PORT TOWNSEND — In a concert titled “Essentially Blues,” guitarists Mike Dowling and John Miller will bring the American musical landscape inside Fort Worden’s Wheeler Theater this Saturday night.
The nonprofit Centrum foundation, presenter of the summertime Acoustic Blues Festival, is bringing the pair in for a show at 7:30 p.m., with tickets $20 at www.centrum.org or 800-746-1982.
If any remain by Saturday evening, they will be sold at the door of the theater, which is just inside Fort Worden State Park at 200 Battery Way.
Dowling is known for digging deep into the musical bag of American roots guitar, favoring the melodic Piedmont style of acoustic blues men such as Mississippi John Hurt and Tampa Red.
From bottleneck blues to vintage jazz and a lot more in between, Dowling plays flattop, archtop and resonator guitars — and he is a virtuoso on all, said Centrum blues program manager Mary Hilts.
Miller, meanwhile, is known as a master of early country blues, including both pre- and post-war songs.
But his range doesn’t quit there.
Reworking classics
In performance, Miller reworks country blues classics into original compositions and creates swinging versions of classics, all filtered through his particular sensibility. Guitarist John Fahey has said: Miller is “so good, it’s scary.”
“Traditional blues honors the commonality of the human spirit and shares its sorrow and its joy,” Hilts added.
“Centrum is honored to present two great musicians who are keeping the country blues traditions alive.”
