PRESS RELEASE FROM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN:
Harry Chapin once sang, “All my life’s a circle”. There’s a circularity to David Wilcox’s return to Black Mountain, a town where he honed his songwriting, stagecraft and guitar chops at the legendary music club McDibb’s while still a student at Warren Wilson College in the early 80s. Now a recognized standard bearer of the crop of brilliant “new folk” singer-songwriters to emerge in that decade, he’ll take the stage at McDibb’s spiritual descendant, the White Horse Black Mountain, on Friday, July 22 at 8 p.m. Sharing the bill on this epic “twofer” is dazzling Italian steel-string guitar virtuoso Peppino D’Agostino.
David Wilcox released his debut album in 1987 on hammered dulcimer player/builder Jerry Reed Smith’s Black Mountain-based Song of the Wood label. It launched a career that initially grew largely by word of mouth, and a buzz spread about the young songwriter who delivered philosophical, insightful, probing lyrics in a warm, expressive baritone while accompanying himself with creative guitar work. Wilcox became one of a handful of singer-songwriters whose guitar playing garners almost as much attention as his songs, having forged a unique personal approach that takes advantage of alternate tunings and customized capos. Critics have compared his style to James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and John Gorka, and Rolling Stone magazine singled out his 1989 album “How Did You Find Me Here” as a personal milestone among his sixteen-odd releases. Wilcox’s deceptively low-key intensity has won him many fans among listeners and fellow musicians like k.d. lang, who has covered his work. His return to the locale of his early success is a major event sure to draw a large crowd.
Sicilian-born Peppino D’Agostino was inspired at a young age by guitar pioneers Leo Kottke, Paco de Lucia and Carlos Santana. Teaching himself to play by ear, he was already a seasoned composer and recording artist in his native Italy by the age of eighteen. He emigrated to San Francisco in 1984 to pursue his musical dreams and became recognized as one of the brightest lights in the the constellation of brilliant guitarist-composers of his musical generation. D’Agostino was in the vanguard of players expanding the guitar’s sonic palette through the use of percussive effects, open tunings and tapping. His immensely appealing compositions are carefully balanced between rhythmic, harmonic and melodic elements and are delivered with the trademark clarity that has made Peppino D’Agostino one of the most influential acoustic guitarists in the world.
Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 advance/$20 door.
Advance tickets available online at: http://www.whitehorseblackmountain.com
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