Inventive twelve-string acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke will be in concert at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall on Friday, April 10, 2020.
Raised in 12 different states, Kottke absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.
After adding a love for the country-blues of Mississippi John Hurt to the music of John Phillip Sousa and Preston Epps, Kottke joined the Navy underage. He eventually lost some hearing shooting at lightbulbs in the Atlantic while serving on the USS Halfbeak, a diesel submarine. Discharged in 1964, he settled in the Twin Cities area and became a fixture at Minneapolis’ Scholar Coffeehouse, which had been home to Bob Dylan and John Koerner.
Kottke issued his 1968 recording debut LP “Twelve String Blues”, recorded on a Viking quarter-inch tape recorder, for the Scholar’s tiny Oblivion label. (The label released one other LP by The Langston Hughes Memorial Eclectic Jazz Band.)
Kottke’s 1971 major-label debut of “Mudlark” positioned him somewhat uneasily in the singer/songwriter vein, despite his own wishes to remain an instrumental performer. Still, Kottke flourished during his tenure on Capitol, as records like 1972’s “Greenhouse” and 1973’s live “My Feet Are Smiling” and “Ice Water” found him branching out with guest musicians and honing his guitar technique.
With 1975’s “Chewing Pine”, Kottke reached the U.S. Top 30 for the second time. He also gained an international following thanks to his continuing tours in Europe and Australia. His collaboration with Phish bassist Mike Gordon, “Clone,” caught audiences’ attention in 2002. Kottke and Gordon followed with a recording in the Bahamas called “Sixty Six Steps”.
Kottke has been awarded two Grammy nominations, a Doctorate in Music Performance by the Peck School of Music at the U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a Certificate of Significant Achievement in Not Playing the Trombone from the U of Texas at Brownsville with Texas Southmost College.
Doors 7:00pm / Show 8:00pm
Visit the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall website for additional information and to purchase your tickets. Tickets are also available for purchase at the Concert Hall and the St. Augustine Amphitheatre box offices.
