Guitar Masters: Annie & The Hot Club of Nashville

Tickets available at the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame and BakersfieldMusicHallofFame.com

Annie Sellick and the Hot Club of Nashville initially inspired by the Hot Club genre (Django-Reinhardt gypsy-swing), bring fiery guitar and violin soloing on repertoire from the 1930’s and 40’s such as Honeysuckle Rose and Sweet Georgia Brown…and to top it off, the perky storyteller and hard-swinging singer, Annie. Nashville native vocalist Annie Sellick was voted Best Jazz Artist by readers of the Nashville Scene five years in a row, and has since toured all over the world and performed and/or recorded with many of her musical heroes including Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing, Tommy Emmanuel and jazz organ royalty Joey DeFrancesco.

The Hot Club of Nashville is led by Britain-born Richard Smith who owns a guitar signed “To my hero, Richard,” Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins. Fellow guitarist Pat Bergeson (expect Howard Levy-like harmonica solos, too) moved to Nashville at the request of Chet Atkins to record and join his band, where he remained several years. Fiddle player, Aaron Till, has performed with Jerry Reed, Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis and Tommy Emmanuel, among other musical royalty. Bassist Charlie Chadwick who created the Chadwick Folding Bass (that’s right folks, an acoustic bass that folds in half) joins the group in the studio with Tom Giampietro on drums, although the touring bass and drum chair changes from time to time.

The group has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival as well as abroad including the Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Festival in Reitberg, Germany and Poland. They are a mainstay at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention as well as The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta. Guitar Masters fans were wowed last September, as Annie, Richard, and Pat performed as a trio.

Expect original material as well – songs so reminiscent of an old swing standard that you would think they’ve been loved for decades, and pop crossovers you might hear on a future album by the likes of Norah Jones or Madeleine Peyroux.