Peppino D'Agostino in Portland

[jayhawk]

Peppino was in Portland last Wednesday and Tad (my son) and I got to and see him. He was doing a Seagull clinic at Portland Music. He was in town last fall opening for Eric Johnson so when we say he was coming back, we had to go.

To sum it up he is amazing. He really makes you rethink the guitar as an instrument. The percussive sounds that he gets out of the body adds so much to what he does. I am amazed to watch what he does with the strings, by bending, sliding and pinching them in ways you might never have thought of. It is also interesting to watch him bend the guitar neck.

Tad and I had the chance to talk with him for a few minutes before the show. Very nice, very gracious man. These are the types of guitar players I want Tad to be around (who wants to be a professional guitarist). People who show real character.

After the show I talked the the Seagull rep about Peppino's guitar. It is his personal signature series, but his are built right on the line, like one you would buy at a store. The rep did say that he would have 10 or 15 to choose from, but other than that there was nothing different. In fact at one point he picked a guitar off the wall behind him and played it pure acoustic. He got a great sound out of that guitar. Kinda puts a question to the statement that you have to have a custom built guitar to get great sound.

If you get the chance to go see him, do it. You won't regret it.

Jack

[StringFive]

Hey Jayhawk,

I was at that show also. We must have seen each other there. Peppino was excellent. I've never seen anybody yank the tuning around like that!

Give me a shout some time.

[jayhawk]

KC

Tad and I were sitting in back on the raised seats, right next to the food table.

Jack