February 28, 2003

Public Service Announcement

Monte Montgomery is coming to Denver for the first time this weekend, for those interested (and even for those not - like Tom, say). Monte who?

Here's a summary courtesy of Acoustic Guitar magazine:

"Monte Montgomery is not your typical up-and-coming guitar god. His exquisitely crafted,melodically and rhythmically sophisticated pop songs suggest the best of Fleetwood Mac, Squeeze, and the Police, while just happening to integrate the most mind-boggling guitar work in the state of Texas...He picks and frets with all ten fingers at once, stretching chord positions across an alarming six frets while playing rhythm strokes, melody, and bass lines, all the while casually tossing in faster-than-the-naked-eye harmonics, two-handed tapping, bass-style string slapping, percussive string stops, guitar-torturing neck bends, and guitar-body percussion. His fast and precise plectrum playing, meanwhile, leaves even most electric guitar players gasping." --David Gold, Acoustic Guitar Magazine

I got spoiled living in Alabama (honestly, it can happen) when I was able to see Monte every few months, getting to know some of his family and friends, and even kicking his ass in a game of pool one night (keep your day job, Monte). It'll be nice to see another live performance so that I can then return to my own guitars and ponder if I should just take them out back and shoot them.

If you're interested, Monte's official site is here, and you can listen to some song excerpts there. I've also uploaded two songs (64kbps quality MP3 for file size reasons) from a 11/6/99 performance at the Cibolo Creek Country Club:

Bringing Me Down, a ten and a half minute anthem that crescendos to a fast and furious finish.

Little Wing, a nine and a half minute interpretation of Hendrix's classic.

Enjoy - and if you're in Denver, check out his show at the Bluebird on Saturday.