For the at least the next three Thursdays, the world’s only guitarpist will be performing solo at Chickie Wah Wah from 6-8 PM.
DeGruy is best known around town for performances with various guitar ensembles including Twangorama, but his solo performances place him in another musical dimension because of his instrument. The guitarp is a custom contraption which features a seven-string guitar with a ten-string high register harp located beneath the standard strings where a pick guard might usually be placed.
There is no separation between the guitar and harp parts, enabling the right hand to do a 17-string arpeggio. Though DuGruy generally eschews loud playing, he can make quite a racket with this instrument.
DeGruy has released two solo albums, Innuendo and the Out the Other and Hello Dali. These recordings have been hailed by other guitar masters including Steve Vai who said, “Phil’s approach to the guitar sounds like John Coltrane meets Mel Brooks at a party for Salvador Dali.”
While the recordings are impressive, in the live setting fans can also witness deGruy’s incomparable wit as demonstrated in his album titles (he also has a duet album out called Just Duet). Ably mixing genres from jazz to pop rock and TV theme shows along with eloquent waggishness, he entertains in more ways than one blending poignant playing with gut busting humor.
