Description
Al Petteway was a Grammy-Winning guitarist who played nearly every type of popular, folk and classical music – as a soloist, as part of an ensemble, and as an onstage accompanist. He established a reputation as a world-class sideman by playing and recording with Jethro Burns, Peter Rowan, Tom Paxton, Jonathan Edwards, Cheryl Wheeler, Debi Smith, David Wilcox, Maggie Sansone, Bonnie Rideout and many more. Though his primary instrument has always been the guitar, he also studied lute, string bass, percussion and music composition. His compositions for acoustic fingerstyle guitar were strongly influenced by his love of Celtic music and his own roots in folk, rock and blues. He performed as a solo guitarist and with his wife Amy White as a duo, playing original and traditional music on acoustic instruments including guitar, banjo, mandolin, harp, piano, and percussion.
While living in the Washington, D.C. area, Al was awarded forty five “Wammies” by the Washington Area Music Association including the top honors of “ARTIST OF THE YEAR” and “MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR”. He was also the recipient of two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards for Music Composition. Al performed at the Vice President’s House and The White House during the Clinton administration. He and his wife, Amy White were Artists in Residence at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and Warren Wilson College where he has been the Guitar Week coordinator for the world famous “Swannanoa Gathering” music camp for over twenty years. In 2005, he was voted one of the Top Fifty Acoustic Guitarists of all Time by the readers of Acoustic Guitar Magazine and in 2008 he won Silver and Bronze medals in the magazine’s Player’s Choice Awards. Al’s CD “Caledon Wood” was included as one of the “Essential Albums of the past Twenty Years” in Acoustic Guitar’s 20th Anniversary issue and his album “It’s Only the Blues” was selected as one of the top ten “Essential Acoustic Albums of 2012.” His newest albums are “Mountain Guitar” and “Dream Guitars, Vol II.”
Al’s Dream Guitars videos, his numerous recordings, music books, and instructional videos, have helped win him international acclaim and appearances on National Radio and Television Programs. His music has been featured in a number of films and documentaries including six documentaries by Ken Burns. His original composition “Sligo Creek” was used as the theme for the Emmy-Winning PBS series “The National Parks-America’s Best Idea.” In 2013 he was given the title of “Master Music Maker” by The Swannanoa Gathering and Warren Wilson College. In 2018, he was voted among the top ten guitar camp instructors by the readers of Acoustic Guitar Magazine.
Hailed as a “Celtic guitar god” by Baltimore City Paper and “one of the best folk instrumentalists in the business” by Sing Out! Magazine, Robin Bullock is one of the preeminent acoustic music masters of our time. His virtuosity on guitar, cittern and mandolin blends the ancient melodies of the Celtic lands, their vigorous American descendants, and the masterworks of the Baroque and Renaissance eras into one powerful musical vision. The 17th-century harp tunes of legendary Irish bard Turlough O’Carolan, the spirited jigs and reels of rural Ireland, the haunting ballads of the southern Appalachians and the timeless compositions of Bach, Dowland and Francesco da Milano all find a musical common ground in Robin’s music, where lightning-fast fingerwork one moment is perfectly balanced with tender, quiet intimacy the next. A warm, friendly presence onstage, Robin effortlessly creates a magical world for the audience with his multi-instrumental wizardry, taking them on an unforgettable journey into the deep heart’s core and through the music of the spheres.
