Candlewyck

In April 2001 the acoustic duo Candlewyck, based in Charlotte, North Carolina and made up of guitarist Ty Bennett and mandolinist Chris Emerson, issued its self-titled debut album. Multiple studios throughout Charlotte hosted the sessions, yielding a recording that fused contemporary bluegrass with pop and jazz elements drawn from the players’ wide-ranging experience. Bennett earned a degree in classical composition and music theory, has performed jazz, gospel, rock, and bluegrass, and received an ASC Artist Grant in 1999. Emerson shaped his singular mandolin technique through immersion in Celtic, jazz, classical, and rock idioms. Guest contributors Don Rigsby, John Cowan, Terry Baucom, and Michael Faith helped shape the debut’s fresh, exuberant character.