Richard catches the No. 26 bus to Paraguay

Two upcoming solo performances in March celebrate the music of the great Paraguayan guitar master Agustin Barrios…

‘Barrios (1885-1944) is the greatest guitarist composer we have ever had, and Paraguay is the most mysterious place I have ever been. I still dream of the adventures I had there, the music I discovered and the friends I made.’

Says Richard

This winter, Richard has been warming up his guitar playing by revisiting the music from his trilogy of Paraguayan albums which grew out of his various visits to the country which started in 2011.  And the result will be two fabulous shows in Sussex and Suffolk.

In these two shows Richard will share tales and music from his own musical journey and the inspiration he found both in Agustin Barrios and the Paraguayan musicians who followed.

The abiding musical presence of Barrios led to Richard performing at the country’s bicentenary celebrations in Spring 2011. This began a lasting relationship with South American music and Richard being widely recognised as one of the world’s greatest interpreters of the works of Barrios.

‘In April 2011 arrived in Paraguay for the first time. It was a country I’d imagined for most of my life; this was my mythological land.  Straight from the airport, under an azure sky, we headed for the centre of Asunción, the capitol city; our three car motorcade overtook antiquated, parrot coloured buses packed full of Agustín Barrios lookalikes. The cousins and second cousins of Nitsuga Mangoré grinned at me from street corners.’

From The Number 26 Bus to Paraguay

Richard’s solo trilogy of Paraguayan albums, his book of music, stories & pictures and the duet album with harpist Ismael Ledesma are all available at our online shop (the albums are on CD or as hi-rez audio downloads).