The Power of Three has long been a theme throughout history--

From the holy trinity, to the Romans’ Rule of Three, to the three-sided pyramids, and the spiritual significance of the triangle and valknut shapes.

In fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing, the power of three is embodied by musical craftsman Andy McKee, Calum Graham, and Trevor Gordon Hall, who joined together for the second annual Concert for a Child benefit performance at the Topeka Performing Arts Center.

The trio also held a Masterclass session that afternoon for aspiring guitarists and the evening culminated in the special concert which benefited both Capper Foundation's Pediatric Scholarship Assistance Fund and the Topeka Performing Arts Center itself.

Capper Foundation intends to use funds raised to continue their mission to help children with disabilities who are not or under-insured to receive pediatric therapy services. 75% of families served utilize the scholarship assistance fund to help cover costs of their child's services.

Topeka Performing Arts Center will support art education programs for all community youth and apply funds raised to their Sheffel Theater Clinic and Schooltime Theater Series as well as other Masterclasses, and the annual Gingerbread Homes For the Holidays.

Andy McKee is a Topeka native who has previously released six studio albums, two EPs, and one live record, with his newest release being a departure from his usual guitar work- Pulse is an EP with music primarily to help with relaxation, focus, and meditation.

Calum Graham is a native Canadian, born in B.C. and currently residing in Victoria, and who first trained classically before advancing with the fingerstyle technique. Latest full-length is his Sympatheia release, out earlier this year, and Graham was named as one of the Top 30 under 30 Guitarists by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Trevor Gordon Hall hails from Philadelphia, first beginning in local coffeehouses, then eventually developing his own unique “kalimbatar”, a variation of the African kalimba finger piano and his own folk guitar, which would help define his signature sound. Following up 2021’s The Other World on our Planet EP, is the new full-length, This Beautiful Chaos that reflects on his life changes and renewed outlook on life.

Following an introduction and welcome from Capper Foundation’s Jarrod Guth, and TPAC’s Larry Gawronski and an introduction from young YT influencer Maxwell Guth, the concert got underway with the first of its two one-hour-long sets.

The trio opened all playing McKee’s 2010 instrumental, “Never Grow Old” and as the concert progressed, it was revealed that the Topeka crowd was truly seeing something special – three master craftsmen in musical harmony not only embellishing each other’s solo contributions, but the announcement that the three had also recorded an album together, for release/tour next year, and that this particular audience would be hearing many of these songs performed live together, for the very first time.

Following their take on Graham’s “Journey of Love”, the set shifted to a round-robin format, with each artist taking solo turns to perform two of their own songs, which McKee would begin with his acoustic version of Toto’s “Africa”. Hall next followed with “Ontic Blues” from his recent EP, and then Graham’s “Phoenix Rising”, he also mentioning his mother’s early support and even seeing McKee live with his parents, as a young teen.

Graham sang his final solo song, the touching “Lighthouse” (dedicated with the hope of better communicating with his sister) and the first set would end with their collective version of Hall’s 2011 track, “That Old Familiar Pain” as McKee picked up an electric guitar for the song, asking first if anyone had three AA batteries, as its transmitter was without power.

The second set begin with their combined version of Graham’s “Tabula Rasa” which was followed by Hall’s “The Blue Hour”, a song that must be on the upcoming album, as he mentioned they had considered filming a new music video for the song while in town.

Following McKee’s touching “Rylynn”, Hall showed off his kalimbatar, mentioning his latest version of the unique instrument had expanded to twenty-six keys (from just starting with a very few). “How am I going to follow that?!”, Graham quipped, also extolling the greatness of Kansas City BBQ burnt ends, before playing the title track to his latest album.

Graham and Hall nicely filled out McKee’s “Blue Liquid” from his Joyland release (anyone from Topeka would get the amusement park reference of the title). Graham’s “In Lak Ech” was skipped, but McKee waxed nostalgic before his heartfelt “For My Father”, also mentioning how great the new mixes of the trio’s version of the McKee song, were sounding.

The evening would end with another track originally from McKee’s Joyland release, “Hunter’s Moon”, with McKee teasing before the song, that he’d try his best to make the following year’s show even bigger and better (the first concert was held in summer 2021 with McKee solo on the beautiful grounds of the Zoo’s new Japanese garden).

A wonderful show for a wonderful cause- Concert for a Child had returned with McKee at the helm but bringing a couple of his fingerstyle acoustic guitar friends, to show what three artists at the forefront of their musical craft, can achieve together – the power of three was strong this night.

(click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

Posted at 10:00 AM in Andy McKee, benefit concert, Folk, Guitar Gods, John, Topeka | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Andy McKee, benefit concert, Calum Graham, Capper Foundation, Concert for a Child, concert recap, fingerstyle guitar, Topeka, Topeka KS, Topeka Performing Arts Center, TPAC, Trevor Gordon Hall