Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a

fingerpicking Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

style that draws on

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, and for

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He resides in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

area with his family. Focusing primarily on instrumental composition and playing, Kottke also sings sporadically, in an unconventional yet expressive

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

described by himself as sounding like "geese farts on a muggy day".1994 James Jensen interview with Kottke
, solidairrecords.com; accessed April 29, 2008. In concert, Kottke intersperses humorous and often bizarre

monologues In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

with vocal and instrumental selections from throughout his career, played solo on

six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

and

twelve string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

Biography

Early life and career

Born in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, Kottke moved with his parents so frequently that he was raised in twelve different states.Ankeny, Jason; accessed September 27, 2008 ''All Music'' Review/ref> As a youth living in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, he was influenced by folk and

delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

music, notably that of

Mississippi John Hurt John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He w ...

. Kottke learned to play

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

before trying the guitar and developing his own unconventional picking style. A mishap with a firecracker permanently damaged the hearing in his left ear, a condition that would be exacerbated by exposure to loud noise during firing practice while he served in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

, when the hearing in his other ear was also damaged.Life in Northern Colorado interview, May 2007
; accessed May 30, 2008. Kottke attended the University of Missouri for two semesters, where he was a member of the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek Letter Organizations#Greek letters, Greek-let ...

fraternity. He left Mizzou after his second semester. After being

discharged Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

from the Naval Reserve because of his partial loss of hearing, Kottke attended St. Cloud State College (now St. Cloud State University), in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, but left before completing his studies, choosing instead to

hitchhike Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

around the country,

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

for a living, before finally settling in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

. He arrived at the Scholar Coffeehouse in the

Cedar-Riverside Cedar-Riverside, also referred to as the West Bank, or simply Riverside, is a neighborhood within Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River to the north and east, Interstate 94 to the south, and Hiawatha Avenue and Interst ...

area of Minneapolis in the autumn of 1966 and soon was a regular performer. There, he recorded his debut album, '' 12-String Blues'', which was released on the independent Oblivion record label in 1969. He recorded '' 6- and 12-String Guitar'' (also known as the "Armadillo album", after the animal pictured on its cover) for John Fahey's Takoma Records later the same year. It remains one of the works most closely associated with Kottke and has been re-released many times on various record labels. Fahey's agent

Denny Bruce Denny Bruce (born in 1944 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) is an American record producer and artist manager. While living in Los Angeles in 1965 Denny was hired by Frank Zappa as a second drummer with The Mothers of Invention. After 6 months he cont ...

signed Kottke to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, and in 1971 Capitol released Kottke's first major label record, ''

Mudlark A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries. The practice of searching the banks of rivers for items cont ...

''. In the early 1970s, he recorded with vocals and backing musicians on albums. In 1972, he released ''

Greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

'' and, in 1973, the live '' My Feet Are Smiling'' and ''

Ice Water Ice water may refer to: Music * Ice Water (song), a song from Cat Power's second album ''Myra Lee'' * Ice Water (album), an album by guitarist Leo Kottke * Ice Water Inc., a music group affiliated with the Wu Tang Clan Other uses * Ice W ...

''. Kottke closed out his contract with Capitol with his seventh album, '' Chewing Pine'', in 1975. By then, he had gained an international following largely due to his performances at folk festivals. With his 1976 eponymous release, he moved to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

Injury and new playing style

In the early 1980s, Kottke began to suffer from painful

tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elbo ...

and related nerve damage caused by his vigorous and aggressive picking style (particularly on the 12-string guitar).James Jensen Interview with "Mr. Natural"
; accessed April 29, 2008. As a result, he changed his picking style to a classical style, using the flesh of his fingertips and increasingly small amounts of fingernail rather than fingerpicks, and changing the positioning of the right hand to place less stress on the tendons. A flat pick is often used in conjunction with his fingers, a style called hybrid-picking. He has studied more classical and jazz-oriented compositional and playing techniques. He took a long break from recording and performing and simultaneously moved from his relationship with major labels to the smaller

Private Music Private Music was an American independent record label founded in 1984 by musician Peter Baumann as a "home for instrumental music". Baumann signed Ravi Shankar, Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and his former ...

label. Private Music was considered a

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...

label in the

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

style, and Kottke often found his music categorized as such during this period. After the reflective ''

A Shout Toward Noon ''A Shout Toward Noon'' is an album by American guitarist Leo Kottke, released in 1986. History ''A Shout Toward Noon'' is Kottke's first recording on the Private Music label after a three-year sabbatical, largely due to a difficult tendinitis ...

'', in 1986, he took a brief break from recording before returning with '' Regards from Chuck Pink'' in 1988.

Later career

Kottke released an album annually from 1989 to 1991: '' My Father's Face'', followed by ''

That's What ''That's What'' is an album by the American steel-string guitar artist Leo Kottke. It is distinctive in its jazzy nature and "talking" songs ("Buzzby" and "Husbandry"). It reached No. 24 on ''Billboards Top New Age Albums charts, Kottke's highest ...

'' and then ''

Great Big Boy ''Great Big Boy'' is an album by United States, American guitarist Leo Kottke, released in 1991. History Kottke's fifth album on the Private Music label, ''Great Big Boy'' is unique in the later Kottke canon in that every song includes a vocal pa ...

'', which featured guest appearances by

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

and

Margo Timmins Margo Timmins (born January 27, 1961) is the lead vocalist of Canadian alternative country and folk rock band Cowboy Junkies. She is the sister of Michael Timmins, the band's lead guitarist, and Peter Timmins, the band's drummer. Her ethereal v ...

. Two years later, he returned with '' Peculiaroso'', produced by

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B ...

. The solo album ''

One Guitar, No Vocals ''One Guitar No Vocals'' is an instrumental album by American guitarist Leo Kottke, released in 1999. History "Morning is the Long Way Home" is a re-recorded version of the instrumental break that first appeared on ''Ice Water''. The shortened v ...

'' was released in 1999. In 2004, Kottke released another solo album, '' Try and Stop Me'' (2004). In 2002, Kottke and

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon is an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano and guitar. He ...

(the bassist from the band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

, which was on an extended hiatus) collaborated on '' Clone'', an album featuring

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

work and vocals from both musicians. A second album from the pair, '' Sixty Six Steps'', followed in 2005. The duo toured in support of both albums. In August 2020, Kottke and Gordon announced a new collaborative album, ''Noon'', released that month on Megaplum/ ATO Records. It was their first collaboration since ''Sixty Six Steps'' and Kottke's first studio album since 2005. Kottke received an honorary Doctorate in Music Performance from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

on May 18, 2008, where he gave the

commencement address A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...

Tunings

Kottke's guitars are often tuned unconventionally; early in his career he heavily used open tuning, while in recent years he has used more traditional settings but often tunes his guitars as many as two full steps below standard tuning.''Leo Kottke Anthology:'' liner notesMonterey County Weekly: Neo Leo, March 2013
accessed February 5, 2015.; accessed February 5, 2015.

Orchestral works, re-recordings, and other collaborations

In 1976, Kottke collaborated with arranger

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

on the release ''Leo Kottke'', which featured Kottke backed by a small orchestral section on a number of tracks. In the later part of his career, he has begun reworking and re-recording tunes he wrote and recorded in the early 1970s. For example, 1999's '' One Guitar No Vocals'' offered a new instrumental version of 1974's "Morning Is the Long Way Home", with the

countermelody In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the prima ...

opened up from behind the vocal line, stripped of its original trippy lyrics.; accessed April 29, 2008. Kottke combined previously recorded tunes into new compositions, notably the mini-suite "Bigger Situation", also released on ''One Guitar No Vocals''. In 1990, he and composer

Stephen Paulus Stephen Paulus (August 24, 1949 – October 19, 2014) was an American Grammy Award winning composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His style is essentially tonal, and melodic and romantic by nature. His best-known piece is his 1 ...

created ''Ice Fields'', a work for amplified acoustic guitar and orchestra in a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

format. ''Ice Fields'' featured five movements, each based on an existing Kottke composition, with orchestral backing and interlude sections.Stropes, John. "In Search of the Great American Guitar Concerto", ''Acoustic Guitar Magazine'', March 1991; accessed August 8, 2014. It was premiered by Paulus's

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...

and has been performed occasionally since but has not been released on record, partly because of the high cost of producing a recording with a full orchestra.

Discography

Videography

# ''Home & Away'' (1988), Wienerworld # ''Home & Away Revisited'' (2006), Mvd Visual

References

External links

Official website

Kottke fan site
* * *
"Kottke and Gordon: Calypso-Brushed Guitars"
by David Dye, from NPR's '' World Cafe'', November 24, 2005; accessed August 8, 2014.
The Leo Kottke/Procol Harum connection
accessed August 8, 2014.
Interview
on

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...

, November 9, 2007; accessed August 8, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kottke, Leo 1945 births Living people Musicians from Athens, Georgia American folk guitarists American male guitarists American blues guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists Slide guitarists St. Cloud State University alumni People from Muskogee, Oklahoma Folk musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Guitarists from Oklahoma Private Music artists Windham Hill Records artists American acoustic guitarists Capitol Records artists Chrysalis Records artists Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Lyle Lovett and His Large Band members