Richard Gilewitz w/ Bear Whitmer – April 4, 2025

“I actually wanted to be a drummer.” Richard will tell you. “Five minutes after my folks heard that news, they bought me a guitar.” Luckily for the rest of us, Richard quickly found a teacher, discovered John Fahey and Leo Kottke (to whom he mailed his broken thumbnail), and most importantly, his father loved the music. Richard’s innate musical gift was quickly apparent, demonstrated by his composition of a song so lyrical and inspiring only four years after picking up that first guitar that his hero Kottke recorded the final portion as “Echoing Gilewitz” on A Shout Toward Noon (and kept the thumbnail!).

Richard is a fingerstyle master; he follows Joni Mitchell in a ranking of best fingerstyle guitarists…ever. If she could only hear his rendition of Both Sides Now! What truly sets him apart is the breadth of his musical choices and inspirations (Bach to Led Zeppelin anyone?) and the emotional tone he elicits from every piece, regardless of the clip at which a tune is played. He was once told that every note is an individual in a society of notes and must be treated as such, giving unmatched depth and nuance to his musicianship. A CD reviewer noted that “Richard’s tunes breathe and have space; you can take a nap between notes” …in the best possible way. Imagine accomplishing that kind of gentle airiness when chasing notes like runaway horses in Jack Fig!

Of course it isn’t just the music. When was the last time you heard a story (and then a song) about the smallest penguins on Earth vomiting en masse under the floorboards above which Richard was performing? Even Near Death Experiences are given the Gilewitz treatment after a friend envisioned becoming a robot in the next life; thus was born Richard’s tune Mr. Sputnik. Richard entertains as only Richard can, with a unique combination of spellbinding fingerstyle mastery and hilarious commentary on life, the universe, and everything in between.

Teaching is a craft as much as performing, and Richard has finetuned his freaky side to engage students around the globe. He is an invited master classes instructor at the acclaimed Interlochen Center for the Arts Acoustic Guitar Retreat, Elderly Instruments, and Sweetwater; leads groups at his Gillacamp Guitar and Ukulele Workshops; leads lecture-style seminars and interactive clinics; and offers one-on-one instruction for the Gilla-experience in person and online. The brave of heart and quick of finger take advantage of them all.

Alberto “Bear” Whitmer is a guitarist and teacher from Metro Detroit. As an instrumental fingerstyle acoustic player, Bear plays music that draws from British and American folk, Irish Traditional Music, Celtic, blues, classical, jazz, pop, and percussive fingerstyle. He expands the sonic palette of a 6 or 12-string acoustic guitar by synthesizing melody, bass, and harmony on a single instrument while also incorporating percussive tapping techniques, expressive effects, and alternate tunings.

Bear is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s fingerstyle guitar performance program under John Stropes. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Irish Traditional Music from the University of Limerick.  Bear has played with Mick Gavin and Friends, opened for Stefano Barone, Robert Jones & Matt Watroba, and James Keelaghan as well as being the special guest of Blackthorn. Around Detroit, he performs regularly at Irish sessions, open mics and farmers markets as well as busking when the weather cooperates.