Shetland-Music.com

The Shetland Guitar Festival is another Shetland Arts' Music Development promotion and, in local festival terms, the baby of the lot with the first event being held in 2005.

This year's Festival (2008) will run from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st of September. Programme T.B.C.

John Goldie at the 2005 Peerie Willie Guitar Festival

Shetland is, more often than not, musically associated with the fiddle for very obvious reasons. However one of our best-loved, not to mention internationally acclaimed, musicians was guitarist 'Peerie' Willie Johnson - who sadly passsed on in 2007 at the grand old age of 86.

Willie himself was well enough and sprighlty enough to attend two of the festivals that were held in his honour and the memories of those evenings will live with us all for a very long time - probably forever.

In honour of his already assured place in Shetland music history and in recognition of what he did for guitar music in general this festival focuses on guitar music in all its forms, including workshops on the accompaniment style Willie himself 'invented'.

Spanish guitar at the 2005 Peerie Willie Guitar Festival

Again encompassing a range of workshops and concerts, this event will allow you an 'up close and personal' opportunity with some of the world's finest exponents of the instrument, a boast perhaps very few other festivals of this kind and quality can make. Surely having no less a patron as Martin Taylor (a great personal friend of Willie's) just about says it all.

Steve Kaufmann, Peerie Willie, John Goldie and Martin Taylor

Previous performers:

Our first event in 2005 featured Martin Taylor, Steve Kaufmann (USA), Eduardo Niebla (Spain) and John Goldie - what a start.

The 2006 event again featured Martin Taylor with Neil Stacey, Tony McManus (Scotland / Canada), Duck Baker (USA) Terje Rypdal (Norway), Juan Martin (Spain) and Shetland's own guitar hero Ian Bairnson.

Guitarists at the 2007 festival included J P Cormier (Cape Breton), Martin Taylor's Spirit of Django and clasical guitarist Simon Thacker. There was also a tribute concert to Peerie Willie, who had passed away earlier in the year, featuring a host of local talent.

Martin Taylor on stage at the Peerie Willie Guitar Festival

Links:

Review of the 2006 Guitar Festival - The Shetland Times

Photos of the 2006 Festival - Billy Fox Photography

Review of the 2007 Guitar Festival - The Shetland Times

Peerie Willie Guitar Festival page - Visit Shetland