City guitar festival to pay tribute to BB King

The 13th City of Derry Guitar Festival, which takes place over August 20 to 23 in the the North West Regional College, will bring the blues to town with a three-day electrical guitar course entirely dedicated to the legendary B.B. King.

Festival director Sean Woods said: “Mr King sadly passed away last May 14 and the Festival thought it a fitting tribute to celebrate the talent of this amazing musician with three days of intense guitar therapy dedicated to his music”.

During the course, experienced local blues and rock guitarist Ted Lynch will take all participants through the fundamentals of the blues structure and demonstrate how to improvise over a chord progression.

Two of B.B. King’s tracks will be covered and all participants will have the opportunity to perform on stage at the Student Gala with a full band on August 21. The course will take place all day August 21-23.

The Festival also offers a three-day classical guitar course with Carlos Bonell and Wiktoria Szubelak, and a Beginners Ukulele Course. This year will also see the introduction of the “Guitar Overdose” package, featuring four workshops spanning the genres of acoustic, flamenco, contemporary and slide blues guitar.

Audiences will also be treated to a series of unique guitar concerts from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 August in the Foyle Theatre of the North West Regional College, Strand Road.

Applications from guitarists of all standards are welcome. Download an application form on the website www.cityofderryguitarfestival.com, or email [email protected] to request one (course fees range from £130 non-residential to £265 residential for a full week end of classes). Concert tickets cost £12, £10 concession. For bookings please call 028 71311288 or send an email. The City of Derry Guitar Festival is funded by The Arts Council NI, the North West Regional College and the D’Addario Foundation.