On this day, September 11, 1945, Leo Kottke was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Sun Sep 11, 2022: On this day, September 11, 1945, Leo Kottke was born.

Sat Sep 11, 2021: On this day, September 11, 1945, Leo Kottke was born.

Leo Kottke



Kottke at the Clearwater Festival, 2007

Background information
Born: September 11, 1945 (age 78); Athens, Georgia, U.S.
Associated acts: Mike Gordon, John Fahey
Website: Official website



Kottke at the Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, California, January 27, 2007

Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He resides in the Minneapolis area with his family.

Focusing primarily on instrumental composition and playing, Kottke also sings sporadically, in an unconventional yet expressive baritone described by himself as sounding like "geese farts on a muggy day". In concert, Kottke intersperses humorous and often bizarre monologues with vocal and instrumental selections from throughout his career, played solo on six and twelve string guitars.

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Biography

Early life and career

Born in Athens, Georgia, Kottke moved with his parents so frequently that he was raised in twelve different states. As a youth living in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he was influenced by folk and delta blues music, notably that of Mississippi John Hurt. Kottke learned to play trombone and violin before trying the guitar and developing his own unconventional picking style.

A mishap with a firecracker permanently damaged the hearing in his left ear, a condition that would be exacerbated by exposure to loud noise during firing practice while he served in the United States Navy Reserve, when the hearing in his other ear was also damaged.

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Any video will do. In light of the death of Tom T. Hall on August 20, 2021, how about "Pamela Brown"?

Leo Kottke - Pamela Brown (live)
251,645 views Feb 14, 2009

john rijsdijk
497 subscribers

Live performance on German TV early 80's.

Leo Kottke (Live) - Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring (1977)
23,056 views • Jan 18, 2012

TransatlanticMoments
25.6K subscribers

Leo Kottke -Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring

[ariadne0614]

1. He is a wonderment. n/t

[thatcrowwoman]

2. Full of wonder, both 6 strings and twelve. Many happy returns of the day, Leo!

Saw him a couple of times in Chapel Hill while I was in college.

My then boyfriend played 6 string and 12 string guitars and most anything strings. There were an odd assortment of us who gathered most evenings. BF would play and we’d all sing along. Louise was a frequent request, and Pamela Brown.

My slightly-younger-brother-from-another-mother and I have been trading music almost every day lately. Over the weekend, I sent him Bean Time and Tiny Island.

Many thanks, mahatmakanejeeves, for sharing the birthday reminder.
🕊thatcrowwoman

[DFW]

3. A true living god amoung guitarists

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Here's On My Faves By Leo

Great story song. (Oh, & I play Pamela Brown. Funny song.)

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