Southern Maryland Traditional Music and Dance Presented Stephen Bennett

CHAPTICO - 1/26/2009

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By Shirley Ellis

On Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Christ Church Hall, in Chaptico a large audience, members and friends of SMTMD as well as the general public, could not get enough of the relaxed playing style of Stephen Bennett on his three instruments; guitar, slide guitar and harp guitar. The most amazing sounds came from all three instruments under the adept fingers of this outstanding performer.  A true virtuoso, Bennett shaped music that was astounding to the ears looking effortless!   Performer Stephen Bennett with his family instrument. Bennett talked while he changed tunings for the different songs, telling the audience of his experiences and other anecdotes from his life. He explained that the harp guitar was his great-grandfather’s and was 100 years old this year so he was playing it for performances to celebrate this milestone. Bennett went on to tell the audience “My great-grandfather played this very instrument on the Portland, Oregon radio station in the 1930s for a broadcast called the Hoot Owls where another entertainer named Mel Blanc also performed!” Bennett said he likes to think that Mel stood next to his great-grandfather and his harp guitar. During a short intermission TBN talked to Bennett about his amazing style of playing the guitar and he stated that he presents workshops for guitarists to learn how to play this style. It was apparent that several members of the audience were interested in learning from this champion guitar player. Bennett will be holding a workshop in the near future. Those interested should check the SMTMD’s web site for details; www.smtmd.org. Bennett’s repertoire fduring the performance ranged from the Beatles, many genres that included Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, blues, country and western styles. The performer also played patriotic songs from around the world as well as from our own history. After a standing ovation which went on for several minutes, Bennett agreed to play an encore; a medley of Beatles tunes and then ended with two songs by Stephen Foster. Bennett will be going on tour around the world beginning in May. “I am looking forward to releasing another CD of music composed prior to 1916 and playing my great-grandfather’s harp guitar,” said the performer

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