Artists:Eddie Pennington

Eddie Pennington is widely recognized among his peers as one of the greatest living thumbstyle guitarists. In venues throughout the United States and Europe, he has kept alive the sound popularized by Kentucky native Merle Travis in the 1940s. Because of his ability to adapt well-known tunes to the alternating bass rhythms that characterize "Travis pickin'," Eddie's performances have generated renewed interest in this challenging art form.

On stage, Eddie mixes his music with generous helpings of Travis stories and down-home humor, occasionally tossing in observances peppered with his humble, unpretentious wit. Much like a storyteller draws his listener into another time and place, Eddie transports his audiences to the days of the old coal-mining towns with traditional Travis songs like "Nine-Pound Hammer," takes them to his front porch for a few neighborly gospel tunes, and creates an aura of wistful thinking with thumbstyle renditions of classic songs everyone recognizes, such as "Over the Rainbow.".