By CINDY RANDALL
Alliance Arts Council
The Alliance Arts Council has been able to reschedule the concert by guitarist Jerry Barlow that was postponed due to the recent blizzard. He will perform at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23rd at the Alliance High School Performing Arts Center.
Barlow is a virtuoso musician, a warm and accessible performer and a world-class storyteller. His unique and skillfully delivered repertoire incorporates traditional music from the British Isles as well as his own Celtic inspired compositions. Barlow’s music transports the listener on an imaginary journey to a rustic Irish fishing village or the misty Scottish Highlands or an enchanted English forest. His expressive arrangements of lively jigs, spirited reels, and haunting airs is descried as music to soothe the soul, warm the hearts and then lift the spirit.
In concert, Jerry brings traditional Celtic tunes alive by sharing the history, humor, and legends behind the music. “Jerry Barlow … a performer who is skilled, funny and riveting. Out of the many musicians performing today, the vast majority are skilled in either performing on their instrument or in entertaining an audience. It’s very rare and extremely enjoyable to see a musician at the very top of his craft in both areas,” says Scott Beach, Director of Colorado Celtic Entertainment.
Barlow’s latest CD, VOYAGE OF HOPE, was released in early October. It features songs about the Irish immigration to America in the mid-1800s. His 2011 recording, FIELDS AND FENCES, was one of five nominees for Instrumental Album of the Year by the Independent Music Awards. The Indie Acoustic Project selected the title song from Jerry’s CD, BRING DOWN THE STORM, as “one of the best songs of 2006”.
Music from all of Barlow’s recordings can be heard regularly on National Public Radio stations. He has been featured in Fingerstyle Guitar magazine, and has been profiled and reviewed in Celtic Connection. He has performed in the Gates Auditorium for the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, ARTCORE Wyoming in Casper and is a favorite of High Plains Public Radio’s Living Room Concert Series in Amarillo, TX.
Tickets for Barlows Alliance concert can be purchased at Redmans Shoes and Carnegie Arts Center. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
The program is co-presented by KCOW/Double Q Country Radio, First National Bank, Gregory’s Insurance and Western Nebraska Real Estate.