Ask Brian Gore how he became the leader of a touring guitar festival, and he\u2019ll tell you what sounds like the setup for a joke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stumbled into a bar in North Beach,\u201d he said during a phone interview Jan. 21.<\/p>\n
Actually, he corrected himself, it was a little Spanish eatery called La Bodega in San Francisco. That was where Gore met the fellow guitarist with whom he produced his first local guitar concert series.<\/p>\n
After that series, Gore said, \u201cI still had the (performing) bug.\u201d He started playing guitar concerts at a little underground venue in Berkeley, drawing sizable crowds. The success gave him hope that he could turn his passion for acoustic guitar music into a bigger, better show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018What would it be like if we tried to get it into a theater?\u2019\u201d he said. Thus International Guitar Night was born.<\/p>\n
Billed as a \u201cmobile guitar festival,\u201d International Guitar Night is a touring concert featuring exceptional fingerstyle guitarists from a wide range of genres, all of whom compose their own works.<\/p>\n
The show comes to Kent as part of the Kent Spotlight Series, with a performance 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at Kent-Meridian High School Performing Arts Center, 10020 S.E. 256th St.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe emphasis of the show is on acoustic guitar in all its variants,\u201d Gore said. \u201cWe try to have players who are just really, really good musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show \u2013 which debuted in 1995 \u2013 changes its lineup of musicians for each new tour.<\/p>\n
The current tour features four artists: Pierre Bensusan, Benjamin Verdery, Cecilia Zabala and Gore himself.<\/p>\n
World music guitarist Bensusan has toured with Gore twice before, and he was one of the people to suggest Verdery \u2013 a classical guitar performer\/composer with a flair for the unusual (he once performed a composition with a basketball, Gore noted). In the case of Argentinean guitarist Zabala, Gore didn\u2019t know her either by reputation, or through word-of-mouth recommendations. Gore found her through the social networking site MySpace (www.myspace.com).<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been looking for many years to find someone from Argentina,\u201d Gore said. After hearing Zabala\u2019s music on the Internet, he decided she was exactly the musician he sought. \u201c(Zabala) was the first one I asked to be on this tour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During each concert, the guitarists perform solo pieces in the first set, followed by collaborative works in the second, showing off both the diversity and harmony that can be achieved with different guitar styles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got some great collaborations,\u201d Gore said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a piece that was composed specifically for this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Gore, it\u2019s been quite a journey from playing small gigs in San Fran to touring the United States, Canada, and even Europe (twice now) with top guitarists from around the world. The best part of it all, he says, is being able to expose new listeners to the beauty of acoustic guitar music.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuitar is a very, very positive thing for people to be exposed to,\u201d he said. \u201cWe love being able to come to the towns, and bring guitar music to these places.\u201d<\/p>\n
For tickets to International Guitar Night in Kent, call 253-856-5051 or visit www.kentarts.com. For more details about the show, visit www.internationalguitarnight.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
IF YOU GO<\/p>\n
What: International Guitar Night<\/p>\n
When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7.<\/p>\n
Where: Kent-Meridian High School PAC, 10020 S.E. 256th St.<\/p>\n
Cost: $20-$24.<\/p>\n
Tickets: Call 253-856-5051 or go online to www.kentarts.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ask Brian Gore how he became the leader of a touring guitar festival, and he\u2019ll tell you what sounds like the setup for a joke. \u201cI stumbled into a bar in North Beach,\u201d he said during a phone interview Jan. 21. Actually, he corrected himself, it was a little Spanish eatery called La Bodega in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":2370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-2369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}