Grammy Award Winner Eric Tingstad Speaks with Good News!

A Grammy Award-winning fingerstyle guitarist, Eric Tingstad is well known for his impressionistic style, and an uncanny ability to unearth the soul of musical landscapes creating a distinctive sense of place. It’s been said by more than a few, that upon hearing just five to six notes, one can categorically determine sight unseen, it is Eric playing guitar. His inimitable style stands out in his latest musical offering titled, Southwest. A longstanding and highly visible steward of the land, Tingstad conceived this project eight years ago under the working title, “The Desert Project.” He envisioned an earthy and evocative mood he refers to as “Native Americana western desert chill.” Anyone who has seen the primitive rock and cave art of the American southwest has also seen how these unknown artists, using just a few strokes of ochre, a slight smudge of chalk or charcoal, captured the entire essence of their subjects. The sensuality of movement, the richness of colors, the subtlety of texture it’s all present within those simple lines. Theirs was a quiet, inspired, almost sacred minimalism lacking nothing in definition, and yet at the same time also inexpressible. These same ineffable qualities are native to the music of Eric Tingstad. And that he should apply his craft in capturing the essence of the desert southwest is more appropriate to his musical sensibilities than even he may realize. In his new album, Southwest Eric explores the confluence of cultures and influences that define the spirit of this place, which is as much an idea as it is geography. Weaving aboriginal and western elements, the perfectly paced sequence of tracks take the listener on a sonic journey that evokes the aura and wonder intrinsic to this corner of the world… More about Eric Tingstad: The eldest of three brothers, Eric grew up in Western Washington. He is a product of influences like Led Zeplin, King Crimson and time spent pounding out rock and roll. Not to mention the family “Hi-fi” with Hawaiian slack key guitar, Ravi Shanker, The Kingston Trio and Martin Denny. A classically trained guitarist in the Segovian tradition, Tingstad began his recording career in 1981 with the release of “On The Links.” As a soloist he developed a devoted following with a warm, personal style that became known as “Northwest Impressionism.” In 1985, Eric began a collaboration with Nancy Rumbel and their road to success has been paved with critical acclaim. Their debut album, The Gift, an acoustic Christmas collection, quickly became a holiday classic selling ten thousand copies in the first ten weeks and has gone on to sell over 400,000 copies. It remains a best-selling Christmas album rated fifth on the Top Ten Holiday Classics List compiled for NAV. In 1990 Billboard dubbed their sound a “sonic landscape” and In the Garden raked in national reviews from The New York Times, The Washington Post as well as Billboard in the fall of 1991. Both Pastorale and Paradise debuted at number one on the Adult Contemporary charts. In 1998 their double album, American Acoustic was honored as “Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year” by NAV. It debuted at number one on Adult Contemporary charts and spent 10 weeks on the Billboard radio charts. A Carnegie Hall appearance in 2000. And in 2003 he received a Grammy Award for Acoustic Garden with Tingstad and Rumbel. By a vote of his peers, Tingstad was honored in October 2006 with the Coyote Award from Arts Northwest commemorating his leadership, visibility, and contributions to the constant change in the arena of live performance.