Acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in 12 different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11.

After adding a love for the country-blues of Mississippi John Hurt to the music of John Phillip Sousa and Preston Epps, Kottke joined the Navy underage, to be underwater, and eventually lost some hearing shooting at lightbulbs in the Atlantic while serving on the USS Halfbeak, a diesel submarine.

Tuesday night, one of the most famously underrecognized tale-telling trouveres returned to Fort Collins for the first time in over three years. Making his first appearance at Washington’s, cool cat Leo Kottke pleasured a nearly capacity crowd for almost two hours with acoustic acrobatic artistry and stories from his 50-year endless tour that left the audience silent, laughing, and applauding him at every pause.

Acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon have announced plans for an eagerly awaited series of live dates. The brief tour – which marks the duo’s first live run together in more than 16 years – begins December 8 at Munhall, PA’s Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall and continues through late December. Ticket pre-sales begin today at select venues; general on-sales for all dates get underway this Friday, October 8.

Acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon, along with Phish drummer Jon Fishman, performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert #PlayAtHome series. The trio performed "The Only One" from the new Kottke/Gordon album, NOON, out now digitally on ATO Records.

WATCH "THE ONLY ONE" ON THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT #PLAYATHOME

Acoustic guitar pioneer Leo Kottke and Phish bassist Mike Gordon have announced the release of their first new album together in 15 years. NOON arrives via ATO Records at all DSPs and streaming services on Friday, August 28; the album’s physical release is set for Friday, November 20. Phish Dry Goods will have a limited pressing on clear vinyl with Red/Gold splatter.

Located in the heart of the Old Town district of Fort Collins Colorado sits the city’s second-largest venue, the Aggie Theatre. Constructed in the early 1900s, the space originally was a furniture store before becoming a moviehouse and then morphed into a music venue in the 1990s. Since then, its use as a musical site for both local and national acts has earned a reputation as a favorite spot for the younger crowd and the often related weekend debauchery that follows.

The biggest sham perpetuated by mainstream rock and pop music magazines is the narrow “greatest guitarists of all time” annual issue. In the editor’s defense, it’s probably a dreaded task. Most of these sorts of publications (none specific come to mind, of course) tend to focus their top picks on the straightforward rock guitar heroes. Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman.

When Phish broke up the first and second time, there was a large void left in my life. Yours too, otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this article. As I've eluded to in past reviews, the nomadic nature instilled in me by that foursome from the north lead me on many a fruitless, and sometimes fruitful quest to find new, interesting, dynamic and hypnotic sounds like those that I still long for.