“At turns mesmerizing playful humorous and wistful Gilewitz is a master of moods when he speaks to audiences through his guitar. He's always at the service of his inner voice which has a sneaky way of connecting directly to the listener's heart.” -- Creative Loafing Magazine
"I actually wanted to be a drummer.” Richard will tell you. “Five minutes after my folks heard that news they bought me a guitar.” Luckily for the rest of us Richard quickly found a teacher discovered John Fahey and Leo Kottke (to whom he mailed his broken thumbnail) and most importantly his father loved the music. Richard’s innate musical gift was quickly apparent demonstrated by his composition of a song so lyrical and inspiring only four years after picking up that first guitar that his hero Kottke recorded the final portion as “Echoing Gilewitz” on A Shout Toward Noon (and kept the thumbnail!).
Richard is a fingerstyle master; he follows Joni Mitchell in a ranking of best fingerstyle guitarists…ever. If she could only hear his rendition of Both Sides Now! What truly sets him apart is the breadth of his musical choices and inspirations (Bach to Led Zeppelin anyone?) and the emotional tone he elicits from every piece regardless of the clip at which a tune is played. He was once told that every note is an individual in a society of notes and must be treated as such giving unmatched depth and nuance to his musicianship. A CD reviewer noted that “Richard’s tunes breathe and have space; you can take a nap between notes” …in the best possible way. Having learned from his long-time teacher David Walbert that musicians don’t usually know how to use silence in music Richard prefers to let a tune sit like a dream in the listener’s hands. Imagine accomplishing that kind of gentle airiness when chasing notes like runaway horses in Jack Fig!
Of course it isn’t just the music. When was the last time you wondered if flies have necks? Or heard a story (and then a song) about the smallest penguins in the world vomiting en masse under the floorboards above which Richard was performing? Even Near Death Experiences are given the Gilewitz treatment after a friend envisioned becoming a robot in the next life; thus was born Richard’s tune Mr. Sputnik. Richard entertains as only Richard can with a unique combination of spellbinding fingerstyle mastery and hilarious commentary on life the universe and everything in between.
As one of the top fingerstyle guitarists of all time Richard invariably captivates listeners and students with uniquely emotional interpretations of romping knucklebusters and contemplative tunes reimagined for steel strings. He credits his ability to pull the deepest breath out of a tune to having studied for decades with a classical guitarist who was taught by a violinist who played alongside Albert Einstein. That is Richard in a nutshell…unusual unique surprising and a
master of fingerstyle guitar.
“Ear-boggling!” -The Washington Post
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Traditions Fair Trade, 300 5th Ave SW, Olympia, WA 98501, United States
