My name is Randy Finney and I am the main organizer guy at fingerstyleguitar.ca. Some people will tell you that I founded the idea of the organization however, I believe it is an idea whose time has come and that I am just helping to facilitate its manifestation.

fingerstyleguitar.ca is intent upon becoming a Nationwide Network which will make it possible for Canadian fans of guitar music to experience live concerts by solo guitar players who would otherwise be forced to leave Canadian dates off their tour schedule

fingerstyleguitar.ca serves Canadian fans of guitar music

Here are some reasons why Canadian fans have been missing out:

1. Player is too popular in other parts of the world.

Consider Tommy Emmanuel. He does not have to play in Canada to make a living. Tommy is offered high paying gigs in many countries where he is already well established. This phenomenom makes it more difficult for Tommy to establish a relationship with a traditional promoter - and we as fans can't expect Tommy to turn down high paying gigs in other parts of the world for lower paying gigs in Canada.

As a not-for-profit association, fingerstyleguitar.ca can ot only overcome this issue, but can ensure that a player in this kind of situation actually gives Canada priority in their scheduling.

fingerstyleguitar.ca helps to ensure that in demand, world touring players are available to Canadian fans

2. Player has "been-there-done-that".

They are many famous players who are just not interested in dealing with the traditional concert promotion business anymore, so have, more or less, stopped touring. When they discover fingerstyleguitar.ca and that, in Canada, there is a group of dedicated fans whose only motivation is the love of the music and the good feeling people get when they experience it, they make an exception.

fingerstyleguitar.ca inspires players to keep sharing their music with Canadian fans

3. Player is a "niche-market" player.

There are a number of players that, although they have made, or are making, a significant contribution to the genre, and may even have achieved significant regional and/or internet popularity, will draw 100 (or less) to 300 people to their shows.

fingerstyleguitar.ca not only makes it possible for players in this scenario to come here for "one-off" concerts, (we have handled the Canadian solo concert debut of John Knowles, Stephen Bennett, Laurence Juber, Richard Smith, Bruce Mathiske, and Masa Sumide - and we have many more planned), but also, through the creation of a network of local communtiy chapters across the country , will make it economically viable for all Canadian fans to experience small audience players in their own community - both International and Canadian.

fingerstyleguitar.ca makes it economically viable for Canadian fans to experience intimate audience players in their own community

fingerstyleguitar.ca is a Fan Club
for fans of great guitar music.

Although it is not the focus of fingerstyleguitar.ca to act as a publicity agent for players trying to establish a career as a performing artist, our mission of making great players available to fans can have this effect.

The easiest way to get involved in fingerstyleguitar.ca is to join one of its email lists.

Weekly Newsletter
The Newsletter is written by Deborah Carraro. She writes great articles of interest to both fans and hobby players. The Feedback Column often contains links to interesting internet discoveries by your fellow subscribers.

There is no cost to subscribe to the Newsletter.

Concert News Only
If you are not interested in receiving the Weekly Newsletter, but still want to be informed of fingerstyleguitar.ca's Main Stage Events, join the Concert News Only List. You will get about 12 emails per year keeping posted on our Concert activities. There is no cost to be on this list.

Membership
You can become a paying member. Mostly you would do this because you believe in the purpose of the organization and understand that it costs money to run it.

As an added bonus, you are put on a Members Only List that allows you to be first in line for fingerstyleguitar.ca Event Tickets, and allows you to purchase these tickets at a discount. It costs $20.00 per year to become a member.

Note:, the Members Only List is the only list you are automatically put on when you become a member. To receive the Newsletter and/or Concert News, you still must officially add yourself to these lists through the website.

Volunteer
You can become a Volunteer in many ways. The most elaborate would be to start a local chapter of fingerstyleguitar.ca in your own community.

The simplest would be to make yourself available to assist during Main Stage Events. For example, using volunteers for, Ushering, Security, Concert Brochure Preparation, etc., results in us being able to keep the price of tickets way below what you would normally have to pay.

There are a whole host of other volunteer opportunities, from Archiving Events for the Website to helping to translate our emailings to French. Call me, Randy Finney, at (416) 722-6524 - the only prerequisite is that you care.

Randy Finney