Grammy Award Winner Joins Adelaide Guitar Festival

Grammy Award-winning US bluegrass band Punch Brothers will headline a Special Edition of Adelaide Guitar Festival in July.

The quintet will return to Adelaide as part of their national tour, announced today. It's the third time they will play at Adelaide Guitar Festival. Their 2016 performance was a sellout.

Banjoist Noam Pikelny said they are thrilled to be performing at the world-renowned festival. "We had such a wonderful experience when we visited last in 2016 and have been eager to find our way back. Interestingly enough, the beginning instrumental section of "All Ashore", the title track of our new record, materialized quite spontaneously during our soundcheck onstage in Sydney in 2016. So it is only fitting to finally come back and showcase the finished product."

Punch Brothers will perform at Woodville Town Hall on July 14. Other ticketed performances are Karin Schaupp and Miles Johnston, playing at Adelaide Festival Centre's Space Theatre on July 16, and Jeff Lang and Cal Williams Jr also at Space Theatre on July 17.

Adelaide Guitar Festival is a biennial event and this is the first time ticketed gigs will be held on the alternate year.

Adelaide Guitar Festival Artistic Director Slava Grigoryan said it's all about meeting demand. "Adelaide Guitar Festival is the most significant festival of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and continues to be extremely popular. We want to continue to build momentum for the next full program in 2020 and at the same time, make music more accessible. We are thrilled to have musicians of this caliber performing in July, which will compliment Guitars in Bars, Winter School, Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition and Resonance, which are held each year."

It's shaping up to be the biggest year yet for Guitars in Bars, which works by connecting musicians with venues through a venue directory.

A focus on regional touring will take live music to more people and places than ever, with a guitar store, a brewery and a distillery amongst the venues to already sign up.

Registrations are also currently open for Winter School, a week-long guitar intensive led by Dr Paul Svoboda and Cal Williams Jr with expert tutors, Slava Grigoryan, Karin Schaupp, Giuseppe Zangari, Andras Tuske, Jeff Lang, Chris Finnen and Emily Davis. Held from 15 - 19 July, it has two streams - Orchestral and Blues and Roots - and is open to all ages.

Adelaide Guitar Festival runs July 1 - 31. For more information about all Adelaide Guitar Festival events visit: https://www.adelaideguitarfestival.com.au