He’s inspired thousands of guitarists, a true influential giant of modern music. Incorporating breakneck speed, hummable melodies, popping grooves, syncopated counterpoint, rustic charm mixed with unusual progressions and tones, he emerged at a time when challenging solo instrumental acoustic music was in short supply. Quite simply, Leo Kottke is a great artist because he changed what was possible to do on the acoustic guitar.

His style has changed and softened a bit over the years, and he hasn’t released a solo album since 2004, but he’s still out there, touring, and spreading his particular brand of madness.

(He even opened shows for many hard rock acts throughout the 70s, and some even called him the Hendrix of the acoustic guitar). From the beginning, he was thrilling, attacking the instrument like a rock musician might. Kottke has been walking a fine line between eccentric and homey for more than 40 years with 23 studio albums, four live albums, several compilations, concerts all over the world, television appearances, and collaborations with such notables as Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, The Violent Femmes and Mike Gordon, among many others. Even longtime listeners are often slack jawed-not only at the virtuosity but also how Leo transforms the instrument into something strange and untouchable while always sounding familiar, rooted in timeless Americana. Indeed, Kottke, a virtuoso instrumentalist and true trailblazer, can sound like he has four hands when he throttles an acoustic guitar, going way beyond simple strumming and fingerpicking to turn a 6-string or 12-string into its own orchestra, complete with textures that serve as rhythm, lead and vocals all at once. People who hear Leo Kottke (pronounced Kot-Key) for the first time always say variations on the same thing: “Wow!” Followed, somewhat suspiciously, by: “Wait, that’s just one guy playing?” Artist Spotlight courtesy of thunderclap_monolith

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