guitar

Matt Nathanson, with Jesse Baylin, play State Theatre, October 30. Tickets are $16, available from www.theState.org and box office is open noon to 3 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m. for 8 p.m. show.

Here are a couple of music events at the State Theatre in July.

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Each member of Boulder Acoustic Society comes from a different musical world, and the resulting mix is what makes their music so special. Shredding guitar licks, soaring gypsy violin, a little ukulele and the thump of an old time bass bounce around with a jazz accordion and creative percussion to create a new sound.

Joel Fafard capped off a banner year earning nominations for "Instrumental Album of the Year" at the Junos (Canadian "Grammy"), Canadian Folk Music Awards and the Western Canadian Music Awards for his recent CD, "…and another thing…", Winning the WCMA.

Live performances by The Expendables & Clouded Vision

Ron Thompson is a legendary rhythm and blues guitarist and master keyboardist whose career began in the rough and tumble world of East Bay nightclubs and bars in the early '70s. Not many living blues musicians can say they have performed with and recorded for legends like Big Mama Thornton, Sonny Rhodes, Luther Tucker, Jimmy McCracklin, Pee Wee Crayton, Carla Thomas, School Boy Cleve, Percy Mayfield, Etta James, B.B. King, and Jimmy Reed. Ron Thompson can, and that's just the beginning! During many years of touring coast to coast with John Lee Hooker, Hooker was quoted as saying, "Ron Thompson, he's my main man!" After serving as John Lee Hooker's bandleader for seven years, Thompson went on to form his own group Ron Thompson and His Resisters and toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Central America. In the early 80's, Ron met Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) and the two became musical partners and close friends. Mick convinced Ron to move to Los Angeles where they formed the band, Mick Fleetwood's Blue Whale. Thompson is famous for his marathon, sweat-soaked sets everywhere he appears. Few performers put more energy into their performances than this slide-guitar wrangler and blues-belter. The City of San Francisco proclaimed September 5, 2007 as "Ron Thompson Day" to honor his decades of musical contributions to the community.

Roy Rogers is one of the premier slide guitarists performing today. With eight solo recordings, he has also been nominated for two Grammy Awards and six Grammy credits as the producer of John Lee Hooker and Ramblin' Jack Elliott releases. He is well known for his exciting live performances, having toured in the 1980's with John Lee Hooker's Coast to Coast Blues Band and then with his own group The Delta Rhythm Kings since 1986. Rogers has appeared at numerous festivals and special events throughout the world, including Montreux Jazz (Switzerland), North Sea Jazz Festival (Holland), Notodden (Norway), Byron Bay (Australia), New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (USA) and Montreal Jazz (Canada) in addition to touring Europe, the U.S.A. and Canada. Rogers' ability to electrify and move audiences to their feet is well known. He loves to perform and it shows. Nominated for Best Blues Guitarist by the W.C. Handy's in 2003, his virtuosity and style of slide guitar has been recognized worldwide and acknowledged in such publications as Rolling Stone, USA Today, Billboard, Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar and Guitar & Bass magazine.