The Second Annual Gainesville Guitar Festival: A great event
This year’s edition of the Gainesville Guitar Festival drew international, regional and local instructors/performers. With workshops all morning at the indoor stage, and performances in the afternoon and evening on the outdoor stage, the Heartwood Soundstage was crowded with guitar cases. Participants included the UK’s Richard Smith, the “Welsh Tornado” Gareth Pearson, the legendary blues man Roy Book Binder, Kansas percussive fingerstylist Andy McKee (who toured with Prince in 2012), electric guitar guru Greg Koch (the Milwaukee based Koch-Marshall Trio), jazz stylist Taylor Roberts, Flamenco/classical guitarist Sylviu Ciulei, and Gainesville guitar gurus Mike Boulware and Richy Stano. The workshops covered multiple styles, and everything from the philosophy of playing and mindset to technical issues. Feedback from participants was excellent, and many said they were already in for next year’s event. Here’s a gallery of the participants.
Heartwood Soundstage