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Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an American acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopation, polyphony melodies. He has overcome a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He resides in the Minneapolis area with his family.
Focusing primarily on instrumental composition and playing, Kottke also sings sporadically, in an unconventional yet expressive baritone 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 with vocal and instrumental selections from throughout his career, played solo on six- and 12-string guitars.
A mishap with a firecracker permanently damaged the hearing in his left ear, a condition that was exacerbated by exposure to loud noise during firing practice while he served in the United States Navy Reserve, 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 fraternity. He left Mizzou after his second semester. After being discharged from the Naval Reserve because of his partial loss of hearing, Kottke attended St. Cloud State College (now St. Cloud State University), in Minnesota, but left before completing his studies, choosing instead to hitchhike around the country, busking for a living, before finally settling in the Twin Cities. He arrived at the Scholar Coffeehouse in the Cedar-Riverside 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 manager, Denny Bruce, signed Kottke to Capitol Records, and in 1971, Capitol released Kottke's first major-label record, Mudlark.
In the early 1970s, he recorded with vocals and backing musicians on albums. In 1972, he released Greenhouse, and in 1973, the live My Feet Are Smiling and Ice Water. 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.
He took a long break from recording and performing, and simultaneously moved from his relationship with major labels to the smaller Private Music label. Private Music was considered a new-age music label in the Windham Hill style, and Kottke often found his music categorized as such during this period. After the reflective A Shout Toward Noon, in 1986, he took a brief break from recording before returning with Regards from Chuck Pink in 1988.
In 2002, Kottke and Mike Gordon (the bassist from the band Phish, which was on an extended hiatus) collaborated on Clone, an album featuring instrumental 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. "Kottke and Gordon: Calypso-Brushed Guitars" (interview and performance) by David Dye, from NPR's World Cafe, November 24, 2005. 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 on May 18, 2008, where he gave the commencement address. Guitarist Kottke receiving UWM honorary degree, onmilwaukee.com, May 30, 2008; accessed August 8, 2014.
Kottke combined previously recorded tunes into new compositions, notably the minisuite "Bigger Situation", also released on One Guitar No Vocals. In 1990, Kottke and composer Stephen Paulus created Ice Fields, a work for amplified acoustic guitar and orchestra in a concerto 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, 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.
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