 News Archive - 2008
November/December 2008
The 2008’s bring to an end a year of touring, recording, writing, and teaching. As each new endeavor filled up Richard’s days, there always seemed a way to sit back and reflect on the past year and look toward 2009. Highlights of 2008 include the January California tour, including 3 days at NAMM and the opportunity to help out the folks at Premier Guitar in stepping in at the last minute to open up for John Jorgenson. The February International Folk Alliance in Memphis invited Richard to showcase at the Performance Alley and the Center for Southern Folklore, while also playing in a number of settings for folks like LilFest, FGM Records and Concerts in Your Home. March brought Richard to Frankfurt Germany for a 1st time appearance at MusikMessa in between tours of Iowa and Michigan. In April, D’Addario and Planet Waves invited Richard to film several cuts for The Stage.
The May New Zealand was a great success with the prestigious ERUPT Festival in Lake Taupo extending the warmth and friendliness of New Zealand to Richard as he represented the USA.
Off to the recording studios in June and July, a great GillaCamp in Amela Island FL, the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival in September, and then another unexpected stint in surgery as Richard’s car wreck results refused to go away. With the help of some very wonderful and dedicated folks, Richard was able to tour in November across the frozen tundra of Michigan and Indiana and completed 2008 with concerts in Florida and Wyoming and his annual Music in the Schools/Meet the artist program in Rock Spirngs, Wyoming – this time with David Webb, Tim May, and Gretchen Priest-May joining him for the week long event.
October 2008
GillaZilla Records has released Strings for a Season, a collection of favorite seasonal tunes, gathered up by fingerstyle guitarist Richard Gilewitz. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, with Grammy award winning sound engineer Tim Roberts, and co-produced with Grammy nominated artist Tim May, Strings for a Season is a flurry of sounds from a family of strings from guitar, cello, violin, mandolin, banjo, and piano. This 15-track release features nine guitar arrangements for the classical guitar from Mel Bay Publications author Stephen C. Siktberg’s 1993 book, Christmas Music for Acoustic Guitar, along with a John Fahey arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, and five arrangements by Richard Gilewitz, inspired by John Fahey’s earlier popular Christmas albums.
Each track contains the signature 6 and 12-steel string guitar sounds of Richard Gilewitz as he shares the spotlight with the ambiance of cello from Laurie Jarski and Deidre Emerson, piano and keyboard from David Webb, and the violin of Gretchen Priest. Tim May, recording artist who has played with the likes of Patty Loveless, Eddie Rabbit, and Charlie Daniels, adds his touch with mandolin, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar and resophonic guitar. All solo guitar performances are by Richard Gilewitz except for a guitar duet with Tim May on “Angels We Have Heard on High”
According to Richard, his leap into the commercial arena of holiday music for his 7th recording “began nearly a year after first hearing Stephen Siktberg’s CD filled with utterly brilliant and tasteful guitar arrangements of popular seasonal tunes. These pieces from his release simply titled Christmas Music for Acoustic Guitar, stuck with me long enough to get my attention and never let go.
“Convinced that I heard two guitars playing simultaneously, one day just out of curiosity I examined the music and realized these were arrangements for one guitar. I was floored and hooked! I believe the first piece I attempted was “Deck the Halls” and after four more years I selected my favorites from the book, along with some of my own arrangements inspired by John Fahey’s earlier popular Christmas albums.”
September 2008
September was filled with tours in California that included a magical concert at the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. One of the perks of a touring musician is to travel to unusual spots and this venue certainly qualified. Many thanks to Daniel Roest for spearheading the Music of the Spheres concerts, bringing talented artists each year to this venue. Learn more about the Lick Observatory by visiting www.ucolick.org.
Ireland’s fickle weather behaved for this 2-week tour, sending sunshine and cool breezes, while holding out on the rain. The 4th annual Clonakilty International Guitar Festival was filled with extraordinary artists, including Pierre Bensusan, Martin Taylor, Liu Fang and Bob Log III, as well as favorite Irish artists including John Spillane, Jim Murray, and Matt Churchill. This year’s festival added Richard’s workshops to their 3-day program, encouraging both beginner and advanced players to sit in on several seminar series over the weekend. Festival-goers had the opportunity to see Richard in concert at DeBarras as well as at an impromptu session with Eric Bell & Friends, plus learn about fingerstyle guitar techniques at his workshops. Richard also visited with the secondary students at St. Brogans in Bandon as part of his community outreach school program. Many thanks to D’Addario/Planet Waves, Audio-Technica, Intellitouch Tuners (Onboard Research), and Shubb Capos for donating swag for this tour that also included a packed room at The Sound Shop in Drogheda, Ireland.
Clonakilty Workshop
Drogheda
August 2008
August was GillaCamp month with two full 3-day guitar adventure workshops. Held in Troy, Ohio, at Sound City Music and at The Florida House Inn on Amelia Island, Florida, the GillaCamps brought guitar players together to hone their skills, meet new friends, and rediscover the joy of playing guitar. The next scheduled Mini GillaCamp is October 18 in Louisville, Kentucky, hosted by Steilberg String Instruments. Click here for more details and registration. and also visit the GillaCamp page on MySpace.com www.myspace.com/gillacamp. You’ll see photos of previous camps and updates about new locations.
July 2008
 Special thanks goes to Breedlove Guitars for their official guitar sponsorship at the All Star Guitar Night in Nashville during the June 2008 NAMM show. The Ryman Auditorium open its doors to feature Muriel Anderson, Richard Gilewitz, Victor Wooten, James Burton, Thom Bresh, Don Alder, Will Ray, Rick Vito, Ladd Smith, Nashville's Three Ring Circle, the Davide Facchini & Anita Camarella Duo, and special guest, Larry Carlton, plus other top performers from Nashville and across the globe. Special thanks also goes to Muriel Anderson for her dedication to this worthwhile effort that benefits the Music for Life Alliance. www.allstarguitarnight.com
It was back to the recording studio in July to finish the new CD project and it is now officially ready to be mixed and mastered. Stay tuned for more details, but we think you will like this long awaited CD that is filled with “Sounds for a Season”! If you wish to receive email notices, please sign up for the Richard Gilewitz mailing list.
Many folks often ask about Richard’s gear: guitars, strings, pickups, tuners, capo, nail and hair care products (Don’t laugh; it’s been a subject of discussion among some students.) and we will be putting in an FAQ section on his site under Press Kit. For lack of a more creative title, it will be known as Facts or Fiction.
Then it’s on to August with two GillaCamps – Troy, Ohio and Amelia Island, Florida. It is not too late to register for either but you will have to be quick. Click here for the rest of the story. Squeezed in between the GillaCamps are 4 days in Rock Springs, Wyoming, with good friends Tim and Gretchen May. Tim and Richard have previously joined up for performances and this time Gretchen will be also part of the mix.
June 2008
June finds Richard Gilewitz touring the northeastern part of the USA, bringing his Breedlove & Friends Seminars to players in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Moving on to Nashville for the Summer NAMM show, Richard once again joins fellow players at Muriel Anderson’s “All Star Guitar Night” at the historic Ryman Auditorium. Then, he is off to Alabama for another round at Art’s Music in Birmingham, and Montgomery. More details can be found on his tour schedule.
Rumor has it that Richard is going back into the recording studio in mid-June. Stay tuned for news on the release of his next CD. If you wish to receive email notices, please sign up for the Richard Gilewitz mailing list. Drop Richard a line at the Guest Book on the same page.
D’Addario Strings has a new place on their website called The Stage; D’Addario’s Musician’s Hub, where you’ll find lessons, interviews, and commentary from folks like Richard. Tune in to the Media Library. Here Richard breaks down “Have You Ever Seen a Rainbow at Night?”, talks about his adventures at a Canadian airport, and shows his take on the topic of accenting and guitar basics. D’Addario strings and Planet Waves cables have been a staple in Richard’s gear bag for a number of years. Try them out and you’ll see why.
May 2008
TrueFire.com releases "Fingerscapes" by Richard Gilewitz
The polyphonic, melodic and rhythmic characteristics of guitar supply a never-ending source of inspiration, creativity and invention. Triggering the creative process, however, is not easy -- we’ve all experienced the guitarist’s equivalent of “writer's block” in all aspects of our playing. If your creative juices have been a little drippy lately, rejoice because your fix is in hand. Fingerscapes’ rut-busting, invigorating curriculum will cure all that ails your originality.
 Fingerscapes is a cerebral course of study for guitarists across all styles. For the left brain; a palette of tools and techniques for rousing creativity. For the right brain; an “imaginarium” to stimulate invention.
Fingerscapes is also chock-full of paradoxes. You’ll learn fingerstyle moves, but this is not necessarily a fingerstyle course – flatpickers are more than welcome. You’ll work with open tunings, but this is not an open tuning course. You’ll learn how to compose original tunes, but no harmony and theory here. The entire curriculum is presented on acoustic guitar, but feel free to plug-in the electric, pump up the volume and wail away.
http://truefire.com/fingerscapes/fingerscapes.html
March 2008
March was a month of touring from Iowa to Wisconsin, Frankfurt to Michigan as Richard performed live on KUNI Radio Live from Studio One, attended MusikMesse, and captured the hearts of the audience at the legendary acoustic music club, The Ark.
Covering the world is not an easy endeavor for an artist who keeps a full time schedule of performances, clinics, and workshops as well as writing for a number of magazines, selecting tunes for new recordings, and filming clips for use on DVDs and online.
The GillaCamp schedule is expanding as new locations are being added each year. May opens the fall/winter season in New Zealand with two mini GillaCamps in New Plymouth. For the spring/summer sessions in the US, scheduled is a full 3 day guitar experience in Blandon, Pennsylvania, hosted by Meadowood Music and a mini one day camp in Birmingham, Alabama, at Art’s Music. August features Troy, Ohio, hosted by Sound City Music, and Amelia Island, Florida, hosted by The Florida House Inn, both 3-day camps. Each GillaCamp sports a different flavor based on the location, with exciting events added to the agenda including concerts, field trips, and special meal options. More information is available here and www.myspace.com/gillacamp. Sign up early to reserve your space and to take advantage of the special accommodation rates.
As always, the GillaCamp sites are selected for family friendly locations, with much to offer for players wishing to make GillaCamp their annual vacation.
Upcoming tours are scheduled for New Zealand in May, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Alabama for June.
As always, if you wish to receive email notices, please send in your request to:
zengator (at sign) earthlink.net. Please include your request in the subject line or the spam program will manage to see it as a suspect file. Not to worry, your request will be found. Inquiries for bookings can be directed to: alligator-alley-productions (at) earthlink.net.
February 2008
It is already mid-February and Richard is hard at work, performing, writing, and teaching. The January California tour was a great success, ending up with special appearances at NAMM in Anaheim. Tim May, good friend and fellow Breedlove artist, joined Richard for a duo concert at the Premier Guitar Magazine reception. Richard and Tim will be playing together again in April for a concert in Gilroy, California.
February features concerts and workshops in Virginia and Maryland and the 2008 International Folk Alliance Conference, February 20-25 in Memphis, Tennessee. Richard will be performing at the following showcase venues: LilFest, FGM Records, Folk Alliance Performance Alley, Center for Southern Folklore, Concerts in Your Home, and Handshake Management. Check Richard's tour schedule for locations and times.
"Richard Gilewitz: Live at Charlotte's Web" DVD made it to Mel Bay Publications' Hit List, Issue #12. This live performance concert, filmed by Snapshot.com and produced by Mel Bay Publications, is a treat for the eyes and ears as Richard takes his audience into his world of tunes and touring. It is available from a variety of stores, Mel Bay Publications, and from Richard's web site.
Upcoming tours are scheduled for Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan in March. Nested in between these tours is MusikMesse in Frankfurt, Germany. - the largest music expo in the world. Shubb Capos is presenting Richard on the Acoustic Stage and at their booth. This will be Richard's first appearance at MusikMesse.
As always, if you wish to receive email notices, please send in your request to: contact(at)richardgilewitz.com. Inquiries for bookings can be directed to: alligator-alley-productions(at)earthlink.net.
Links of Interest
Richard Gilewitz MySpace site: www.myspace.com/richardgilewitz
Folk Alliance: www.folk.org
LilFest: www.lilfest and www.myspace.com/lilfest
Concerts in Your Home: www.concertsinyourhome.com
FGM Records: www.fgmrecords.com
Handshake Management: www.myspace.com/handshakemgt
MusikMesse: musikmesse.com/frankfurt/en
January 2008
We welcome in the New Year with the hope that all of you will continue to support good music and all of the musicians who are out in the trenches performing night after night.
 Richard is doing his part to keep the music alive by offering more opportunities for players to attend his seminars and workshops. The Florida GillaCamp 2008 is expanding to more cities and a one-day GillaCamp is scheduled for the Clearwater/Tampa area on February 9 and in Jupiter on February 10. Each 5-hour Mini Camp program is designed to pull from the full 3-day GillaCamp and will be full of new and exciting lessons for those who have attended the GillaCamps in the past and for those first timers. Sign up today for the Florida GillaCamps.
More GillaCamp locations are available at: richardgilewitz.com/gillacamp.html
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