Hands all over the fingerboards
The Swannanoa Gathering music camps at Warren Wilson College attract accomplished musicians as instructors every summer, and the community reaps benefits when they perform during their visit to the Valley. On Saturday, July 29, White Horse Black Mountain will host acoustic string wizards Robin Bullock and Steve Baughman for a special performance prior to their week-long tenures on the Gathering’s Guitar Week faculty.
Baughman, who excels on acoustic guitar and clawhammer banjo, is an advocate of applying clawhammer banjo’s down-picking technique to the guitar, a style that brings a fresh rhythmic palette to the instrument. In much of his playing he also makes use of Orkney tuning (CGDGCD), a spacious tuning that offers sonorities especially suited to Celtic-inspired material. Growing mostly in the Far East, Baughman developed an expansive view of life, the world, and music that shines through in his onstage repartee and repertoire.
Bullock, who plays guitar, mandolin and cittern, is an award-winning finger-style guitar soloist and an in-demand accompanist and teacher. He grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, a hotbed of bluegrass and Irish music, and his early influences shaped a musical persona that blends Celtic and American traditions. His impeccable tone, virtuosic technique and tasteful arrangements have put him on the road with folk legends like Janis Ian and Tom Paxton, and he’s played and recorded with a Who’s Who of acoustic artists as well a producing a catalog of acclaimed CDs under his own banner. After living for many years in France, Robin relocated to Black Mountain in 2013, his longtime “home-away-from-home,” but he maintains a busy traveling and performing schedule that makes local appearances a special treat.
Bullock and Baughman have recorded a duo CD, "Alone and Together," on which the two turn their attention to music from many traditions.
Stops and starts
Who: Steve Baughman and Robin Bullock
When: 8 p.m. July 29
Where: White Horse Black Mountain
Cost: $12 advance, $15 door