Music
Press
Press Quotes
"One of the few local guitarists following in the demanding John Fahey/Leo Kottke mode…acoustic guitarist Francis Doughty is one of the best-kept secrets in town. "
(Daniel Gewertz, BOSTON HERALD)
"This is fingerstyle guitar up there with the best of the best. If you've ever heard Michael Hedges or Leo Kottke, then you won't be disappointed with Francis Doughty."
(Derek Sivers, President, CD BABY)
"Francis was the warm-up act --hot spit guitarist, in the Kottke style." (Gordon Bok)
Praising Doughty's "...virtuosic handling of his instrument,"
the DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE writes:
"It takes a large talent to keep people listening when the only voice to be heard is that of a single instrument, even if it has 6 or 12 strings... Doughty uses his strings to get where he's going. Bring your disordered thoughts. His notes will comb them free."
"[his] arrangements can blow blades of grass or fall like icy snow. More than words. You can easily lose yourself in Doughty's music..." (Charlene Arsenault, WORCESTER MAGAZINE)
"Your originals are haunting... A real delight to hear and something tha can spin on my CD player over and over." (Rani Arbo)
"Fran gets better and better... he's mystifyingly a very unique voice on the guitar." (Chris Darling, WMPG, Portland)
"Francis Doughty paints pictures of New England with his guitar"
(Jason Bovian, WBUR, Boston)
“Sometimes meditative, sometimes poignantly moving, Doughty's music is always spellbinding.”
(Wendell Full Moon Coffee-House)
Francis is represented by Charisma Artists Agency
formerly Timberhead Booking Agency
- various
Discography
Among Trees (CD)
Under the Sky (CD)
(We're) Getting Closer (free song download on my website)
Photos
Bio
[BIO 1]
An exciting folk instrumental guitarist who has often been compared to Leo Kottke. Charisma Artist, Francis Doughty captivates audiences with his own evocative or exciting music as well as thrilling Kottke covers. Praising his "virtuosic handling of his instrument" the Hampshire Gazette writes: "Doughty uses his strings to get where he's going...in songs that demonstrate great range and tone... [they] come slowly with feeling, or they come in torrents."
Doughty's guitar-playing is riveting and instantly engages the audience. Indeed there are a lot of good 6- and 12-string players out there, but it is his masterful song-writing which makes Doughty a true standout.
Attending a Francis Doughty concert never fails to leave an audience enthralled. His shows present a mix of his own songs, several classic covers by Kottke, as well as arrangements of traditional or jazz pieces — and always a surprise or two. The counterpoint to his music is his endearing stage manner and colorful humor. He makes a genuine connection.
Showcase Performer at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival 2001 and 2004.
Francis has released two instrumental guitar CDs, Among Trees and Under the Sky, both receiving high praise from reviewers and fans - and he has been featured at venues throughout the Northeast. Doughty has shared the stage with or opened for Gordon Bok, Lui Collins, Garnet Rogers, Tony Vacca, Don White, Adrienne Jones (of Mad Agnes), Kiernan Kane, Elliot Bronson, James Durst, Thea Hopkins and others. He has made numerous radio and several television appearances, including a feature on NPR's magazine show "Here and Now," taped at WBUR in Boston.
When Francis Doughty speaks through his guitar he transports the listener to another place. He comes at you with a wall of sound from his 12-string in songs such as: the highly-charged crowd-pleaser, We're Getting Closer, his equally energetic Pearl-Streaked Morning or Leo Kottke's epochal masterpiece, Morning is the Long Way Home. Tempering the fast paced favorites are the beautiful, evocative songs such as the Irish traditional song, Sheebeg Sheemore and the tender ballad Steve's Pain. The overall result is not just impressive — a Francis Doughty concert takes you on a memorable ride.
[BIO 2]
in his own words...
I grew up in Roslindale, Massachusetts, and not far from a 350-acre tree preserve called the Arnold Arboretum. I roamed the Arboretum as a young boy and young man, through its trails and woods and rolling fields -- a beautiful place filled with trees, flowers and birds. I recall with great fondness two neighbors: one from Germany, the other from Italy. One had chickens and both of these men had gardens and fruit trees, and I learned from both of them how to grow vegetables. I was about 10 or 11, and I have raised a garden nearly every since.
In grade school I picked up the guitar, flirted with an electric and bass guitar for awhile, and eventually settled exclusively on the acoustic. As a teenager and during my early 20's I spent a lot of hours with my guitar everyday, up in my room listening to records by Leo Kottke , John Fahey, John Renborne, Burt Jansch, and Peter Lang -- unraveling some of their songs. I listened to tons of music, lots of guitar music, and even more classical music. Whatever the genre, I was particularly drawn to the instrumental sections and pieces.
Solo instrumentals played on the guitar particularly hooked-me -- everything from the old blues and ragtime players like Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis, right up to Doc Watson, Larry Coryell, Norman Blake, and Jeff Beck -- a whole legion of great guitar players, and styles. (I could easily fill a page with the names of amazing guitar players I've admired!)
I enjoy it all, though to this day it's the music of Kottke and J.S. Bach that I'm always in the mood for. I studied classical composition in college and took jazz guitar lessons with Alex Von Hoffman. I later met Pete Kairo and Pete really enlarged my world further and taught me some ragtime and other fingerstyle techniques, including his own style and a few of his arrangements.
My wife Laura and I built our house in a rural hill- town in western Massachusetts, near wild lands and woodlands. That ages-old agricultural self-subsistence tradition which my old neighbors on Orange Street lived by when I was a kid, still resonates with me. They've gone the way of all flesh, and so now it's our time for awhile. We still work a garden each year by faith and hope and we are grateful for the bounty which feeds us and the pleasure its work gives .
By happenstance we landed in a small and friendly community, wherein over the years we've befriended many warm and open-hearted people. We are fortunate to share in a community aware of itself, where many folks love and care for this place, and keep an eye out for their neighbors.
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