Hot on the heals of ‘Fiddle Frenzy’, Shetland Arts Trusts next major music promotion will be the ‘Peerie Willie Guitar Festival’, promoted in conjunction with the Trust’s book festival ‘Wordplay’, running over the weekend 10th and 11th September.

The guitar festival, named after, and in honour of, Shetland’s legendary guitarist Peerie Willie Johnson, who is also patron of the event, will feature four of the worlds leading guitarists, and is set to cover a diverse range of styles.

On Saturday the 10th the programme will feature top jazz guitarist John Goldie, a regular visitor to Shetland, who will be sharing the bill with Flamenco guitar wizard Eduardo Niebla, termed by ‘Time Out’ magazine as a “world class virtuoso”. Eduardo returns to Shetland by popular demand after wowing audiences in Shetland last year with a spell-binding, and at times breathtaking performance blending traditional flamenco and jazz styles.

Sunday the 11th can safely be labelled a guitar legends day and a guitar players dream ticket, with acoustic bluegrass and jazz styles very much to the fore. Three-times in a row USA national flat-pick champion Steve Kaufmann, the only guitarist ever to have achieved that feat, is visiting Shetland as part of his wider UK tour, while heading the bill is the man many agree to be the greatest all-round acoustic guitarist in the world, and indeed a great friend of Peerie Willie himself, Martin Taylor. Although possibly best know as a solo performer in his own right Martin has also played with many of the world’s greatest musicians including Stephane Grappelli, and he will be making a rare live appearance in the islands especially for the event.

Shetland Arts Trust Music Development Officer Davie Gardner said “What started out as a plan for a basic guitar gig has somewhat sprouted wings on us, with four brilliant and very diverse guitarists now set to appear here over the same weekend. I briefly discussed the idea with Willie himself and it dawned on us it would be a great idea to hold the festival in honour of him, in recognition of what he has done for guitar music, and indeed music in general, in these islands over many years. We were absolutely delighted when he then agreed to put his name to the event, as many of us have felt that, legendary though he already is in certain circles, he deserves even wider acclaim for his wonderful and unique talents. If this goes some way to achieving that, in addition to simply being a fantastic live music event, then great. To have guitarists of world class quality willing to come to Shetland for the event and to celebrate Willie’s talent and achievements probably says it all”.

In addition to the concerts there will be a number of workshops featuring both visiting and local guitarists. On Saturday John Goldie and Eduardo Niebla will run separate workshops and on Sunday local guitarists Brian Nicolson and Alan Scollay will jointly run a workshop focusing on Willie’s unique style. Steve Kaufmann will also deliver a flat-pick workshop in Brae High School on the Monday following the event

“All being well Willie hopes to be able to attend at least some of the workshops and the concerts” said Davie “which would very much be the icing on the cake for all of us concerned”.

“The events have been timed to ensure that anyone wishing to attend the book festival events will also be able to attend the evening concerts so, for instance, fans of film critic Mark Kermode will also be able to take in the Steve Kaufmann / Martin Taylor concert later the same evening” said Davie

Full details of all the workshops will appear in next week’s edition of the Shetland Times. Both concerts will be held in the Clickimin Bowls Hall starting at 7.30 for the Saturday event and 8.30 for the Sunday concert. Tickets for both events go on sale from High Level Music on Friday 2nd September at 9am priced £10 and £7 concession for each event.

For further information contact David Gardner on (01595) 694001 or 07748-153574.