COYLE — When he is on stage, French-born guitarist Claude Bourbon treats his guitar as a divining rod — leading the listener on a path to sounds hidden within the strings vibrating on his fretboard.
Bourbon specializes in classical and Spanish guitar, a style that is “in my blood,” he said this week.
“I have always been attracted to that kind of music. That’s maybe due to the fact that I lived with a Gypsy in Southern France in the early 1980s.”
That could explain why his music is meant to invoke visions of travels and beautiful imagery, he said.
Bourbon will lead such a musical journey when he performs a solo show Saturday during the latest edition of the Concerts in the Woods series.
Bourbon will pluck his strings beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center, 923 Hazel Point Road.
Admission to the all-ages shows is by donation.
Complimentary cookies and coffee will be offered at intermission.
Bourbon encourages the public to attend his show.
“I think if they like Spanish, blues [and] classical music, they should find their fix in my music,” he said.
“As someone once said it’s ‘not a same ole same ole gig.’ ”
This will be the third time the center has “hosted this extraordinary musician,” said Norm Johnson, Coyle Concerts founder.
“We initially thought we were simply booking another guitarist, but to our great surprise Claude Bourbon stands out as a guitarist who has defined his own style on this ever-popular instrument combining techniques of blues, jazz, folk, medieval, classical, Middle Eastern and Spanish guitar. And he can sing too.”
Crowd favorite
“Perhaps it is his French accent or his deep, dark voice, but at those two previous shows I had noticed that women particularly swoon at the sound of his songs and I received several enthusiastic requests to have him back again, so we are,” Johnson said.
Bourbon has performed at the Glastonbury Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Colne Great British and Blues Festival, Rock Oz’ Arènes and Avenches — sharing the stage in Europe and the United States with Calvin Russel, Charlie Morgan, Jan Akkerman, Steve Grossman, Herbie Armstrong and José Barrense Dias.
Now living in Portsmouth, England, Bourbon has released five albums. His newest is a dual CD titled, “Anthology.”
Né en France
Bourbon was born in Pontarlier, France — located in the Jura Mountains on the Swiss border — in the early 1960s. He later moved across the border to Switzerland.
“To me I was born in France, made in Switzerland,” he said.
While in Switzerland, Bourbon received classical training for guitar.
“I first picked up a guitar as a teenager in the mid-1970s,” he said.
The classical style is a technique “of playing in which you use all your fingers,” he added
Despite decades of picking a guitar, the callouses on Bourbon’s fingers are “not as thick as you may think,” he said.
And, he continued, there is usually “more sweat than blood on the guitar” despite the sometimes furious pace of his licks.
After studying classical guitar for a time, Bourbon said he felt the need to explore music without the limitations of written music and delved headlong into folk, blues, jazz and rock music.
He said he has “always been a big fan of 1970s rock music,” citing J.J. Cale — a guitarist who wrote songs for Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Johnny Cash — as one of his favorite guitarists.
Getting back to the old-world style of guitar, Bourbon said other guitar greats he is a big fan of include Paco De Lucia and Andrés Segovia.
The community center is located at the southern tip of the Toandos Peninsula and is operated by the Jefferson County Parks and Recreation District with help from area residents.
For more information about Bourbon, visit www.claudebourbon.org.
For more about the center, see www.coyleconcerts.com.
