They came. They played. They conquered. Now, hot local guitar duo Brooks and John are lapping up some serious acclaim while getting ready to say so long to a Washougal venue due to cost issues.
John is Vancouver resident John Standefer, fretboard master of what he calls “smooth, pretty melodies and cool chords”; his recently acquired partner is Portlander Brooks Robertson, a 20-something purveyor of “funky chicken pickin’ ” in the tradition of Chet Atkins and the late Eugene, Ore., legend Buster B. Jones.
Brooks and John fell in love, you might say, a couple years ago at a Chet Atkins Appreciation Society gathering in Nashville, Tenn. Their first CD, “We Came To Play,” released earlier this year, was voted Recording of the Year by the National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame. Standefer said the duo didn’t even know it was nominated until they were told it won.
“It was a complete surprise to us, and really cool,” he said.
The pair is working on a second CD, an “even better” selection of great songs you know and songs you don’t, Standefer said, with a classical string section further sweetening the duo’s own strings.
They’ve toured the nation, and more concert dates are set for the new year. One of them is Jan. 10 at Standefer’s favorite local venue, the Washburn Performing Arts Center at Washougal High School. But that will be their last appearance at Washburn, and Standefer’s personal farewell to the acoustically awesome hall after 13 years of annual concerts, he said.
That’s mostly due to financial realities. Even being a celebrated and successful fingerstyle guitar duo doesn’t make you rich. Standefer said the rental cost for the Washburn has risen beyond what Brooks and John can afford.
“For what we’re doing and the people we attract, $700 or $800 is just too much,” he said. “We’ll find another location.”
Plus, their personal contact at the Washburn — namesake Gordon Washburn, associate principal of Washougal High School and a longtime friend of the Standefer family — is retiring this year, so the duo won’t have an “inside man” running sound, and making announcements and introductions anymore, Standefer said.
Standefer noted that Washburn was a superb band director at the school for many years, and taught all of the Standefer children when the family lived there.
“He was the pied piper of Washougal,” Standefer said. “The kids just loved him.”
Brooks and John will play at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Washburn, 1201 39th St. in Washougal. Tickets are $15 in advance at www.johnstandefer.com or $17 at the door.
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