Sandwich Guitar Festival

Running from 1st to 5th October the second annual Sandwich Guitar Festival returns to the St. Mary's Arts Centre in the heart of the beautiful and historic town of Sandwich, Kent. A programme of concerts, workshops and demonstrations will take place over four days and will feature world class performances in various music styles including solo acoustic, Delta blues, contemporary jazz, classical and finger-style guitar.

Organised and funded by husband and wife team Bob and Laura Drury the festival aims to cut musical boundaries by gathering together a roster of amazing guitarists from different genres and presenting them in a four-day guitar extravaganza! The programme also includes technique workshops for beginner to advanced players plus demonstrations of guitar building skills for anyone who might fancy building their own guitar from scratch!

Programme

First up on Thursday 1st October is solo acoustic player Martin Simpson who has been nominated no less than 31 times in the prestigious BBC Folk Awards with 12 nominations for Musician of the Year which he has won twice. Widely acknowledged as one of the finest acoustic and slide guitarists in the world, Martin's interpretations of traditional songs are masterpieces of storytelling and his shows intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving.

Friday evening (2nd October) sees Delta Blues guitarist and harmonica player Thomas Ford take to the stage. Described as a "one-man blues storm", Thomas has performed at some of Europe's most prestigious blues festivals and has been hailed as the rising star of British Blues . "...this is straight and natural blues in a unique and exhilarating format, played with the respect and knowledge that the great tradition deserves" (rootscd.com).

Saturday's events (3rd October) kick off with a blues guitar workshop. '20 Essential Blues Riffs' will be lead by guitarist and festival director Bob Drury and is aimed at beginner to intermediate players. Bob will cover basic theories of blues harmony and the construction of blues solos based on rhythmic patterns, simple five-note scales and the development of a 'riff' vocabulary. Last year's 'Blues From Scratch' workshop was sold out so best to book early!

The evening concert on Saturday 3rd October features MOBO award nominated jazz guitarist Femi Temowo with his trio. Femi’s slick and melodic guitar sound has earned him a place beside many great musicians and artists from across many genres, having played with the likes of George Benson, Courtney Pine, Amy Winehouse, The Roots, Omar, Roachford and Jason Rebello, Don Blackman and many more. His influences range from African pioneers such as Nigerians Fela Kuti and Ebenezer Obey to Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis so expect a really 'special brew' of jazz sounds!

Sunday's events feature the nylon strung guitar. First a workshop covering classical or finger-style technique and aimed at experienced players in other styles or complete beginners to the guitar. Festival director Bob Drury will focus on the right hand techniques used by classical players and explain how they differ from plectrum guitar or other styles giving lots of tips and development exercises along the way! The workshop can be attended as a 'primer' for Shaun Murray's afternoon workshop 'Arranging for Guitar'. Bob has a master's degree in classical guitar from Canterbury Christ Church University.

The Sunday lunchtime slot is given to Kent bases guitarist Shaun Murray who will play a programme of his own unique finger-style arrangements. With a YouTube I.D. of 'Ironmomger 100' Shaun has become an internet sensation with dozens of lyrical and effortlessly fluid performances of popular tunes such as (a surely impossible!) Bohemian Rhapsody and the sublime 'Somewhere' from West Side Story. Following his concert Shaun will lead a workshop session 'Arranging for Guitar' to show how he approaches the task of arranging a tune for finger-style guitar. Topics will include identifying structural chords, developing bass part, accompaniment and melody etc.

On Sunday 4th at 7.30pm internationally acclaimed classical guitarist Craig Ogden with give a solo recital. Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. One of the UK’s most recorded guitarists, his recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Sony and Classic FM have received wide acclaim. Craig’s Classic FM albums The Guitarist and Summertime both shot straight to No.1 in the UK classical chart in summer 2010 and 2011 respectively followed by the release of Christmas Time in November 2013. Both Summer Guitar which was released in June 2014 and Craig’s latest CD Craig Ogden and Friends released in June 2015 went straight to No. 1 in the classical chart. Craig Ogden has performed concertos with all of the main UK orchestras plus many abroad and has presented on BBC Radio 3 and on ABC Classic FM (Australia). Craig is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Visiting Lecturer at London’s Royal College of Music, Associate Artist of the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Director of the Dean & Chadlington Summer Music Festival.

Programme Summary, Sandwich Guitar Festival - 1st to 4th October 2015

Thursday 1st Oct. 7.30pm Martin Simpson Acoustic £16.00

Friday 2nd Oct. 7.30pm Thomas Ford Delta Blues £10.00

Saturday 3rd Oct. 1.30pm 20 Essential Blues Riffs (workshop) £7.50

Saturday 3rd Oct. 7.30pm Femi Temowo Trio Jazz £12.00

Sunday 4th Oct. 11.30am Intro to Fingerstyle (workshop) £5.00

Sunday 4th Oct. 2.00pm Shaun Murray Fingerstyle £8.00

Sunday 4th Oct. 3.30pm Arranging for Guitar (workshop) £5.00

Sunday 4th Oct. 7.30pm Craig Ogden Classical £14.00