Festival goes guitar crazy

Grammy winning guitarist Mike Dowling favors the melodic Piedmont style of acoustic blues masters like Mississippi John Hurt, but his repertoir ranges far beyond any one style. (photo by Jeff Vanuga)

Kevin Russell is just crazy about guitars.

In fact, the Sebastopol musician and show promoter likes the instrument so much that he decided to share his passion for it by staging the first Sebastopol Guitar Festival, making its debut Saturday.

The event will include a full afternoon and evening of displays, workshops, classes, films and live performances — all devoted to the guitar.

“I love guitar music in all of its forms, so this is a way to celebrate the guitar,” he said.

The festival will feature two accomplished guitarists in live concerts:

Stevie Coyle of Lafayette, a guitar shop owner and member of a popular Bay Area acoustic bluegrass and folk-rock band, The Waybacks.

Mike Dowling, a longtime recording session musician in Nashville, who now lives in Wyoming and continues to teach guitar and perform on tour.

Russell called Dowling “one of the great unsung heroes of acoustic guitar. He plays swing, slide guitar and ragtime.”

But that’s only one piece of the program.

“One part of the event is going to be a guitar film festival, with films about Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Doc Watson and people like that,” Russell said.

“And we’re going to have classes all day — for beginners, intermediate players, blues players. One guy’s going to teach a class on alternate tunings for the guitar,” he added.

Most guitar festivals also put the instruments on display, and the Sebastopol event will do that, too, but Russell insists the guitars must be more than pretty showpieces.

“I love beautiful guitars, but I’m interested in guitars that people use when they’re working and making music, not just works of art,” he said.

Russell, who plays in the Sonoma County bands Laughing Gravy and the Rhythm Rangers, started playing guitar as a child, but his true love affair with the instrument began a few years later.

“I took up the guitar because I wanted a girlfriend,” he said.

In more serious terms, the popularity of the guitar endures, Russell believes, because of its versatility and practicality.

“You can use a guitar for any kind of music. There are many different styles,” he said. “And it’s portable.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. See his ARTS blog at arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.

GETTING IN TUNE
What: The Sebastopol Guitar Festival, presented by Kebtone Productions, the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center and Lagunitas Brewing Company.
When: Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, with concerts by Stevie Coyle at 3 p.m. and Mike Dowling at 8 p.m.
Where: Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St., Sebastopol.
Admission: $40 for a full pass, or $25 in advance if you use the code: kebtone. $20 for all classes & films only, excluding the concerts.
Information, full schedule and tickets: 823-1511, www.seb.org.