Rhett Butler

Anyone slipping in early for Tony Trischka's master banjo class at the Cactus Cafe in August would've first heard the sound of their jaw hitting the floor for opening guitar duet Rhett Butler. Eric Johnson, for whom the Dallas picker opened most recently at the Cactus, endorses Butler with: "I've never heard anyone get the sounds out of [two guitars at once] like Rhett does."

From Scott Joplin to Queen, Butler's ambidextrous doublenecking also goes electric, so Sixth Street's Hard Rock Cafe needn't worry about the clamor of dropping jaws.

- Raoul Hernandez - Music Editor

- The Austin Chronicle

Rhett Butler has made a name for himself nationally for playing two guitars at once. He puts heart, soul and both hands into his art. - The Dallas Morning News

Look Who's Coming: Rhett Butler, guitarist

Rhett Butler is the definition of a traveling troubadour, driving his pickup across the country with four guitars and a sound system in the back, ready to set up at your neighborhood coffee shop.

Without a record deal, the Texan has managed to sell more than 12,000 CDs of his instrumental guitar music. It's not jazz, exactly, or new age, although his sound has elements of each.

He also does a little something that sets him apart from your average guitar slinger. Those who stop by Thursday night to see his set at Six String Cafe in Cary will be treated to a handful of tunes played on two guitars at once, as he uses a stand to prop up the second instrument in front of him.


- Raliegh News and Observer

Rhett Butler, hailed by some music critics as “among the next generation of Texas guitar heroes,” has achieved his goal and now will reward his biggest fan with the prize of a lifetime.

No, it’s not concert tickets or a backstage pass. Not a limo ride or a walk on the red carpet at the Grammys. Instead, the prize is a trip home – which is where brothers belong.

Home, in this case, is Ireland, and Butler’s biggest fan is his younger brother, Ashley. And while these facts may not seem outstanding on the surface, there is a story underneath that tugs at the heartstrings in much the same way as Rhett Butler works his acoustic guitar.

Ashley, now 25, is the longest living survivor of PNET, or Primative Neuroectodermal Tumor, a rare malignant cancer that struck Ashley at the age of 2. According to Rhett Butler, doctors advised their parents not even to attempt treatments, but instead to take the child home and love and care for him for the four or six months that he was expected to survive.

But Hugh and Cindy Butler, Ashley and Rhett’s parents, “were not interested in watching their child die without a fight,” Rhett wrote in the liner notes for “The Kid from Kilkenny,” an acoustic album entirely dedicated to songs for and about his brother. Hugh Butler devoted himself to learning about PNET – outpacing the physicians treating Ashley, according to Rhett – while Cindy Butler moved to New York with Ashley to enter an experimental treatment program.

Somehow, Ashley survived.

“He’s a special person – he’s the reason I am who I am,” said Rhett.

“He makes life worth living,” Hugh Butler is quoted as saying in the liner notes.

Ashley did not emerge unscathed, however. The cancer treatments left him visually impaired and the tumor impeded physical growth, leaving him with a perpetually youthful cast and a personality that has “childlike qualities,” Rhett said.

Worse yet, the radiation spawned additional cancerous tumors. A benign brain tumor was discovered in 1987, and in November 2004, doctors discovered two thyroid cancer tumors in his neck. The tumors were surgically removed, Rhett said, and Ashley has just passed the six-month mark since the operation and the cancer has not recurred – a terrific sign, according to Ashley.

While such trials and tribulations seem almost too much to imagine, let alone to bear, Ashley has battled through the difficulties with the unvanquished spirit of a warrior. It was Ashley who initiated research on the family name and traced their roots back to Ireland – a project that inspired Rhett to embark on a fund-raising tour that would allow him to take his brother back to the old sod, in Irish parlance: the ultimate trip home.

To raise money, Rhett stepped up his self-describe campaign to “make his mark on the guitar world one coffee shop at a time,” scheduling a series of shows on college campuses and intimate venues throughout the country. As part of the series, Rhett played at the Purple Onion in Danville on Saturday, adding $500 to his collection coffers.

The trip funding-goal, however, has been more than met; Rhett has collected $13,000, well above the $8,000 required for the trip across the pond. But the extra proceeds will not be wasted; they will be given to the Ashley Butler Foundation, a charity established in his brother’s name that assists the families of pediatric cancer patients receiving care at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Rhett’s visit to Danville was more than just a coincidence. His sister, Amy Carter, is a former Danville resident who has since moved to Virginia Beach. Ashley, meanwhile, lives in Austin, Texas, with his parents. According to Rhett, the Purple Onion was suggested as a venue by Tony Turner, director of the “The Acoustic Runs Groove” concert series, which helps promote independent music acts.

Rhett’s popular appeal, however, is not based solely on his heartwarming story. Rather, he is an accomplished musician who has opened for such legendary guitarists as Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani.

“I’m known for playing two guitars at the same time,” said Butler, who also admitted to musical aspirations that go beyond fund-raising. “I want to be respected by other musicians – I’d like to be in guitar magazines and for others to say, ‘I really like what he does.’ I want a career in music and to play for as many people as I can.”

Judging by his progress thus far, it would seem that those goals are well within reach – because unlike his namesake in Gone with the Wind, this Rhett Butler does give a damn. - Danville Register and Bee - By Amy M. Nodden 6/20/05