Andrew York - GRAMMY-winning Composer and Guitarist
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Tampere, Finland 2013

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Sitting in the plane preparing for the long flight from L.A. to Finland, looking out the window from my seat. After sixteen hours of travel, I arrived in Helsinki and then was driven up to Tampere in the northern part of Finland. Walking from my hotel, I see the interesting sign "Beef 'n Guitar". The restaurant is helping advertise the Tampere Guitar Festival.


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Summer in Finland, the sun doesn't set until midnight or so. By 2am, the sun was rising again, as I saw from my hotel window.

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Tomi Tolvanen, the director of the festival in Tampere, is a wild and energetic cat. He and photographer Rudi Pohjaniemi took time to show me some beautiful areas in this unspoiled part of Finland. And, as always, here it the obligatory concert photo, with my patented wrinkled linen look.

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Also at the festival was the fine guitarist Renato Serrano, and we got to spend much time together. There was also Flamenco and jazz artists featured. Here is shot of the cool venue during the gypsy swing concert.


Tallinn, Estonia 2013

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Next stop, The city of Tallinn in Estonia, for the Tallinn Guitar Festival run by Tiit Peterson. Renato and I took the ferry from Helsinki and arrived at this very hip and charming town. Since it is light almost all night this time of year, the restaurants and bars are open and people are in the streets all night.

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Loved this festival, with a great audience and lineup of artists.

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After a night of experiencing Tallinn's endless nightlife, one of the first things I had to do the next morning was a TV interview for Estonian TV.

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Very interesting drinks available at some of these bars . . .

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After my concert, Tiit, Renato and I went out with Duo Drades and partied until 2am or so. When we came out of the restaurant, the sun was already coming up, and in the street there I met two young Russian guys who could not believe I was from Los Angeles. They were very happy to take this picture, tilted a bit from excessive celebratory behavior.

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After my concert, Tiit, Renato and I went out with Duo Drades,

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Back stage in the green room, hanging out and jamming a bit. To the right, it wasn't always easy to get paid, so I decided to take a crack at it . . .

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I love the marquee at the WYO theater in Wyoming, showing Glen Campbell coming in the next day. And sometime touring can turn you into a zombie.

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My wife and manager Annie joined me halfway through the tour, and we squeezed her into the van with us and had a blast. We found the coolest bar in San Diego CA called Zymology 21, where they make all the drinks from their own fruit infusions and serve them in beakers of dry ice. There were mathematical equations all over the walls, which I took to be a good sine.

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We played two nights at the Wolf Trap Barnes in Virginia, and my parents came to see us, which was wonderful. Here is my Mom with Brian and my Dad with Maneli. My parents taught me everything about music, my mother sings beautifully and my father is a guitar player.

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Maneli and I liked to jam near office machines, I'm not sure why. And after one concert I had to check out the one-celled Hammond organism.

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In Beloeil Canada, I was shocked to learn that the hotel had a wine cellar that was stocked with some of the most highly allocated and expensive wines in the world. The cellar master let us have a peek, and here I am holding a bottle of one of the best burgundies on the planet, a Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache Grand Cru from Cote de Nuits, Bourgogne. This bottle could cost up to $4000.00

As the tour finished up, with more than two dozen concerts behind us, we felt like a band.

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Six weeks after the start of the tour, we give our last concert. Annie took this fine photo from backstage. A tour to remember, and I will miss these guys.

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Tour with Alex De Grassi

Alex De Grassi is a friend and fine musician, and we have done several collaborations together. We did a four concert tour in 2015 with one date in California and three in Oregon.


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First the drive up to northern California to rehearse for the tour at Alex's studio. Here we are practicing some new material.

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The tour was part of the Gaia Project, sponsored by Ben DeBaldo. In keeping with the project name, Alex and I visitied the Redwoods to take a break from practicing, and walk among the sequoias.

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Bill Coulter at UC Santa Cruz brought us over to play a warm-up concert, before the dates in Portland, Ashland, and Bend Oregon.

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Alex would occasionally wig out backstage, which I enjoyed. During the drive on the way to Oregon, we went by Mt. Shasta, 14,179 feet high. This ancient volcano is so big it is spooky, and even in April the entire top half is still covered with snow. It dominates the entire valley like a behemoth, and is a reminder of geological volatility of the northwest.

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Before showtime, doing a sound check and bit of prac in one of the beautiful old theaters.

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Employing shades in the ferocious Oregon sun. Not really.

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Ashland is a charming city, and the hotel was marvelous and elegant. The view from the hotel room shows the idyllic landscape around the town.



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As always, great fun and great music when palying together with Alex. Looking forward to the next tour . . .

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New York City, 92nd St. Y

New York City, always an exciting place to visit. The concert series was put on by my old friend Ben Verdery, and was titled "American Guitarist-Composers". Ben invited me, David Leisner, Fred Hand, and Gyan Riley to play a concert at the 92nd St. Y, one of the major venues in NYC. I played there several times with LAGQ, back in the day.


Here was the flyer photo for the concert, left to right, Fred Hand, me, Gyan Riley and David Leisner.

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The four of us backstage with Ben, the brainmaster of the series.

I took this photo from the air three years earlier, as I flew into LaGuardia airport. It shows ground zero as it was then. It also shows the magnificence of the Manhattan skyline.

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Before the show we gave a talk onstage and took questions from the audience, with Ben moderating. We spoke mainly about composing for the guitar. Here's a photo of the venue before the gig.

An honor and pleasure to play with these fine musicians, and compatriots in the world of composing and guitar.

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