A collection of original tunes by Richard Gilewitz recorded by Richard Gilewitz and Tim May in Highwood, IL and Fennville, MI. Released July 7, 2025. GILEWITZ was a lifetime in the making, and it shows. Those who have followed Richard’s decades-long musical mystery tour will be absolutely delighted by the new voicings and perspectives drawn out of Richard’s own long-beloved and new tunes embellished by Tim May’s interpretive improv. New listeners will wonder where Richard and Tim have been all their lives and grieve the years lived without this musical medicine. The emotions are all there: gentle contemplations, sunny afternoons, sticky relationships, and stomping giddy-ups. The result is multi-layered joyful noise, a blissful romp of an album.

1. I Think I Mind 03:57
2. Daughter Of Pete's Feet 04:05
3. Sarah Natasha 04:34
4. Thumbsing 03:32
5. The Maison Blanche Exit Song 03:03
6. Tater Gun Strut 03:00
7. Pre Dawn Mourning 03:33
8. The Lilas 02:12
9. Jamaicalina 05:35
10. Fuschia Circle North 03:09
11. Mrs. Firecracker's Place 04:08 12 Echoing Wilderness 07:56

A collection of original tunes by Richard Gilewitz recorded by Richard Gilewitz and Tim May in Highwood, IL and Fennville, MI. Released July 7, 2025 GILEWITZ was a lifetime in the making, and it shows. Those who have followed Richard’s decades-long musical mystery tour will be absolutely delighted by the new voicings and perspectives drawn out of Richard’s own long-beloved and new tunes embellished by Tim May’s interpretive improv. New listeners will wonder where Richard and Tim have been all their lives and grieve the years lived without this musical medicine. The emotions are all there: gentle contemplations, sunny afternoons, sticky relationships, and stomping giddy-ups. The result is multi-layered joyful noise, a blissful romp of an album.

1. I Think I Mind 03:57
2. Daughter Of Pete's Feet 04:05
3. Sarah Natasha 04:34
4. Thumbsing 03:32
5. The Maison Blanche Exit Song 03:03
6. Tater Gun Strut 03:00
7. The Lilas 02:12
8. Jamaicalina 05:35
9. Fuschia Circle North 03:09
10. Mrs. Firecracker's Place 04:08
11. Echoing Wilderness 07:56

Strings for a Season is a collection of favorite seasonal tunes gathered up by Richard as he pays tribute to some very traditional tunes. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, with Grammy award winning sound engineer Tim Roberts, and co-produced with Grammy nominated artist Tim May, it's a flurry of sounds created by a family of strings from the guitar, cello, violin, mandolin, banjo, and piano.

1. Deck the Halls* (Traditional Welsh Carol) 1:56
2. O Tannenbaum/We Wish You A Merry Christmas* (Traditional German Carol/ English Folksong) 3:19
3. O, Holy Night* (Adolphe Adam) 4:14
4. O Come, All Ye Faithful* (J.F. Wade) 1:56
5. Silent Night (Franz Gruber) 2:56
6. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing* (Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy) 3:02
7. Angels We Have Heard on High (Traditional French Carol) 2:18
8. What Child Is This? (16th Century English Melody) 2:44
9. Joy to the World* (George Frideric Handel) 1:40
10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (19th Century English Carol) 2:48
11. The First Noel* (17th Century English Carol) 2:16
12. We Three Kings of Orient Are (John H. Hopkins, Jr.) 2:30
13. O, Little Town of Bethlehem* (Lewis H. Redner) 3:00
14. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear* (Richard Storrs Willis) 2:40
15. Jingle Bells (J. Pierpont) 2:15

For more album details go to: https://richardgilewitz.com/strings-for-a-season

Echoes From The Past-nRichard Gilewitz and Michael Fix My contributions to this project, Echoes from the Past, included a collection of tunes accumulated over my entire career. Influences are included here aside from a few originals from sources such as Fernando Sor’s Study in Bm from the classical inspirations to guitarists John Fahey and Leo Kottke and of course The Beatles. Friends and fellow troubadours Gove Scrivenor and Pat McCune made the final cut as well along with a couple of beautiful arrangements by my own guitar teacher of over 40 years, David Walbert. I am also truly honored to have participated on my friend Michael Fixes dynamic masterpiece, Echoes from the Past.

During a couple of tours spanning several years when I toured through Australia, I was thrilled to spend some time with Michael, clearly one of Australia’s finest guitarists. We played a few shows together, recorded in his studio, and even witnessed a giant Anaconda venturing out of his attic during one of the recording sessions as it was clearly on a scouting mission for some fast food. Although the snake moved slower than me in the morning so we got bored and went back into the studio.

Included in this project are a couple of my 6 and 12 string guitars and an absolute boatload of gratitude to Michael for salvaging this material and bringing all of these tunes to life with his exceptional playing and a heroic reassurance that these duets would eventually see the light of day. Truly honored to share the experience of playing music with one of the kindest and most talented guitarists I have ever met.

Sharky - Richard Gilewitz and Tim May

“Sharky” is an 8-track recording that verifies that the best of fingerstyle master Richard Gilewitz and Nashville artist Tim May has come together to deliver a dynamic mix of originals and covers. Track 1, “Mr. Simpleton’s Little Red Shoes”, is an original upbeat, jazzy tune that started from a few Gilewitz licks while on tour with Tim May. Created in true Gilewitz style of bounce, May added (along with a splendid bridge) his take with some contemporary jazz chords and sparkling melodic runs for a tune that audiences can tap the floor with their own shoes.

“Walk Don't Run” by Johnny Smith rings with a new twist with the arrangement by David Walbert. This 1954 song, later made popular by the group The Ventures, swings with the feel of an era gone past while a fresh approach fits into today’s listening styles. The mix of guitar and mandolin, with harmonies of a more relaxed tempo from the original, is just mellow enough to allow the listener to catch every note in a truly hypnotic groove.

“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen may be one of the most recorded songs by the popular Canadian songwriter, but listeners will lose themselves in this beautiful and tasteful rendition. Arranged by David Walbert, Gilewitz and May pay their respects to the composer and arranger with their restrained playing and lush sound scape.

“Sharky”, the title song of this recording, was composed by Tim May, Mike Laidley, and Richard Gilewitz. It’s a quirky bluegrass/jazz/pop fusion that creates a unique tune, conjuring up a tide of notes that will keep listeners swimming in the deep blue sea.

“Have You Ever Seen a Rainbow at Night?” was inspired by the Blue Penguins of Oamaru and composed during a rain shower in New Zealand. This much-loved and previously recorded Gilewitz original comes alive with the addition of May’s mastery of mandolin. Defying any stylistic category, this melodic instrumental blends together a bit of classical, pop, jazz, and blues and brings to mind a comment by a listener that rainbows at night are called moon bows.

“Can't Help Falling in Love”, a heartfelt love song composed by Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti, George David Weissand and made popular by Elvis Presley in 1961 on his Blue Hawaii album, finds its romantic groove with this arrangement by David Walbert. The combination of the slow gentle touch of Gilewitz’s fingerstyle playing with the Dobro slide of May brings out the desire of lovers.

“Bye Bye Blackbird” by Ray Henderson is a standard jazz favorite that has been recorded by Miles Davis, Julie London, Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, and even Joe Cocker. The Gilewitz and May match is complemented by the violin swing of Gretchen Priest-May that transfers it into a tune that will twirl around in one’s head throughout the day.

“Little Alex " is a Gilewitz original that is based on the antics of a little dog he met while touring Australia. As you listen to the tune, picture a happy, pint-sized dog dashing around exploring his surroundings. He picks up speed, dancing with joyful navigation over carpet until stepping on a slippery tile floor, slipping and sliding only to hit his head against a table leg with a bit of a bonk. Shaking off his missteps, Little Alex slowly recovers, picks up his speed and continues his little dance to the appealing bluegrass licks of May, finally ending his caper with a graceful bow.

Richard Gilewitz is a virtuosic American finger-style guitarist who is arguably the finest exponent of the genre pioneered by his friends and mentors: John Fahey, Peter Lang and Leo Kottke. Richard approaches this tradition with deep respect and care. In concert he will often juxtapose a standard of American finger-style guitar with a classical piece and bookend both with strange stories and amusing anecdotes. Thirty years after Fahey's famous visit, Richard Gilewitz retraced the steps of his mentor and performed three concerts in Tasmania and gave a number of workshops. Despite arriving in the coldest windiest week of Tasmania's maritime winter, Gilewitz drew large enthusiastic crowds for all of his performances. Milking orchestral textures from his six and twelve string guitars, delighting audiences with silly tales and sonic adventures, his own "Tasmania Live" album will undoubtedly become an iconic recording in its own right.

1. Wazamataz 2:46
2. St. Louis Blues 2:36
3. Embryonic Journey 3:12
4. Studio Lips Story 1:50
5. Orange Room 3:55
6. Tu VuoFa L'Americano 3:19
7. Dallas Rag 2:09
8. Dirt To Dust 6:48
9. Somewhere Over the Rainbow 1:38
10. Both Sides Now 3:07 11.Freight Train/Take a Look at That Baby 2:41
11. Mischief at 30,000 Feet Story 2:12
12. The Train and the Gate 3:24
13. The Tennessee Toad 3:08
14. Sunflower River Blues 3:29
15. Have You Ever Seen a Rainbow at Night? 2:58
16. Sarah Natasha 4:03
17. When I'm Sixty-Four 2:20
18. Spanish Two Step 2:59
19. Bilingual Single Story 2:08
20. Bilingual Fantasy 3:37
21. Jack Fig 3:54

For more details go to: https://richardgilewitz.com/tasmania-live

Nobody does "Live" like Richard with his stories, tales from the road, tunes in the middle, and surprise special guests. Finally - after years of performing, recording in studios, and the fact that he finally got tired of hearing so many attendees come up to him after the shows asking, "which one of these have the do flies have necks story on them" or "where's the one that has the story about you sticking your head in a ceiling fan twice in a row" while waving his current four CDs in the air - Live at 2nd Street Theater has been released.

1. Gove's Tune - Gove Scrivenor
2. Thumbsing - Richard Gilewitz
3. Neck Snap, Throat capo - Story by Richard Gilewitz
4. Mona Ray - Leo Kottke
5. The Maison Blanche Exit Song - Richard Gilewitz
6. Minuet for the Backroads - Gove Scrivenor
7. The Last Steam Engine Train - Traditional
8. Study in Bm - Fernando Sor
9. Walbert, Wigs, and Nope - Story by Richard Gilewitz
10. Echoing Gilewitz - Richard Gilewitz & Daughter of Pete's Feet - Richard Gilewitz
11. Most People are Dead - Story by Richard Gilewitz
12. Available Space - Ry Cooder
13. Synapse Collapse - Richard Gilewitz

For more details go to: https://richardgilewitz.com/live-at-2nd-street-theater

Seven original songs by Richard and 6 very contrasted covers including a 16th century lute piece composed by Alonso de Mudarra and the traditional "Freight Train" by Elizabeth Cotten. Thumbsing begins with its title song, penned by Richard as a challenge to himself as he uses only the right thumb for fingerpicking. Other selections include "Wazamataz", "Have You Ever Seen a Rainbow at Night?", "Daughter of Pete's Feet", "Pete's Feet", "Sarah Natasha", "Layover", "The Hermit", "Sunflower River Blues", and finally, a much-requested solo 12-string rendition of the 1996 "Dirt To Dust" - exactly as Richard performs it live in concert with the haunting introduction, "Gypsy Minor" and a revised middle section.

Thumbsing is an example of Richard's uncompromising desire to produce an album that illustrates his love of the guitar. From beginning to end, Thumbsing is truly a thumbprint of instrumental "singings" from the guitar.

For more details go to https://richardgilewitz.com/thumbsing

"Most players are happy to credit their mentors at every opportunity, but acoustic fingerstylist Richard Gilewitz may have fashioned the ultimate tribute." Guitar Player Magazine.

Those of you familiar with Richard Gilewitz no doubt will be eager to listen to this latest project. The 4-page liner notes give you a brief insight as to the importance of these twelve pieces for guitar. Until now, only a few selections have been recorded by David Walbert and Richard. Fans have sampled some of Walbert's writings on previous Gilewitz recordings and all of these have been re-recorded.

Now as tribute to his teacher, friend, and mentor, Richard performs the entire works of David Walbert. No overdubs--just Richard on guitar. This is a 12-song CD of acoustic guitar at its finest! Included are favorites such as "Dance", "Prelude", "Study (for Margot)" and "Prelude No. 2", as well as never recorded pieces such as "Em Piece", " I Am Eaten By Sharks", "Tremolo Piece", "E Piece", and "Nocturne". Without this effort, a whole generation would have lost the experience of hearing such complex and beautiful pieces in their entirety. Richard's approach to Walbert's music is humble and respectful, giving it the clarity and restraint it deserves. The Music of David Walbert is "classical steel" at its best.

For more details go to: https://richardgilewitz.com/the-music-of-david-walbert