Guitarist

Prolific guitarist Leo Kottke boasts an impressive body of work and an unrivaled fingerpicking style. His forty-plus albums over four decades have earned him two Grammy nominations and widespread acclaim. Drawing inspiration from folk, blues and jazz, he plays his signature six-string and twelve-string guitars with effortless aptitude, a big heart and an even bigger grin.

Leo Kottke: Live at The Ordway

Dakota

Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.

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Leo Kottke

The Paramount Theatre

For over forty years, Robert Klein has entertained audiences and has had an acclaimed career in comedy, Broadway, television, and film. Born in the Bronx, he was a member of the famed “Second City” theatrical troupe in Chicago. He was nominated twice for Grammy Awards for “Best Comedy Album of the Year” for his albums “Child of the Fifties” and “Mind Over Matter.”  He received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor and won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his performance in the hit Neil Simon musical, “They’re Playing Our Song.” In 1993, Klein won an Obie and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Sisters Rosensweig.”

Robert Klein

McCallum Theatre

Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.After adding a love for the country-blues of Mississippi John Hurt to the music of John Phillip Sousa and Preston Epps, Kottke joined the Navy underage, to be underwater, and eventually lost some hearing shooting at lightbulbs in the Atlantic while serving on the USS Halfbeak, a diesel submarine.

North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie

A singer, composer and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums. Coupled with his gift for storytelling, the Texas-based musician fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers.

Lyle Lovett and Leo Kottke ~ In Conversation and Song

City Opera House

A singer, composer, and actor, Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums. Coupled with his gift for storytelling, the Texas-based musician fuses elements of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues in a convention-defying manner that breaks down barriers.

Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.

Lyle Lovett And Leo Kottke

The Flynn

With five decades of recording and performing, Leo Kottke is widely recognized as a master of acoustic guitar.  This Grammy nominated artist is known for his innovative fingerpicking style on six- and 12-string guitars, drawing influences from blues, jazz, and folk music.

Wildey Theatre

Guitarist /composer Leo Kottke is one of the foremost finger-style guitar players in the world and he has the degree to prove it. In 2008, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts awarded Kottke a doctorate in performance music for redefining the potential of the guitar. “Kottke is an American musical icon who has extended the tradition established by musical greats such as Chet Atkins and Merle Travis and John Fahey,” said Scott Emmons, dean of the school. “Over the past 35 years, no single guitarist has influenced an emerging performance style to the extent that Kottke has influenced finger-style guitar.”

Lyric Theatre

Famed solo acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. The artist overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. When he picks up a steel-stringed guitar, his fingers race across the strings with uncommon speed, developing a deep, churning groove that can at times sound like several people playing at once.

Guitarist

Leo Kottke

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 15, 2026

An Evening with Leo Kottke · Lobero Theatre

Past events

Dec 5, 2024

Leo Kottke: Live at The Ordway · Dakota

Apr 25, 2024

Leo Kottke · Paramount Theatre Austin

About

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