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Barnyard Acoustic Guitar Festival!
August 19, 2011 Stevie Coyle Todd Hallawell, National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion
String-band songster and Davis favorite, Stevie Coyle, will be joined by National Fingerstyle Guitar Champion and SoundSet Recordings artist, Todd Hallawell, for a Summer-Evening’s taste of the Barnyard Acoustic Music Festival coming to the Historic Schmeiser Barn on Friday, August 19, 2011 at 8:00pm. The Barn Concert is co-sponsored by Barnyard Theatre and the UC Davis Friends of Acoustic Music. This evening’s guitar mastery, singing, stage banter and entertainment is suitable for everyone in the family. Beyond incredible skill, musicality and uplifting humor, these two have an onstage presence and chemistry that simply works. Stevie is well-known for his folk and traditional-music roots, and Todd adds jazz and fingerstyle swing. Together, they bring a rich spectrum of sound to the show which keeps the audience riveted. Stevie is based in San Francisco, but this is a rare California swing for (Virginia-based) Hallawell. Both artists are well-known to Davis audiences; but this is the first time to offer the local crowd these two together.
Well-known to Davis music lovers, Stevie Coyle, best known for his group, The Waybacks, is a long-time veteran of the California music scene. Having grown up in a musical family, and neighbor to (and student of) guitar wiz, David Lindley, Stevie followed his hippie-era roots with several years within The Royal Lichtenstein Circus, and The San Jose Repertory Company. After a few more years doing acting on television, he returned to folk music, and a 25-year oddesy in The Foremen, The Back Room Boys, and The Waybacks with Wayne "Chojo" Jacques and Glenn (Pomianek) Houston. Stevie fronted The Waybacks and toured steadily from 2000 through 2007. The band released 4 albums in that time, played major festivals like Merlefest, Grey Fox, Floydfest, Great Waters, Old Settlers, Bumbershoot and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, toured Australia, and collaborated with Lloyd Maines, Michelle Shocked and Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead.
Stevie combines his theatrical and music talents in an inimitable way, leaving the audiences hollering for joy in his wake. Since Waybacks days, Stevie's gone “feral” nowadays, and is busily booking festivals, venues and house concerts, both nationally and internationally. He has completed and released his first solo CD, called "Ten-In-One," produced by singer/songwriter and guitar guru Walter Strauss.
Stevie Coyle’s website can be visited at www.steviecoyle.com
Joining Stevie will be another fine acoustic artist, Todd Hallawell. Todd is a classically-trained guitarist who, for many years, has produced and engineered music for the Soundset Recordings label. In 1997, he won the prestigious National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship at Winfield, Kansas. In addition to having been a clinician for Lowden Guitars, he has become a regular performer at the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) in Nashville, as well as other music festivals in the U.S. and abroad. Todd’s style crosses the boundaries between contemporary fingerstyle, Celtic, jazz, world music, swing, and folk.
In recent years, Todd has performed as a member of Randy Spark’s New Cristy Minstrels. Todd’s exceptional musical range has become well known throughout the acoustic music world and his compositions have been selected for both film and theatrical presentations. His CDs "Before My Time" and "From Nashville & Back" have won critical acclaim. Todd also tours regularly with flat-picking guitar wizard, Robin Kessinger. The two of them have played in past Barnyard Theatre Music shows.
Dubbed "Mr. Tone" by Tommy Emmanuel, when music critics describe Todd’s playing, their comments seem to have a common thread:
"…Hallawell attacks his steel-strings with the precision of John Williams and punch of Jerry Reed...an extraordinary fingerpicker"
....with a seemingly effortless dexterity, he articulates notes as such, without the artifacts of effort ... In short, he makes the competition sound clumsy.
Todd Hallawell’s website can be visited at http://toddhallawell.com/
The performance will be on Friday, August 19th, at 8:00 pm at the Schmeiser Barn, 35125 County Road 31 (aka “Covell Blvd”) exactly 4 miles west of Lake Blvd. Tickets ($15 donation) for the show can be reserved by e-mail to hunt@ucdavis.edu, or by leaving a message at 530-752-1958. It is recommended that reservations be made, since Barnyard Acoustic Music shows often sell out.  Stevie Coyle
Todd Hallawell
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