Trace Bundy returns to hometown for concert

By Danny Bay

His music career began at Bongo Billy’s where as a kid he and his friends would play cover songs and invite others to come and listen. Now his music has stretched across continents and his unique sound continues to draw fans from the ends of the earth.

“I’d like to hit all seven continents. That would be cool. Antarctica would of course be the harder one,” Bundy said regarding his touring ambitions.

But through his YouTube solo guitar performances which have reached over five million views, he has already gained a fan base on the coldest continent on earth.

“There’s a scientist at the Palmer Science Station who is a fan of mine,” Bundy said, “She emailed me. She told me that everybody down there likes my music.”

Though his tour dates don’t yet post any shows in Antarctica, Bundy said that he will add another continent in March, when he travels down under.

“Any time I travel internationally and play it has been a memorable experience. I played a show in Zimbabwe and right when I played a percussive song they got up dancing. I was surprised how much they got into the music,” Bundy said.

His cover of “Canon” is one of his most well-known songs. A performance of the song has reached over one million views on YouTube and the clip brought him to South Korea to play a concert in Seoul with a young admirer.

Bundy said that child prodigy, Sungha June, found his clip online and, at the age of nine, learned how to play it.

“He picked it up just by watching me play,” Bundy said, “It’s a pretty tricky song. It was amazing.” The two guitarists played a sold-out show in South Korea and both performed “Canon” together.

But it’s closer to home where Bundy might be breaking records. At a performance at Red Rocks, which drew a crowd of around 7,000, Bundy said that with the help of a few others, he tried to break the Guinness record for the largest group lesson.

According to Bundy, there were about 1,000 people who brought instruments such as ukuleles, sitars and guitars. Bundy said that he organized the group play with the song “Sweet Home Alabama,” and put a chord chart up on the stage behind him.

“I saw someone in the stands with a full sized harp. I could hear the whole crowd singing. It was a memorable experience just to stand on that stage,” he said. The results of the submission to set a new group lesson record have yet to be announced.

With a style of playing the acoustic guitar in which he uses both hands on the fret board and multiple capos, Bundy was honored by Acoustic Guitar Magazine as the “2008 Most Promising New Talent of the Year.”

“I was just thrilled that I was really admired,” Bundy said about the magazine’s reader’s choice awards. After the poll from all of the readers, Bundy was also awarded third place as “2008 Finger Style Guitarist of the Year.”

“Who knows why they voted for me,” Bundy said, “I think a lot of people enjoy my concerts. I do a lot of funny songs. I’m always trying to think outside of the box. Since I don’t sing, I need to do things that people haven’t seen before or it won’t go anywhere.”

Upon his return to where it all began in Buena Vista, with three self-produced albums that have sold over 30,000 copies and several successful international tours, Bundy looks to be far outside of the box as his music appears to be going everywhere.

Trace Bundy will perform in Buena Vista this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre with special guest Jesse Willis.


(Originally published in The Chaffee County Times)