Soundhouse Winter Festival: Chris Amer Sextet

“Scottish guitar player Chris Amer is slowly but surely establishing a reputation for his tasteful, distinctive, musically intelligent playing style. As a guitarist and composer, Chris has developed an original sound characterised by space, texture and carefully chosen notes.” – Folk and Honey

One of the most interesting and original new voices on the Scottish music scene today, guitarist Chris Amer has established a reputation for his uniquely thoughtful sound and playing style. With a background in traditional Scottish music and jazz, Chris numbers among the new generation of Scottish musicians continuing to explore the possibilities of improvised music in Scotland. He is a regular performer and collaborator with peers such as Matt Carmichael, Juliette Lemoine, Dan Brown, Fergus McCreadie, Tom Gibbs and Charlie Stewart.

Originally from Edinburgh, Chris learned from legendary Scottish musicians Kevin MacKenzie and Mike Vass, before studying (twice) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In the years since, Chris has continued to hone his unique sound and push the possibilities of guitar in Scottish music by developing the ‘Amertenor’ - a unique 7-string theorbed tenor guitar - in collaboration with Taran Guitars, Fife.

At a sold-out show at the Edinburgh Fringe 2024, Chris debuted music from a new collection entitled, Making Peace With What Is, a series of ‘musical sketches’ inspired by a library of old film photographs taken by Danny Nicolson, Chris’s Orcadian grandfather. Captured moments of daily life – landscapes, objects, people – marry with Chris’s distinctively impressionistic playing and writing style to create a rich, reflective, nostalgic body of work:

“For me, they have been a window into another reality, one that is both familiar and foreign. I am overcome with a sense of wanting to 'return' there. I am nostalgic for memories I don't have.”

This live show at The Soundhouse Winter Festival will likewise feature music from Making Peace With What Is, in a live ensemble that will include long-standing collaborators and friends, Matt Carmichael, Fergus McCreadie, Gus Stirrat, Stephen Henderson and Mhairi Marwick.

Explore more Music At The Traverse here.

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