DEL NORTE — Wildwood Sounds presents Andreas Kapsalis and his 10 finger tapping guitar style Sunday, Oct. 6.  Wildwood Sounds is located at 850 Grande Ave. in Del Norte, Co. on Hwy 160.  A great listening room with perfect acoustics.  $20 Door, reserve by calling 719.657.4757 or email at [email protected].  Doors open at 6:30 and music will start around 7pm. 

When Andreas Kapsalis began teaching himself to play guitar at age 11, he was captivated by heavy metal band ACDC and other riff-oriented guitar bands.

His original music is also influenced by a variety of ethnic folk traditions, flamenco, Americana, blues and rock and roll. But, what really stands out about Kapsalis’ music is his unique style of playing – using both hands on the fret board in a style reminiscent of a pianist.

After he cut a tendon in his left hand at the age of 11, Kapsalis lost the ability to play guitar. He eventually regained the use of his hand, but during the time he was incapacitated, he trained himself to play the guitar using only his right hand. When he startedto play again with both hands, Kapsalis developed a unique technique he calls “10-finger tapping.”

“It’s a technique where you use both the hands on the fret board, kind of like a piano, so I can do a lot of different harmonies, a lot of different chords. I can play melody, bass and rhythm all at the same time, because I’m using all 10 fingers of both hands, versus the typical style of playing where you form shapes with one hand and play that same shape with the other hand. You can do two shapes at once and play multiple things that way, it’s almost like you can sound like two or three guitar players … I can play percussion and drum beats with one hand and play melody and chords with the other hand.”

Kapsalis is 100 percent Greek-American. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from Greece. He grew up listening to Greek music and sometimes incorporates it into his own compositions. In a broader sense, Kapsalis says his ethnicity has influenced his approach to music because it has made him more open to different styles of music. While he did write a song called Arcadian Blues that draws from American blues music and the folk music of Arcadia, the region in Greece where his family originated, Kapsalis says he does not write Greek folk music. He combines music styles found around the world, choosing those that embody the emotional quality he is seeking to communicate.

$20 Door, reserve by calling 719.657.4757 or email at [email protected].

 Doors open at 6:30 and music will start around 7pm.  We do a sweets or snacks potluck.  Bring your favorite treat to share with coffee and tea on the house.  Wildwood Sounds is located at 850 Grande Ave. in Del Norte, Co. on Hwy 160.  A great listening room with perfect acoustics.