Pat Donohue’s Christmas Guitar Summit with P.K. Mayo and Tim Sparks
Dec 15 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Christmas Music on Guitar
Grammy winning guitarist Pat Donohue hosts two additional Mn. guitar greats in this seasonal celebration of Christmas music on guitar. Tim Sparks is a six string jazz master and founding member of the legendary band Rio Nido. He never fails to amaze and delight as a soloist. P.K. Mayo (Paul Mayasich) is an incredibly soulful blues and rock player with an exceptional touch and a direct line to the heart. Together with Pat they will present an evening of Christmas guitar at its best in the beautiful Dunsmore room. A must for the holidays.
Pat Donohue: Guitar
P.K. Mayo: Guitar
Tim Sparks: Guitar
Tim Sparks has been redefining the acoustic guitar repertoire for decades. He won the National Fingerpicking Championship in 1993 with a ground-breaking arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Furthermore, Sparks is equally at home with country, blues, jazz or global music. Here, Sparks’s extraordinary ability has earned him an international reputation as one of the most innovative guitarists working today.
PK Mayo (Paul K. Mayasich) holds his rightful place in both the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Rock & Country Hall of Fame. Born in the Minnesota mining town of Eveleth, PK got on the guitar train early and has stayed there, focusing on blues as the bedrock foundation while he puts his own muscular spin on it. He is a noted guitarist both on acoustic and electric slide, having been inspired at an early age from Duane Allman’s solo on “Statesboro Blues.” That inspiration has carried him to stages worldwide as he continues to gig (in non-pandemic times) at a rate of 200+ shows a year.
From swing to jazz to bottleneck blues to folk, Grammy-winning acoustic guitarist Pat Donohue plays it all with a flourish of artistry, melodic inspiration, and dazzling fretwork. The great Chet Atkins called Pat, a former National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion, one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today; Leo Kottke called his playing “haunting.”
Pat is one of the most listened-to finger pickers in the world. Millions of people (whether they’re aware of it or not) have enjoyed the amazing talents of Pat Donohue and the Prairie All-Stars. For years, they were welcomed into the homes of 3.5 million weekly listeners as members of the Guys All-Star Shoe Band on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion