About - Al Petteway & And Amy White

Al Petteway is a Grammy-Winning guitarist who has played nearly every type of popular, folk and classical music - as a soloist, as part of an ensemble, and as an onstage accompanist. He established a reputation as a world-class sideman by playing and recording with Jethro Burns, Peter Rowan, Tom Paxton, Jonathan Edwards, Cheryl Wheeler, Debi Smith, David Wilcox, Maggie Sansone, Bonnie Rideout and many more. Though his primary instrument has always been the guitar, he also studied lute, string bass, percussion and music composition. His compositions for acoustic fingerstyle guitar are strongly influenced by his love of Celtic music and his own roots in folk, rock and blues. He and his wife Amy White perform as a duo playing original and traditional music on acoustic instuments including guitar, banjo, mandolin, harp, piano, and percussion.

While living in the Washington, D.C. area, Al was awarded forty five "Wammies" by the Washington Area Music Association including the top honors of "ARTIST OF THE YEAR" and "MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR". He was also the recipient of two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards for Music Composition. Al performed at the Vice President's House and The White House during the Clinton administration. He and his wife, Amy White were Artists in Residence at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage and Warren Wilson College where he is is now the Guitar Week coordinator for the world famous "Swannanoa Gathering" music camp. In 2005, he was voted one of the Top Fifty Acoustic Guitarists of all Time by the readers of Acoustic Guitar Magazine and in 2008 he won Silver and Bronze medals in the magazine's Player's Choice Awards. Al's CD "Caledon Wood" was inlcuded as one of the "Essential Albums of the past Twenty Years" in Acoustic Guitar's 20th Anniversary issue and his album "It's Only the Blues" was selected as one of the top ten "Essential Acoustic Albums of 2012."

Al's recordings, music books, and instructional videos have helped win him international acclaim and appearances on National Radio and Television Programs. His music has been featured in a number of films and documentaries including six documentaries by Ken Burns. His original composition "Sligo Creek" was used as the theme for the Emmy-Winning PBS series "The National Parks-America's Best Idea."

In addition to performing solo and with Amy, Al teaches workshops across the country and records and teaches private lessons in his and Amy's home studio Fairewood Studios, near Asheville, NC