Gareth Pearson

Barely out of his teens, Welsh guitar phenomenon Gareth Pearson is already considered a virtuoso in the field of finger style guitar. Having only played the instrument from recent times, he has already developed a distinctive style to his playing that has earned him the greatest accolades from world renowned players; he has been called a genius by Jan Akkerman, and Tommy Emmanuel was inspired to write a song about him which he named The Welsh Tornado.

With influences such as Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Tommy Emmanuel and Merle Travis, Gareth’s repertoire of techniques is extremely wide and even includes his own arrangements of several Michael Jackson hits. That and his own compositions serve in showcasing an enthusiasm and musical intuition well beyond his years.

Gareth is also an extremely entertaining performer; straying from the traditional style of the seated and motionless guitar virtuoso, this dynamo clearly loves the music he performs and his exuberant style denotes a mastery of the instrument very few possess, as he jumps, dances, moonwalks and smiles at his audience, while executing incredibly complex finger works.

In addition to two major tours with Tommy Emmanuel and several with Jan Akkerman, Gareth has performed with Jennifer Batten, Andy McKee, John Renbourn, Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes, and Ray Davies to name but a few. He has appeared at countless events including the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Canadian Guitar Festival, the Ullapool Guitar Festival (Scotland), the Acoustic Strings Festival (Holland), International Guitar Night (Germany), Festival de Guitare de Nice (France), Cambridge Folk Festival (England), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), Ards Guitar Festival (Ireland), Ely Folk Festival (England), Six Bars Jail (Italy), and the list goes on.