Guitarist ventures from Harlem's Cotton Club to Bigfork as part of Festival

Solomon Hicks may have missed out on some aspects of being a teenager, but he’s been given the education of a lifetime.

Hicks, 19, started playing guitar professionally at the age of 13 at the Cotton Club in Harlem, N.Y. Since then he’s been a professional musician, and this week he is in Bigfork for the Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival.

The festival features some of the world’s top guitar performers, who perform in nightly concerts. Then there are the students, like Hicks, who come to Bigfork to learn from the professional musicians. 

Hicks lives in Manhattan, N.Y. When he stepped off the airplane in Kalispell last week, the first thing he noticed was the air. “It smells so good here,” he said.

Hicks is a polite, unassuming teenager. He seems to be looking at the world through a sense of wonder — not privilege or entitlement. Hicks got his start at the Cotton Club when he was allowed to audition for the owner. Then Hicks was allowed to play two songs a week, and now he’s a house guitarist for the club, one of the oldest performing clubs in the United States that dates back to the 1920s.

On any given night there may be tap, swing or jazz on stage at the Cotton Club. Hicks plays with a 14-piece big band. “It’s a cornerstone of the New York music scene,” he said.

Sometimes, as a teen, Hicks has had to refrain to some of the things that other people his age are doing. Sometimes he’d like to just hang out, but he has set high standards for himself as a performer.

“I feel I missed out, but not on much,” Hick said. “I can have fun when I’m older. If I didn’t take the music seriously and the business seriously, I’d have to get a day job. This is my future.”

Hicks, like any artist, wants to interpret guitar music in the context of his life and contemporary culture. He said he’s not looking to redefine guitar music, but noted he has ideas of how he’d change it. “It’s great we can use technology but we need to bring back the instruments,” he said. 

He recalls how Miles Davis created something new with his own sound. “I’m looking to bring back the guitar sound, the guitar solo,” he said. “I can see myself putting a new stamp on music.

I want to make my own path.”

Getting a “D” on a report card was enough for Hicks to be able to write a song about the blues, but he said he needs to take some knocks in life before he can really write and sing the blues. “I still have room to grow,” he said. “I’m only 19.”

When he got the gig at the Cotton Club the older performers said, “Who is this kid?” Hick said. “Then, after a while, they saw I took things very seriously. New York has a standard you just have to attain to. Now I’m able to hang with some of the big dogs.”

Hicks, hoping to follow in the traditions of guitar greats like B.B. King and Freddie King, bills himself as “King Solomon.”

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Hicks’ first gig was playing acoustic guitar in a fifth-grade musical. “I didn’t have the lungs for the saxophone or the patience for the piano,” he said. “Something about the intensity that attracted me to the guitar.”

His adventure in performing led him to Bigfork, and who knows where music will take him. “If you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere,” Hicks said. “I’m learning the world really is. It’s quite an interesting time.”

ABOUT THE CROWN

The Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival is in its fifth year of combining top performing talent with guitar and music education. During the day the artists in residence share their music with workshop students, then every night the artists perform onstage in six festival concerts in Bigfork.

“Expect some surprise additions to the concert stage each night,” David Feffer, founder of the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation, said. “These artists all really love to play and they enjoy collaborating with each other.”  

The Aug. 26 concert featuring Shelby Lynne is one example. “It will be the world’s best finale,” Feffer said. “For the first time in the history of the Crown all the artists in residence will be on campus at the same time and Lynne has invited them to join her onstage for a grand finale performance.” 

There will be three performances at three restaurants in Bigfork featuring the talented alumni and workshop scholarship winners. Guitarists are scheduled to perform Aug. 25 at ShowThyme, Aug. 27 at Grill 459 and Aug. 28 at the Bigfork Inn. All of the shows are 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., pm allowing plenty of time for the audience to enjoy a meal before the evening concerts at Flathead Lake Lodge.

Hicks and other students and artists will perform at local night clubs. Hicks will be at Marina Cay Friday, Aug. 22, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and at the Great Northern in Whitefish Saturday, Aug. 23, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival events

Aug. 24 “The Modern Face of Zappa Music” 

The week of music kicks begins at 7 p.m. with Rob Quist and Halladay Quist. Rob is a founding member of the Mission Mountain Wood Band and The Montana Band and is a longtime board member of the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation. Halladay Quist is back from Nashville debuting her latest new songs.  Dweezil Zappa then takes the stage and will be joined by three members of his Zappa Plays Zappa band — Scheila Gonzalez on sax, keyboards, vocals, Kurt Morgan on bass and Joe Travers on drums.

Aug. 25, 7:30 pm: “Fiery Blues Meets Sizzling Jazz” 

Guitarist Ana Popovic joins Clipper Anderson on bass, Pete Sweeney on drums with a guest horn section of sax player Dan Rose, Nick Simko on trumpet and Jim Rogers on keyboards. 

Grammy-winner and versatile jazz guitarist Mike Stern follows and will be backed up by Ben Shepherd on bass and Wes Ritenour on drums. 

Aug. 26, 7:30 pm

 “Amazing Singers and Song writers” Opening for Shelby Lynne will be singer and song writer Emily Elbert, who was a huge hit in Bigfork in 2013 and is back by popular demand. Lynne will be backed by her longtime guitar and slide player Ben Peeler, with rhythm support from John Beasley, keyboards, Abe Laboriel, bass and Sonny 

Aug. 27, 7:30 p.m.

“Jazz-fusion Luminary and Friends” 

Lee Ritenour takes the stage with his team of John Beasley, keyboards, Abe Laboriel, bass and Sonny Emory, drums. 

Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m.

“Rock ‘n Roll Superstar and Pure Classical” John Oates, newly elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his band Hall and Oates, will be bringing bandmates Shane Theriot, guitar, Michael Jude, bass and John Michel, drums. Opening the concert will be David Leisner, a performer, distinguished composer, and master teacher who will present solo classical guitar pieces as well as a performance of the Boccherini Quintet in D with the Glacier Symphony String Quartet.

Aug. 30

Guitar Extravaganza 

Doors open at 4:30 p.m. at Flathead Lake Lodge for this concert with food and beverages offered by Flathead Lake Lodge and vendors. From 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. young outstanding artists will be featured on an outdoor stage

For a complete listing of artists and activities visit the cocguitarfoundation.org or call 855-855-5900.