National fingerstick guitar champion Richard Smith will perform in Port Angeles and Port Townsend this weekend.
Studio Bob will host Smith in concert at 7 tonight. The show will be at the studio at 118½ E. Front St. (upstairs). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission will be $20 at the door.
Smith will perform at Rainshadow Recording Studio, Building 315 at Fort Worden at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased online at www.brownpaper tickets.com. For more information, call Everett Moran 360-301-0291 or email centrumrecording@gmail.com.
“His flawless technique, quickly switching between fingerpicking and flatpicking, has earned him the admiration of his peers. Legend Chet Atkins called Richard ‘the most amazing guy I know on guitar. He can play anything I know, only better,’ ” said Bob Stokes, owner of Studio Bob.
Born in Beckenham, England, Smith picked up the guitar when he was 5 after watching his father playing an Atkins and Travis version of “Down South Blues.” By the time he was 11, he was recognized as a child prodigy on the guitar.
He played onstage with his idol Chet Atkins at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.
“Once Smith’s mentor, in time Smith became Atkin’s mentor,” Stokes said.
During his only participation, Smith won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship.
The National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame named him Thumbpicker of the Year in 2008 and inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Smith also received the Golden Thumbpick Award by the Association of Fingerstyle Guitarists.
His repertoire includes a range of styles from country, bluegrass and folk to jazz, gypsy jazz, pop and classical music.
Richard performed with the Richard Smith Guitar Trio before marrying American cellist Julie Adams and moving to Nashville, Tenn., in 1999.
There he founded the Hot Club of Nashville, a jam band with a varying lineup, including high-profile session players such as John Jorgenson, Pat Bergeson, Bryan Sutton and Stuart Duncan, combining the European and American traditions of Gypsy Jazz and Western Swing.
