Geoff Bartley (born 1948)[1] is an American acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter based in Boston, Massachusetts.[2][3] Since 1994, Bartley has played guitar regularly alongside Tom Paxton.
Early life and influences
Geoff Bartley was born in New York City in 1948 and grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland.[4] His mother played piano and his father, a doctor, played clarinet. He grew up surrounded by classical music.[1] In fourth grade, Bartley began to study clarinet, and in 1963 began playing the acoustic guitar.[1][2] In 1967, he moved to Boston to attend Boston University. He has also lived in Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.[4]
Bartley performed his first professional gig in 1970 at a Boston coffeehouse.[2] By 1973, he was able to support himself financially playing in bars and coffee houses, and he toured nationally for the next fifteen years.[1] During the 1980s, Bartley participated in the Fast Folk Music Cooperative.[4][6] Since 1994, he has regularly accompanied folk musician Tom Paxton.[3] Bartley was involved in the creation of the 2004 Tom Paxton signature model Martin guitar.[7]
Can Tab Lounge and the bluegrass connection
In 1991, Bartley began hosting a folk singer-songwriter open mic at the Can Tab Lounge in Cambridge on Monday evenings. The success of the folk open mic led the venue asked him in 1993 to host Tuesday evenings as well, and he decided to make that a bluegrass event. Bluegrass Tuesdays eventually became what musician Matt Glaser called "the epicenter of bluegrass in Boston." In 2016, the Boston Bluegrass Union recognized Bartley's contributions to bluegrass with its Industry Heritage Award.[5]
Songwriting
Bartley's songs have been recorded by numerous artists and licensed for film and television.[8][9] His song "Sunny Side of Town" won the 2015 Podunk Bluegrass Festival Songwriters Competition.[10] His recordings Put the Big Stone Down (2009) and Mercy for the Dispossessed (2011) both reached number one on the international Folk DJ Radio chart.[11] Through his open mics, he has been a mentor to many aspiring songwriters.[3] The folk press has called him a world-class guitarist, a brilliant songwriter, and the prophet and spiritual godfather of the Boston folk scene.[11]
Awards and recognition
The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts declared February 13, 2004 Geoff Bartley Day.[12] In 2009, he was awarded the Jerry Christen Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award by the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association. In 2015, Bartley was the winner of the Podunk songwriting contest.[12][5] He has won the New Hampshire Acoustic Guitar Contest twice, and won a guitar each year from 1984 to 1987 by four-second-place wins at the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championships in Winfield, Kansas.[1][13][4]
^ abcdefMorse, Katrina (2012). "Geoff Bartley". cambridgehistory.org. Music in Cambridge. Cambridge Historical Society. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
^ abcSymkus, Ed. "Geoff Bartley". The Music Museum of New England. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
^Alexander, Steven (2002). "Fast Folk and Coop Database". www.folklib.net. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
^Boudreau, Jeff (November 2, 2008). "Mary McCaslin & Geoff Bartley". notloB Music. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
