Guitar Festivals around the Globe

Rex Bell ,mobile guitar instructor for East Bay cities like Livermore and Pleasanton would like to share this excellent blog on Guitar Festivals.

Guitar Festivals around the world have presented several hundred of world class guitarists from different parts of the world. The guitarists are the best ambassadors of this wonderful musical instrument. They play guitar to the crowd to honour and celebrate the guitar in over 40 guitar centric events, spanning across all music genres such as jazz, classical, blues, blues & roots experimental, etc. These guitar festivals are an absolute must for all the devotees of guitar and anyone who loves music in general. Some of the guitar festivals around the world are:

Crossroads Guitar Festival: It was first held in the year 1999 in Madison Square Garden, New York and again in 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2013. The festival is for the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. This guitar concert showcases a variety of guitarists. Some of the performers of 2013 concert were Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, B.B. King, John Mayer, Keith Urban, Earl Klugh, among others.

Guitar Art Festival: Founded in 2000 and in its 16^th year, Guitar Art Festival,has become a leading stage for guitarists from around the globe. It gathers classical guitarists of all kinds ranging from amateurs, primary and secondary music schools pupils, students, as well as their teachers and professors and eminent guests, leading world guitarists.

Cigar box guitar festivals: This is the world’s largest cigar box guitar/homemade instrument festival. It is also the longest running Cigar Box Guitar festival in the world, celebrating all aspects of Cigar Box Guitar folk culture. For the year 2015, they are scheduled to play in Birmingham, U.K. ,Tuscany, Italy, Albert, Texas, York, Pennsylvania, and Kansas City, Missouri. Most of these are free, and if you’ve never been to one, then you’re definitely missing out some wonderful music!

International Guitar Festival of Great Britain: It celebrated its 26th year in 2014. First concert being held in 1989, International Guitar Festival of Great Britain has come a long way playing some very diverse range of music from classical, folk, jazz, blues to rock music. This year’s one of the top performer is Nils Lofgren the legendary American songwriter, virtuoso guitarist and pianist, he will be performing this November.

Canadian Guitar Festival:Kingston, Ontario is the place where every yearCanadian Guitar Festival takes place. In its tenth year, the festival attracts some of the most talented acoustic guitarists in the world.Don Ross one of the greats when it comes to acoustic guitar performs every year, some other great performers include Dan Crary, Antoine Dufou, Tony McManus, Beppe Gambetta, Jon Gomm among others. The acoustics are wonderful, and can easily be enjoyed with families and friends under the beautiful sheltered outdoor amphitheatre. So sit back, relax and enjoy the best acoustic guitar music.

New York Guitar Festival: The New York Guitar Festival has been presenting many of the world’s most distinctive and influential guitarists at venues including Carnegie Hall, The 92nd Street Y, Merkin Concert Hall, Joe’s Pub, Barbes, (le) Poisson Rouge, and The World Financial Center Winter Garden since 1999.Performers have included: Pepe Romero, The Assad Duo, Eliot Fisk, Vernon Reid, Andy Summers, Daniel Lanois, David Torn, Jorma Kaukonen, Dan Zanes, Bill Frisell, Sonny Landreth, Cindy Cashdollar, Taj Mahal, Leo Kottke, Kaki King, Bon Iver, Bryce Dessner, Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, Lenny Kaye, Yamandu Costa, Bucky Pizzarelli, and surprise guests Bruce Springsteen, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris.

So, if your fingers are itching to learn and play guitar then just give us a call. Our mobile guitar instructors will come to your home to give you personal one-on-one lessons. Rex Bell has now been doing mobile guitar lessons for many years and brings the joy of guitar to anyone who wants to learn guitar.We travel to over 30 cities in the East Bay and South Bay areas; including Danville, San Ramon, Dublin & Pleasanton.