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2000-2007
Bruce Emery

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2000-2007
Dalmaso Designs
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Emery-McKnight Duo

My duo partner David McKnight and I have produced two instrumental performance CDs for your enjoyment.  These contain my fingerstyle guitar arrangements with David’s masterful embellishments on violin, viola and mandolin.

You can hear some 30-second audio clips below, and if you’re interested, you can send a check for $15.00 per CD (includes shipping) to:

Bruce Emery
PO Box 5824
Raleigh, NC  27650

PayPal works as well.  My e-mail address is bruceemery@mindspring.com.

If you want to pay with a credit card (and receive your new treasure FASTER), here’s a link to Elderly Instruments:  http://www.elderly.com.

Windy and Warm

Windy and Warm

This is a collection folk, jazz, blues and country cover tunes that David and I have been playing for the past 4 years. 

Three more CDs in the same vein are in the works, to be titled Night and Day, Here Comes the Sun and Moonglow.

Click on the title to hear the audio clip:

Begin the Beguine.  This is my own arrangement of the Cole Porter classic, and it opens the CD for two reasons:  It combines my two favorite music styles, jazz standards and alternating bass, into a single arrangement; but more importantly, it has the word “begin” in it.  The violin line sounds like dancing!

Anji.  English guitarist Davy Graham wrote it, Paul Simon added to it, and then I came along…anyway, I love David’s bluesy viola here.

Misty.  Another of my own arrangements and my Dad’s favorite.  I began arranging it in the early 1970s as a way to bribe the old man into paying for the classical lessons.

Carolina in My Mind.  James Taylor has a smooth-yet-punctuated approach to music that has probably influenced my own singing and playing style more than any other.

Tennessee Waltz.  We usually open with this tune, based on John Knowles’ arrangement.  He taught it at a Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention in the late 1980s and I fell in love with it.  Check out John’s web site at http://www.johnknowles.com for this and other great compositions and arrangements.

Windy and Warm Medley.  A crowd pleaser.  The answer to the musical question: What if every song were played with a Travis-Style alternating bassline?  You be the judge of whether I have crossed the line with “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” “House of the Rising Sun” and “Stairway to Heaven.”

Lutheran Guitar/Presbyterian Guitar.  The latter piece is the John Hartford classic with some extra violin lines added, and the former piece is of my own Swedish-American creation.

Moon River.  Short and sweet, another of Dad’s favs.

Blue Finger/Drive In.  Couple of Chet Atkins pieces written by my guitar hero, Jerry Reed.  Yes, that Jerry Reed.

Moonlight in Vermont.  Inspired by an arrangement of unknown origin that was in the key of E-flat---anathema to the fingerstyle guitarist.  So I dropped it to the key of D, and look what came tumbling out.  Violin and viola accompany.

Dust in the Wind/Firefly Main Title.  I didn’t stray too far from the original “Dust” (except that this is an instrumental), but David really fleshes out the role of the violin.  “Firefly” just seemed like a nice coda.  From the sci-fi TV series.

Ashokan Farewell.  Thanks again to John Knowles for the inspiration for the first half.  Then we change keys and David knocks out the rest on the violin.

Last Steam Engine Train.  A hybrid of two versions, one by composer John Fahey and the other by Leo Kottke.  Any other sounds you may hear are mistakes that I threw in myself.

Michelle/Autumn Leaves.  Our “French” offering in the Chet Atkins style.

Brokeback Mountain Suite.  Bits and pieces of the soundtrack from the 2005 film.  Our engineer Joe added some nice synthesized string parts.  Sounds like the open range.

All is Calm cover

All Is Calm, All Is Bright: Traditional Instrumental Carols

These are straight classical arrangements played on a steel string guitar with violin, viola and mandolin accompaniment by David McKnight.  No reindeer on rooftops. 

The first 16 tracks are duets and the second 16 tracks are the very same guitar parts minus the string accompaniment.  People seem to enjoy having both versions.

Note: My book Christmas Fingerstyle Guitar is a companion to this CD.  It presents each carol at 3 levels of difficulty, culminating in the versions you hear on the recording.  There are also audio files elsewhere at this web site that give all the versions of all the carols played at a slower tempo.

Click on the links to hear a sample:

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