The International Guitar Night tour has gone even better than expected for Brian Gore.
“This is my 10th tour and it really is truly the best one yet,” Gore said in a phone interview Friday prior to a concert in Helena, Mont.
Gore, the founder of International Guitar Night, joins Stephen Bennett, Itamar Erez and Lulo Reinhardt for a concert 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Kent-Meridian High School Performing Arts Center, 10020 S.E. 256th St.
“It’s a very interesting program and I’ve never heard such an enthusiastic response from the crowd,” Gore said of the current tour’s lineup of artists.
The tour opened last fall in Canada and started the American leg of the trip in mid-January in Baton Rouge, La. They play two nights in California before heading to Kent and Mount Vernon and then back to California.
“We have a really great mix of artists,” Gore said.
Bennett, of Virginia, plays the harp guitar as well as the steel-slide guitar. A harp guitar features a harp-like frame that supports extra bass strings. Bennett is considered one of the world’s premiere performers on the instrument, Gore said.
Erez, of Israel, plays compositions echoing his Middle Eastern roots.
“He’s really unique with the blending of different styles,” Gore said. “He can get many tunes out of his guitar from Arabic or Middle Eastern music.”
Reinhardt, of Germany, mixes Gypsy jazz with Flamenco and rumba styles.
Each year, the tour features several of the world’s foremost acoustic guitarists of various genres who write their own songs. Gore, of San Francisco, came up with the idea of touring guitarists in the mid-1990s after local shows in Northern California became so popular.
“I sort of fell into it,” Gore said. “People wanted to do shows and we did them as jams in small venues. It kept building from there. Now I would say it’s the premiere show of its kind anywhere.”
The first set of the show will feature each artist in solo acts. The rest of the performance includes a mix of duets and quartets.
“That’s what makes the show unique,” Gore said. “We have all of the soloists come together. There is a lot of genre bending and cultures melding. That’s why people really like it and why people come to the show and come back to the show.”
It remains a thrill each year for Gore to perform with several of the world’s best acoustic guitarists.
“I’m fond of saying that I happen to be sitting stage right to hear some of the finest guitarists on the planet,” Gore said. “I love it.”
Gore also performed as part of International Guitar Night last year in Kent and looks forward to the return trip. The tour is part of the city of Kent’s Spotlight Series.
“They have been wonderful to us,” Gore said about Ronda Billerbeck, the city culture programs manager and her staff who organized the 12th annual Spotlight Series. “We look forward to another great night.”
What: International Guitar Night
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5
Where: Kent-Meridian High School Performing Arts Center
Cost: $24, $22 and $20
Tickets: www.kentarts.com or call 253-856-5051
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