Philip Robert

One of the great things about my life in Bend is working with the fabulous Ladies of On the Go-Go. They're fun to be around, and they send me out to meet people like Trace Bundy. We were able to interview Trace about his music here, and he allowed us to video a performance of one of his original songs here. And if you want to read a really great review of Trace's performance you can read Carrie Hebert's here.

The readers of Acoustic Guitar magazine have awarded him a bronze medal as the third best fingerstyle guitarist. Those same readers awarded him a gold medal as the best upcoming talent. Ray Solley, the executive director of the Tower Theater, described him as an amazing young musician. I’d have to say that he was one of the nicest most easygoing people I’ve ever met. Trace Bundy is an incredible artist, and a class act.

We met Sunday afternoon while he was setting up for the concert that evening. I had planned on using whatever he did for his soundcheck as my video about the concert, and hoped that he would give me the time to answer a few questions on camera. Any nervousness I might have had was dispelled as soon as we met. As someone who attributes a large portion of his success to Youtube, Trace was very comfortable with the video camera. He offered to perform one of his songs for me after they finished the sound check, and agreed to an interview. While I was concerned about making the experience as seem less and transparent for him, he seemed to be effortlessly putting me at ease.

As Trace walked out on stage to begin his concert that evening he used that same easygoing personality to put his audience at ease. Preceding each song with a story he engaged the audience in his performance. Although we were in the Tower Theater surrounded by a huge audience Trace Bundy made it feel as if he were entertaining friends in his living room. In one instance he introduced a song as an oldie. “You all like oldies don’t you?” he asked from the stage. The applause answered loudly. “Here’s one from the eighties.” Trace responded to a slight groan out of the audience as those of us who remember the eighties let him know how we felt about being labeled “Oldies.” Chuckling slightly he fired back that this really was an oldie. “I didn’t say which eighties. Ever hear of Pachebel? This song was written in the 1680’s, and its called Canon.” Then he continued to tell us about a little 9 year old Korean boy who had learned how to play Pachebel’s Canon by watching youtube videos, and how he invited Sungha Jung to open for his concert in Korea. You can easily find the youtube video of Trace and Sungha playing together. Then he performed.

Trace’s stories and anecdotes were fun. His music is magical. Each piece, whether a classical icon from four hundred years ago, a metal love song from a few years ago, or one of his original compositions was a captivating experience.