Gilewitz to perform at Iron Horse Saturday

Richard Gilewitz will be bringing the sounds of his fingerstyle guitar playing to the Iron Horse Concert Hall Saturday evening.

Gilewitz has performed in El Dorado several times, playing for Don Koke, owner of the Iron Horse, since he
started touring. He has been playing about 25 years.

Gilewitz's travels have taken him to 48 states and eight countries during his career.

One thing he found different playing in other countries is using jokes. He said when he played in New Zealand, even though they have a great sense of humor, there were little subtleties where he had to be cautious, and they didn’t understand sarcasm as well.

"Whey you tour overseas, you have to be alert and cautious and have a little bit different filter," he said.

Another thing he found was in Ireland any time a person tells a joke, they will correct that person and tell him or her they invented the joke and tell the origin of it.

After all of his touring, Gilewitz enjoys coming back to the Iron Horse.

"The Iron Horse is kind of old school in that they have a core audience," he said. "It's kind of like a family almost."

He said everyone – even those attending for the first time – are made to feel a part of that family.

"Everybody is a part of the show in a way," he said. "You don't have the wall up between the audience and performer."

He has even gotten Koke up on stage to sing along with his instrumental songs.

"It's almost like a party and we're all having fun," he said. "There's not many places in the world that I've seen like that."

Gilewitz is a fingerstyle guitarist and instrumentalist and he intertwines humor into his shows.

"I have a slew of stories that I tell," he said.

His mother was a professional writer and told him ever since he was a kid to take notes on what people say or situations because he would never remember them all. He said she also taught him how to embellish. He said he has told so many stories he can't remember which ones are actually true  or where they really
happened.

"But some are a classic," he said. "It's just one of those things that sets the mood for the night."

His music ranges from American to folk and Blues to classical.

He will be performing at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors. The Iron Horse is located at 315 S. Main (enter through Circle Gallery).

In addition to the concert, he will be hosting a mini-guitar camp Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. The sessions will be "Chops, Licks, Knuckles and Stuff To Wake Up Your Music Fingerstyle Techniques for Classical and Steel String Player" at noon, "The Basics of Blues Guitar and 12 Bar Blues Study" at 1 p.m., "Open Tuning Study plus Slide Guitar/6 and 12-String Guitar Damping, Rattle, Shimmer, Glides and Accents" at 2 p.m. and "Fingerpicking ‘Round the Campfire - 'You Are My Sunshine'" at 3 p.m. Each individual session is $40 or $150 for all four. Those interested can register at contact@richardgilewitz.com or for more information and on-line registration go to www.gillacamp.com.