Al Petteway was an American

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist known primarily for his acoustic fingerstyle work both as a soloist and with well-known folk artists such as

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, Jonathan Edwards,

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and many others. His own compositions rely heavily on

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

n influences and he is known for his use of

DADGAD , or Celtic tuning is an alternative guitar tuning most associated with Celtic music, though it has also found use in rock, folk, metal and several other genres. Instead of the standard tuning () the six guitar strings are tuned, from low to high, ...

tuning.

Biography

Petteway's music has been featured on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television specials by

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

, most notably '' The National Parks: America's Best Idea'' (2009). His recordings, music books, and instructional videotapes have gained him a large following of devoted fans around the globe. His playing is featured on more than sixty recordings by some of the world's best known folk and Celtic musicians. Since 1996, he performed exclusively with his wife, Amy White. They were Artists in Residence at The Kennedy Center and at Warren Wilson College. Petteway was the Guitar Week coordinator for the world-famous "Swannanoa Gathering" music camp at Warren Wilson College near Asheville, N.C. In 2005, Al Petteway's rendition of "The Thornbirds" appeared on the Grammy Award-winning compilation of solo guitar renditions of Henry Mancini compositions titled '' Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar''. Before that he and Amy were awarded an Indie award for their duo guitar album ''Gratitude''. Al Petteway was awarded 45 "Wammies" by the Washington Area Music Association including the top honors of "Artist of the Year" and "Musician of the Year". He was the recipient of two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards for Music Composition and performed at the Vice President's House and The White House during the Clinton administration. In 2012, he was given the "Master Music Makers" award by Warren Wilson College and the Swannanoa Gathering. Petteway lived with his wife Amy White near

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. He passed away September 25, 2023.

Discography

*1992: ''Whispering Stones'' (Maggie's Music) *1993: ''The Waters and the Wild'' (Maggie's Music) *1995: ''Midsummer Moon'' (Maggie's Music) *1996: ''A Scottish Christmas'' (Maggie's Music) *1997: ''Caledon Wood'' (Maggie's Music) *1999: ''Racing Hearts'' (Fairewood Records) *2001: ''Gratitude'' (Solid Air Records) *2003: ''Shades of Blue'' (Solid Air Records) *2003: ''A Midnight Clear'' (Dorian Records) *2004: ''Celtic, Blues and Beyond'' DVD, Book, Cd (Warner Bros./Solid Air Records) *2004: ''Acoustic Journey'' (Maggie's Music) *2005: ''Land of the Sky'' (Maggie's Music) *2006: ''Winter Tidings'' (Maggie's Music) *2008: ''Dream Guitars, Vol. I - The Golden Age of Lutherie'' (Dream Guitars, Inc.) *2010: "High In the Blue Ridge" (Fairewood Studios) *2012: "It's Only The Blues" (Fairewood Studios) *2012: "Home, Sweet Home -Songs of Love, Loss and Belonging" (Fairewood Studios) *2014: “Mountain Guitar” (Fairewood Studios) *2015: “Dream Guitars, Vol II - Hand Picked” (Dream Guitars, Inc.) *2018: “The Collector’s Passion” (Fairewood Studios) Al Petteway Instructional DVDs: *Blues Guitar Arrangements in DADGAD Tuning *Appalachian Fingerstyle in DADGAD Tuning (Vol. I & II) *Celtic Instrumentals For Fingerstyle Guitar Vol. I (DADGAD) *Celtic Instrumentals For Fingerstyle Guitar Vol. II (Alternate Tunings) *Celtic, Blues & Beyond *DADGAD Guitar Solos (with Doug Smith & Lawrence Juber) *Acoustic Blues Solos (with Kenny Sultan & Mike Dowling) *Al Petteway Music Folio and Instructional CDs From Solid Air Records/Alfred Publications: *Celtic, Blues & Beyond - Al Petteway *Acoustic Blues Solos - Al Petteway, Kenny Sultan, Mike Dowling *DADGAD Guitar Solos - Al Petteway, Doug Smith, Lawrence Juber *Pink Guitar - The Music of Henry Mancini Music Books from Mel Bay Publications: *MBGU Fingerstyle Curriculum: Contemporary Solos (Book/CD Set) Al Petteway Music Books: *The Waters and The Wild *Whispering Stones *Midsummer Moon *Caledon Wood *A Scottish Christmas for Guitar *Al Petteway Music Books Available as PDF's *It's Only The Blues *Dream Guitars, Vol. I *Dream Guitars, Vol. II *The Collector’s Passion

References

External links

Homepage Al Petteway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petteway, Al Living people American folk guitarists American male guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists Grammy Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)