Tickets to Tommy Emmanuel's Concerts in Toronto - May 13 and May 14, 2010 at the Ryerson Theatre - will go on sale NEXT Monday, January 18, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.

Just go to our home page - there will be link. Be sure to REFRESH YOUR BROWSER so the link shows up.

Tickets in Québec, Montreal and Ottawa are already on sale on the webite.

Apart from being a great movie starring James Garner, it is also a great reason to come out and support one of your local players here in Toronto.

Dave plays with great energy and musicality and you will have a great time at this event.

If you listened to Noah Zacharin's radio show last night you heard Dave play. If you listen to CFRB 1010 am on Sunday January 17 at 6:00 pm you will also hear him.

Listen to and learn more about David Barrett.

We will be doing the Annual Members Appreciation Giveaway at this event. The main prize is a custom Acoustic Guitar built to order by long time FingerStyleGuitar.ca supporting sponsor, Tony Karol.

I know I have beating you over the head with Frank VIgnola but, it is such an incredible show I really don't feel creepy about giving you the hard sell on this one.

You really MUST come to this one. You will be totally transcended into one of the most incredible musical landscapes on the planet. Really.

Remember when somebody finally talked you into coming to see Tommy five years ago? Even though you were not a "Guitar Fan"? It could very well have been me.

Well, it was Tommy who turned me onto Frank. Tommy told me that Frank is one of the few players he plays with where he never feels like he has hold back on going with his spontaneous musical ideas - he knows Frank will be able to keep up.

So, in those wise words from Baloo in the Disney's The Jungle Book, "come on baggy, get with the beat!"

Check out what Jazz Guitar Life has to say about Frank Vignola:

“Front and center was Vignola’s envious command of the fret-board. His rhythmic intensity and improvisational skills alone could have stolen the show as he played rapid fire lines, swift octaves, and engaging chord solos...” continue reading

Video of Frank Playing with Bucky Pizzarelli (Frank really starts to tear it up about 1:30 in!)

QUÉBEC
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 8:00 p.m.
Theatre Petit Champlain - 68-78 Rue Du Petit-Champlain

MONTREAL
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 8:00 p.m.
La Sala Rossa - 4848 St-Laurent

OTTAWA
Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 8:00 p.m.
Elmdale House - 1084 Wellington Street West

TORONTO
Friday, February 26, 2010 - 8:30 p.m.
Hugh's Room - 2261 Dundas Street West

TORONTO 2
Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 8:30 p.m.
Hugh's Room - 2261 Dundas Street West

 

Get Tickets

If you use Outlook Express, apparently the email links with built in Subject Lines in this Newsletter do not work. I do not think there is anything I can do to fix this from my end. Other programs; MacMail, Thunderbird, etc. seem to be okay.

My email is randyfinney@fingerstyleguitar.ca

When you email me, be sure to type in a relevant Subject Line or I may not even open it. DO NOT send me emails without any any subject line as I will definitely not open these.

I know, the Suvey is not working. ARRGH!

I will figure it out by next month and and make sure everyone has a chance to fill it out so they have a chance to win the front row Tommy Tickets.

"Happy Hour" by Tommy Emmanuel and Jim Nichols
A new Tommy Emmanuel CD is always an event in the world of guitar. Happy Hour is particularly interesting because Tommy is joined by Jim Nichols. If you read my blog post about the 2009 Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention then you already know that I consider Jim Nichols to be one of the most under-rated guitarists playing today. Jim is a master of virtually any style of guitar: his vast breadth of fingerstyle knowledge is demonstrated over and over in workshops as well as performance; his jazz playing is superb whether soloing or comping behind...

"Double Standards" by Martin Taylor
This music is a collection of duets in which Dr. Taylor plays both parts. You may think that two Martin Taylors would be twice as good as one, but you would be mistaken. It is much better than that, more like MT squared. (OK, I have to admit that I stole that one from my wife, but it certainly is an apt description!)

It is hard to imagine a finer album of two guitars. As I have said before I love guitar duets, and Martin Taylor certainly knows the gilded history of the form, right from the seminal work of Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson, Carl Kress and Dick McDonough, and Albert Harris and Ivor Mairants. Although he does not mention them explicitly...

Amazing submitted by Michael Fisher
These two are amazing.

Boss eBand submitted by Andre Comtois
I just picked up a new Boss eBand JS-8 from Steve's Guitars in Ottawa and I have to say I was blown away by it's features within minutes of getting it out of the box.  I've only had it a couple of days and the calluses on my fingers are already raw from playing.  Check out the specs and fact page on this thing.  I highly recommend it for guitarists of all skill level.

Wisdom submitted by Tony Burns
I love the wisdom in this song.

Chet submitted by Chris Reid
Maybe one of Chet that you might have not seen???

The Duck submitted by Brian O'Sullivan
Hey Randy, Could we set up a concert with this duck?

Guitar Player's Poll submitted by Guitar Player
Dear Randy,

Guitar Player Magazine is hosting their annual Readers Poll of the year's best guitarists in several different categories.

It's Alive submitted by Mark Sepic
The backyard.....it's alive, it's alive!