Doc Rossi

My musical roots are firmly in America, but my travels have given me an appreciation for many kinds of traditional and “art” musics. I discovered an affinity with traditional music from England, Ireland, Italy, France, Sweden and Norway by first falling in love with the dance music of medieval, renaissance and baroque Europe. A love of citterns and guitars led me to Hawai’ian Slack Key, Mexican and Greek traditions. My work involves blending the ancient sounds of early music, the intricacies of traditional dance music, and the mystery of “the Old Weird America”.

My professional life in music has been evenly split between performing and teaching. I hold university degrees in Music and Literature, so my experience of more than thirty years in performance and teaching has been built on solid foundations that I have continued to enrich through the many encounters I have been fortunate to make along my musical journey.

I have written six books about playing cittern, guitar and mandolin. I enjoy playing solo and in groups, accompanying singers and instrumental soloists, improvising, arranging and composing. I run workshops on cittern and guitar technique, ensemble music-making, playing in sessions, and on how to write and arrange music and lyrics with other musicians and artists.