Wed 10/30 @ 7PM
Young northeast Ohio finger-style guitarist Dan Bankhurst is starting to attract some heavyweight attention. He opened recently to Youngstown’s legendary Glass Harp at the Kent Stage and earned accolades from guitarist Phil Keaggy, possibly the most talented player to ever emerge from Northeast Ohio.
Bankhurst has developed his style through a broad musical grounding, starting out with blues and rock/blues like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, branching out into jazz, exploring players like Django Reinhardt. More recently, he was turned on to the music of Chet Atkins and started to absorb American roots influences like Merle Travis and Jerry Reed.
How well he absorbed them was demonstrated recently when he entered the International Home of the Legends competition sponsored by the National Thumb Picking Hall of Fame in Muhlenberg, Kentucky. He finished first in the contemporary category, second in the traditional category, and capped his run by winning the grand prize playoff between the two category winners.
Earlier that month, he closed a successful Kickstarter campaign in which he raised over $7,000 to fund the release of his debut CD At First Sight. The person who pledged $1,000 in return for a house concert certainly out his money on a winner.
Maybe Bankhurst will be playing that Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman guitar he won in Kentucky when he performs at Nighttown to celebrate the release of the CD.
Tickets are $10.