Guitar Masters Chris Smither and David Lindley at SOPAC on MAR 23 AT 7:30 p.m.

Chris Smither and David Lindley are two true guitar masters. On Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. these two performers will take the stage to carry the audience on an incredible musical journey. Combining the traditional acoustic blues folk sound of Chris Smither and the eclectic, diverse sound of David Lindley, this double bill is a one-of-a-kind show. Chris Smither was born in Miami and raised in New Orleans. His southern upbringing instilled in him a love and passion for the Blues, American folk, and the acoustic sound. By the mid-60’s he found himself in the heart of the pulsing Boston music scene forging lifelong friendships with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt who went on to record his songs, “Love You Like A Man” and “I Feel the Same.” Their friendship has endured with Bonnie guest-appearing on Smither’s record Train Home. Over the years she has invited Chris to join her as support on concert dates, and most recently, lent her take on Chris’ “Love You Like A Man” for Link of Chain, a Chris Smither tribute CD. His singular guitar sound is a beat-driven finger picking, strongly influenced by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin’ Hopkins layered of over the ever present backbeat of his rhythmic tapping feet. David Lindley was born and raised in Southern California where he took up the banjo as a teenager, and it was love at first stroke. As a multi-instrumentalist David Lindley redefines the world “eclectic”. His career has been a whimsical whirlwind of projects and performances, and he has had the honor of being one of Hollywood’s most in demand session musicians, gracing the tracks of artists such as Bob Dylan, Rod Steward, Crosby and Nash and many others. Between 1967 and 1971 Lindley lead what is now seen as the first world renowned rock band, The Kaleidoscopes. By 1981 he created his own remarkable band El Rayo-X, which integrated American roots music and world beat with a heavy reggae influence. In 1991 he spent two weeks in Madagascar with guitarist Henry Kaiser to record six albums of indigenous Malagasy music. He effortlessly combines American folk, Blues, and Bluegrass traditions with elements of Asian, African, Arabic, Celtic Malagasy and Turkish musical sources. He is a master of string instruments and incorporates a multitude of different ones in his shows including the Turkish saz and chubis, Middle Eastern oud, the Irish Bouzouki and more.