Steve Hung
| Shows at the Purple Fiddle |
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“Finger-Picking Good: Alexandria’s Steve Hung can’t sing, but his guitar can.” ~ Greg Wyshanski, Alexandria Gazette
“His guitar playing is other-worldly, and his abilities are off the chart. Steve Hung is someone you should pay attention to if you like excellent guitar playing.” ~ Brian Campbell, www.DCAtHome.com
The Texan born fingerstyle guitarist has been living in the Mid-Atlantic for over a decade now. His Texas upbringing instilled in him a deep understanding of singer/songwriter folk music and the blues. During his adulthood spent touring the Mid-Atlantic, Steve has embraced the area’s bluegrass and country music styles, and strives to follow the footsteps of other regional fingerstyle guitarists such as Chet Atkins, John Fahey, and Leo Kottke.
Steve’s latest album Pick ‘n’ Grin (2019) is a reflection of these influences, and is the first album where we hear Steve singing. The album is well balanced, in that half of the tracks display his songwriting, and the other half are instrumentals showcasing his chops. Half of the tracks are new interpretations of classic bluegrass/country songs.
For example, in Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and Elizabeth Cotten’s “Freight Train,” Steve implements a fingerpicking pattern that mimics the chugga chugga rhythm of a train. In “All You Fascists are Bound to Lose,” Steve updates the Woody Guthrie classic to reflect the current political climate. Meanwhile, Steve’s original tracks offer new material to the ever evolving folk music tradition.