Eric Lugosch at Waynesville Music

A National Fingerpicking Champion who won first place at Winfield in 1984, Eric Lugosch is a staple of the Chicago music scene. He has taught at the renowned Old Town School of Folk Music, passing the torch of fingerstyle guitar secrets -- from ragtime, swing, blues, folk and jazz -- to pupils there for nearly 25 years. As a kid, Eric’s oldest brother was influential and seeded his interest in music. Eric recalls sneaking into his brother’s room not only to access his esoteric record collection with gems like Miles, Coltrane and Brubeck, but also later to steal some alone time with his brother’s guitar to tweak out the tabs of Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis and Doc Watson. Since those formative years Lugosch has released four albums on the German label Acoustic Music Records, the most recent in 2024 entitled “Migration.” Autumn of 2024 found Lugosch on tour with Peter Finger, the founder of Acoustic Music Records, with the International Guitar Night through more than a dozen German cities, as well as appearances in Italy, Paris, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Giants in the fingerstyle world have sung Eric’s praises. Pat Donohue said “He has internalized The Reverend Gary Davis’ s style to the point where he can improvise within that style and still have it come out his own.” Legendary British fingerstylist Duck Baker has called him “One of the very best.” Lugosch has shared the stage with Doc Watson, Taj Mahal, John Prine, David Bromberg, Leon Redbone and others.

His performance at Waynesville Music on April 26 will be solo, an intimate listening room experience. The venue can only accommodate an audience of 30 people, so be sure to buy tickets in advance and avoid the likely chance that this show will sell out.

Host or Publisher Waynesville Music