Hello, my name is Rylan Kewen and I play fingerstyle acoustic guitar. I grew up in a musical family in the heart of the Kootenays in southeastern B.C. Canada. I studied Jazz/Contemporary guitar at Selkirk College from '94 to '96 and have since played [+]Hello, my name is Rylan Kewen and I play fingerstyle acoustic guitar. I grew up in a musical family in the heart of the Kootenays in southeastern B.C. Canada. I studied Jazz/Contemporary guitar at Selkirk College from '94 to '96 and have since played professionally. Performing in diverse idioms from mellow duo jazz shows to full-blown funk and trip-hop bands has given me a very wide range of influences to draw upon for my own music. In the last few years, I have been working on my own solo guitar compositions and fingerstyle arrangements of favorite traditional and contemporary standards. This music, which is most dear to me, is my main focus and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
This past Summer/Fall, I performed solo at many festivals including: Kaslo's Jazz etc., Nelson's Streetfest, Starbelly Jam (on the east shore of Kootenay lake) and the Mountain Arts Festival in Revelstoke. I also had the honor of opening for mandolin player extraordinaire, John Reischman and the Jaybird trio when they came through Nelson. Late last summer one of my compositions was included on a compilation CD called: West on Silverback Records along with Lester Quitzau, the Be Good Tanya's, and other western Canadian musical talent. The CD is going to be available both locally and through Chapters bookstores (so I am told). Back in '99 another one of my solo pieces was included on the Kootenay Co-op Radio (KCR) millennium project CD and I received play on both KCR and CBC radio. By late 2000, I had worked up enough material to release my first CD of solo finger style guitar music. I was also a recipient of a Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance touring support grant to tour the region in 2001
Currently, I am getting ready to record my second solo guitar CD, which I plan to have ready by late spring, if you would like me to keep you posted, e-mail me. I am also booking shows for this spring/summer, playing regularly at Max & Irma's Restaurant and at the Elephant Mountain Bar & Grill/Prestige Resort in Nelson B.C. Check my gigs page for more details!
Here are some reviews:
"Move over Bill Frisell, you've got company. Rylan Kewen is young enough to try things beyond his reach and good enough to succeed."
-Paul Grant CBC Radio (Arts Report/Hot Air)
"When I listen to h
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