A Bout with an Acoustic Ninja

Location: Budapest
June 11, 2010
Adventure #20

It is such a joy to meet extremely talented artists who are down to earth and truly gracious towards their fan base. Colorado acoustic guitarist Trace Bundy is one of these people.

Reverentially known as "The Acoustic Ninja" by his fans, Bundy performs alone on stage with just his acoustic guitar and a fleet of colored capos in lieu of a pick. Describing his performance style is extremely difficult, so I encourage people to check out a video here. In the meantime, I'll be a lazy reporter and swipe his succinct Wikipedia description: "His playing style features him playing with both hands on the fretboard and intricate finger-picking arpeggios." To fully embrace his impassioned performances, I think people should see him live.

When I used to live in Boulder, I saw him perform with Jonah Werner and Newcomer's Home - all folk artists I adore. His performance was so impressive and genuine that I even chose to use his version of "Pachebel's Canon" as my wedding processional. So, when my friend Jennifer, a devout Bundy fan, told me he was coming to Budapest - to a venue a five-minute walk from my flat no less - I was thrilled.

When Mike and I arrived at the show last Friday, he was sitting at the ticket desk with his lovely wife, and we instantly struck up a conversation about our Colorado connections. It turns out his brother is another Budapest expat who was marrying a Hungarian that week, so Bundy and his family were in town for the wedding. We got to meet the whole friendly bunch from Buena Vista, Colorado. It was so nice to get a taste - and an earful - of Colorado and get to chat with Bundy, who was so kind that he even let me take that low-lit goulish picture with him.