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Best acoustic guitarist you've ever seen?

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  • JayGeeJayGee Frets: 1254
    Adrian Legge, Richard Thompson, Rodrigo y Gabriella and, (I suspect I might get a little stick for this...) Newton Faulkner...
    Don't ask me, I just play the damned thing...
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  • pigfacepigface Frets: 213
    Al Di Meola, again. It surprises me somewhat that he hasn't been mentioned yet. If anyone is better than him, they must be pretty good :-). To be fair, I haven't seen most of the players mentioned here, but I did see Joe Robinson on the same bill as Di Meola and Lee Ritenour (no slouch himself) in Leverkusen in 2009, when Joe was 18. He was something special, even then.
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  • CountryDaveCountryDave Frets: 842
    edited January 2021
    Tommy Emmanuel - been to a few gigs. Never fails to impress and entertain.
    Eric Roche - a gig at a guitar show in the middle of the afternoon. Gobsmacking technique, but with feel and melody. Came over as a proper decent guy.
    Doyle Dykes - a couple of Taylor roadshows put on by Sounds Great. Incredible player.
    Craig Ogden - support for TE in Manchester. Blown away. A few months later I was walking past the RNCM and spotted him through a window, giving a lesson to a student. Couldn’t help but think how cool that was.

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  • PudWudPudWud Frets: 155
    Saw Tommy Emmanuel with Andy McKee supporting 13 years ago when I was 15 and that changed everything for me. Before then I was only into metal and shredding, but not too long afterwards i started listening to acoustic guitar and then moving onto loads of different styles. 

    Andy McKee was great because of his (at the time) unusual technique. But Tommy Emmanuel just blew me away. 
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  • MudcrutchMudcrutch Frets: 323
    edited January 2021
    To many greats to list but I will list one favourite and master of the echoplex.
    The late great John Martyn.

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  • menamestommenamestom Frets: 4641
    Not really for the guitar playing per se, but I saw Damien Rice twice on his way up and both times were basically the best thing ever
    +1.  Early 2000’s, when the audiences were a few hundred, absolutely amazing gigs, you could hear a pin drop in the quiet moments.

    Also guitar wise Antonio Forcioni 
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  • SchnozzSchnozz Frets: 1926
    Steve Howe
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  • StuckfastStuckfast Frets: 2393
    My friend David!

    Seriously, he's every bit as good as Tommy Emmanuel or Eric Roche, and I think his compositions are a lot more interesting, but for some reason he is not as well known.


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  • Rowby1Rowby1 Frets: 1258
    Tommy Emmanuel 
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Best: Tommy Emmanuel.

    Also good, and in no particular order: Gordon Giltrap, Martin Carthy, Ralph McTell, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Martin Taylor, Adrian Legge. They’ve each got their own styles, so they can’t be ranked.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • Adrian Legg, genuine nice guy as well. 
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  • Tommy, seen him 3 times....just amazing. Really nice sweet funny guy, technically outstanding and has some sublime songs. Whenever he’s in the northwest I’ll go and watch :)
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  • Though I haven't seen him live yet, I'd love to see Tommy Emmanuel play.
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited January 2021
    Rocker said:
    Eric Roche.  Brilliant guitarist, so sad when he passed away.  RIP.
    I attended one of his workshops and great player and lovely guy and taken too soon

    Seen only online/DVD but one of my favourite acoustic performances, and I think one of the best for its sheer brilliance, complexity and the fact that the executor of it also sings over the top of it is John Mayer's live in LA version of 'Neon'
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    Not really for the guitar playing per se, but I saw Damien Rice twice on his way up and both times were basically the best thing ever
    +1.  Early 2000’s, when the audiences were a few hundred, absolutely amazing gigs, you could hear a pin drop in the quiet moments.

    Also guitar wise Antonio Forcioni 
    I saw him when he had a duo with Eduardo Niebla, they were technically excellent but a lot of their material sounded like a clone of John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu stuff. 

    Paco di Lucia is probably the best acoustic player I’ve seen live. Not only his superb technique but the emotion he put into his playing. Sublime. So sad he died relatively young. 
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  • MolemanMoleman Frets: 133
    Another vote for the late, great John Martyn.

    Thought Pierre Bensusan was great also (I’ll even choose to overlook the fact that he rather obviously ogled my wife when he thought she wasn’t noticing)...
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  • TeetonetalTeetonetal Frets: 7801
    Rocker said:
    Eric Roche.  Brilliant guitarist, so sad when he passed away.  RIP.
    I had lessons from him for a year.... A really inspiring and lovely guy.
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  • RandallFlaggRandallFlagg Frets: 13929
    Rocker said:
    Eric Roche.  Brilliant guitarist, so sad when he passed away.  RIP.
    Yep, Eric Roche. I saw him play twice, once at Bath University at a guitar festival, had a pint and a good chat afterwards. Saw him a 2nd time on his tour to promote his “With These Hands” album at Sleaford Playhouse, there was less than a hundred people present and he sat cross legged on the floor on his Indian rug and played “With These Hands” on his new Benjamin guitar and you could've heard a pin drop, it was breathtaking.

    It was at this show that he announced publicly for the first time that he had a tumour in his saliva gland and needed to take a break from touring as he needed an operation to remove it. Sadly after getting an all clear sometime later the cancer returned and he passed. I felt incredibly sad when I heard the news.

    I treasure the signed copy of his album.


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  • Rocker said:
    Eric Roche.  Brilliant guitarist, so sad when he passed away.  RIP.
    Yep, Eric Roche. I saw him play twice, once at Bath University at a guitar festival, had a pint and a good chat afterwards. Saw him a 2nd time on his tour to promote his “With These Hands” album at Sleaford Playhouse, there was less than a hundred people present and he sat cross legged on the floor on his Indian rug and played “With These Hands” on his new Benjamin guitar and you could've heard a pin drop, it was breathtaking.

    It was at this show that he announced publicly for the first time that he had a tumour in his saliva gland and needed to take a break from touring as he needed an operation to remove it. Sadly after getting an all clear sometime later the cancer returned and he passed. I felt incredibly sad when I heard the news.

    I treasure the signed copy of his album.
    I saw Eric play three times. Took my then 8-year old son to see him twice, and he was not only lovely to him, he remembered him, too. The first time, my lad fell asleep, and Eric played a lullaby for him. A stunningly good guitarist and a truly lovely man.

    But...

    I tried to order his Acoustic Guitar Bible from his website, and in those pre-Paypal days, sent a cheque off for it. I heard nothing for a month and wrote a slightly snotty note wondering where it had got to. I got a refund cheque from him and an apology from his assistant, and I went and bought a copy from my local Waterstones.

    About two months later, I learned he'd died from cancer. I had no idea he was even ill.

    I was horrified at the way I'd behaved. In fact, I still feel guilty about it now and I can't bear to look at the book, 15 years later.

    One of the most embarrassing things I've ever done.
    If you must have sex with a frog, wear a condom. If you want the frog to have fun, rib it.
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  • Rocker said:
    Eric Roche.  Brilliant guitarist, so sad when he passed away.  RIP.
    Yep, Eric Roche. I saw him play twice, once at Bath University at a guitar festival, had a pint and a good chat afterwards. Saw him a 2nd time on his tour to promote his “With These Hands” album at Sleaford Playhouse, there was less than a hundred people present and he sat cross legged on the floor on his Indian rug and played “With These Hands” on his new Benjamin guitar and you could've heard a pin drop, it was breathtaking.

    It was at this show that he announced publicly for the first time that he had a tumour in his saliva gland and needed to take a break from touring as he needed an operation to remove it. Sadly after getting an all clear sometime later the cancer returned and he passed. I felt incredibly sad when I heard the news.

    I treasure the signed copy of his album.
    I was at the Sleaford gig!

    Same place I saw the incredible Martin Simpson around the same time.

    The best acoustic gigs are the ones where you're in a small room on the front row...most memorable might have been:
    Clive Carroll
    Nick Harper
    Pierre Bensusan

    I think I'd have to go with Monsieur Bensusan.

    n.b. if it were nylon strings, Pavel Steidl would be my choice
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