“Toe-tapping Soul Food for the Acoustically Hungry!”
Berchtold & Stear on iTunes
Berchtold & Stear on Amazon
Berchtold & Stear on Pandora
David Berchtold:
David Berchtold has been playing the guitar for more than 40 years. He plays a wide range of folk, rock and blues, but Piedmont style fingerpicking is his specialty. Though he makes it look as smooth as spreading warm butter on cinnamon toast, his ten fingers are flying in several directions simultaneously, picking out the rhythm, bass lines, and melody all at the same time. It is magic to behold.
A native of Illinois, Berchtold has studied with Jorma Kaukonen at the infamous Fur Peace Ranch and he teaches Piedmont Fingerpicking at festivals and colleges. With a rich repertoire from the greatest fingerpickers, including Rev. Gary Davis, Doc Watson, Leo Kottke, and Chet Atkins, David also has a solid hour of innovative original tunes, rooted in tradition but proving that this style of playing is very much alive in his hands.
Brian Stear:
Brian Stear grew up in the melting pot of music in the 1960s known as Los Angeles. While soaking up influences from Motown, musical theater, jazz, rock, and everything in between, he would sneak his AM radio under his pillow at night and fall asleep to the greats he would later pay tribute to. Brian has played with hundreds of great musicians, from local coffeehouse regulars to Grammy award winners like Koko Taylor.
Together, they make up the acoustic duo, Berchtold & Stear, and their music runs the gamut of San Francisco Folk of the late 60’s, to pre and post-war Piedmont blues, to their own acoustic interpretations of rock classics, to David’s tasty original tunes like “Things I’ve Seen” and his award wining instrumental “Serenity.”
David Berchtold 