Evening with Leo Kottke planned at Newton Theatre

NEWTON — The Newton Theatre presents An Evening with Leo Kottke on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, May 13, at 10 a.m.
Born in Athens, Georgia and raised in 12 different states, acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child, flirting with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age 11. He added a love for the country-blues of Mississippi John Hurt to the music of John Phillip Sousa and Preston Epps.
Kottke dropped out of college at the University of Missouri after a year, to hitchhike across the country to South Carolina and then to New London, with his twelve string. He joined the Navy underage, to be underwater, and eventually lost some of his hearing, shooting at lightbulbs in the Atlantic while serving on the USS Halfbeak, a diesel submarine.
Discharged in 1964, he settled in the Twin Cities area and became a fixture at Minneapolis' Scholar Coffeehouse, which had been home to Bob Dylan and John Koerner. He issued his 1968 recording debut LP Twelve String Blues, recorded on a Viking quarter-inch tape recorder, for the Scholar's tiny Oblivion label.
After sending tapes to guitarist John Fahey, Kottke was signed to Fahey's Takoma label, releasing what has come to be called the Armadillo record. Fahey and his manager Denny Bruce soon secured a production deal for Kottke with Capitol Records.
Kottke's 1971 major-label debut, Mudlark, positioned him somewhat uneasily in the singer/songwriter vein, despite his own wishes to remain an instrumental performer. Still, despite arguments with label heads as well as with Bruce, Kottke flourished during his tenure with Capitol, as records like 1972's Greenhouse and 1973's live My Feet Are Smiling and Ice Water found him branching out with guest musicians and honing his guitar technique.
With 1975's Chewing Pine, Kottke reached the U.S. Top 30 for the second time; he also gained an international following thanks to his continuing tours in Europe and Australia.
Kottke has had two Grammy nominations, and a Doctorate in Music Performance by the Peck School of Music at the University of Wisconsin.
Tickets for Leo Kottke range from $29 to $44. Purchase tickets by visiting www.thenewtontheatre.com or contact the Box Office at 973-383-3700.