is at the forefront of contemporary steel-string guitar. Since winning the fingerstyle competition, he has toured constantly in North America and Europe, releasing a steady stream of recordings of his compositions and arrangements.

His music is rooted in classic Americana, spiced with soul, folk, Celtic, jazz, pop and classical flavors, all of which are in evidence in the nine medleys that make up “Close and Personal Friends,” a set of arrangements of the music Proctor grew up with. 

Proctor’s warm stage presence and sense of humor, his 12-string and slide work, his adventurous six-string techniques and tunings, his original guitar pieces and arrangements, and his pioneering use of the electronic guitar bow have all made him a favorite with guitar fans everywhere.

Proctor’s Kalispell show starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the KM Theatre, 40 Second St. E.

Tickets are $15 each and are available at Noice Studio and Gallery, Ceres Bakery and the Kalispell Grand Hotel. For more information about the show, call Marshall Noice at 755-5321.

Proctor’s Ronan show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Ronan Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are $12 in advance in Ronan at Hanson & Granley True Value, and in Polson at Shannon Nunlist Physical Therapy and The Terrace Flowers and Gifts. In St. Ignatius, contact Suzie at Mission Valley Properties. Advance tickets also may be ordered for pickup at the concert; call (406) 676-2427 or email brit_gardner@hotmail.com.

At the door, tickets will be $14.

Youths under 18 get in for free, but children under 12 must be accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

The Ronan show is sponsored by Big Productions, a fundraising venture of the Lake County Youth Home.

For more information about Proctor, visit chrisproctor.com.