So you have spent the last twenty years of your life playing an acoustic guitar five hours a day. Peppino D’Agostino (himself one of the world’s elite players) produces your solo recording, and the reviews from the press are very positive.  Acoustic Music Resource chooses one of your tracks for its second Highlights Sampler CD, which puts you on record with some of the most well known names in the genre. It is now time to quit the day job, and wait for the bookings to roll in right? ....wrong!

Guitarist Brian Gore found himself with a mix of feelings following the release a year ago of his first CD, The Path of Least Resistance.  He was excited to put his compositions on record but he wondered if anybody would be listening. As concert presenters are not searching out solo acoustic guitar players for their venues, and tend to not return calls from ones with the nerve to call them, Gore decided to try another course of action. “I figured if I am creative enough to develop original music through my use of an acoustic guitar, then I should be creative enough to find or make opportunities for the music to be heard”.

It seems that Gore is one of those rare artists capable of both right and left brain thinking. This comes from a twenty year relationship with his instrument but also with ten years experience in sales and marketing in the publishing business. The biggest problem that Gore encountered was a lack of time for pursuing his music interests after each day spent beating the business drum. By taking business responsibility for his career as a musician and putting his daily sales/marketing efforts into building an audience for acoustic guitar, Gore is still part time business and part time musician; but the synergy between the two sides makes the difference.

“The name (International Guitar Night) came from the fact that I work with a lot of European guitarists, and also the fact that a lot of the musicians/guitarists that I work with have a world music influence or sound.”  Brian finds that the name “International” has a lot of drawing power, and many of the people who come to the shows are not traditional patrons of acoustic guitar shows.

Not only has this series proved to be a winner by exposing the players to a wider audience, but surprisingly some of the venues as well. When Brian took a poll by a show of hands at a recent concert only 15 of the 200+ in attendance responded that they had been to the venue before. While these shows are certainly welcome by guitarists trying to add West Coast dates to a tour, the host wins as well. The biggest benefit to Gore is that he is able to play in venues, and to larger audiences, as part of this package than he could as a solo.

Gore found that his double duty as presenter and performer at “Strings” was invaluable experience for the International Guitar Night shows which again found him on stage welcoming the audience, introducing the performers, and not to be forgotten, opening all the shows with his own set of original instrumentals.

Initially Gore felt a little anxious about sharing the stage with some of his heroes and mentors, but ultimately it has proved to be inspiring. “This show created the motivation for me to do what I needed to do as an artist to affirm my belief that I deserved to be there.” As the promoter of the shows, Gore could demand a spot on the bill, but he has carried his end of the shows from the stage as well as he has from his business office. It isn’t all that easy and Gore needed to mix practicing for the shows to justify his spot on the bill with enthusiastically promoting the shows to radio and the press, both full time jobs.

“You have to have consistent and balanced effort in both areas, if you only give yourself five hours to practice in the week before the show you may have a packed house but won’t make the artistic statement from the stage you want."

Editors Note: the International Guitar Night has made alot of progress since this article first appeared. The roster has evolved to include Alex deGrassi, Ralph Towner, Gerardo Nunez, Juan Martin, Andrew York, Peppino d'Agostino, Don Ross, Paulo Bellinati, Marco Pereira, and many others. A video of the first national tour has just been released and is distributed by Acoustic Music Resource. The project is now represented by the Herschel Freeman Agency (901) 757-4567.

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