Richard Gilewitz

Richard Gilewitz, a skilled composer and fingerstyle guitarist, studied under leading American players of the instrument. That training equipped him to guide countless students via his own instructional video and songbook. Time spent in Alabama, New Jersey, and Florida introduced him to varied musical sources throughout his youth and afterward, among them John Fahey, the Beatles, David Walbert, Leo Kottke, Flatt & Scruggs, and Andres Segovia.

During his years at the University of Alabama he majored in computer science rather than music, yet he composed regularly and played local coffeehouses. After graduation he accepted ordinary employment and set music aside, but the pull proved irresistible; financial stability alone could not displace the art embedded in his nature.

His first album, Somewhere in Between, appeared in 1992 on Hacker Backer Records. Voluntary Solitary followed two years later. Summer 1997 brought the third full-length release, Synapse Collapse, whose thirteen tracks include “Embryonic Journey,” “Minuet for the Backroads,” “Echoing Wilderness,” “Dance,” and “Jeannie Sleeping.” Gilewitz merges jazz, blues, folk, classical, and rock through acoustic fingerstyle, forging a sound instantly recognizable as his own. That approach has drawn favorable notices in magazines across the country and supports a touring calendar that often surpasses one hundred dates each year.

For 2000 he prepared the Music of David Walbert as a tribute to the classical guitar composer and former teacher.