by Jimmy Leslie for Guitar Player Magazine –
Christie Lenée won the prestigious international fingerstyle Guitar Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Kansas last fall, and she got high praise from our April cover artist Tim Reynolds. So when we saw Lenée had a gig scheduled at a new acoustic venue near GP’s California headquarters, a trip to see the troubadour was in order.
The Acoustic Den Café in Roseville, California, is a haven for acoustic-guitar players, where instruments and classic Americana album covers adorn the wood-paneled walls. Armed with a Maton EGB808 6-string, a Martin D12-35 50th Anniversary 12-string, a few effects pedals, and foot percussion, Lenée proceeded to wow an appreciative audience in the well-tuned room with an array of virtuosic overhand tapping, harmonic slapping, and classically inspired fingerstyle techniques. Lenée demonstrated impressive vocals, as well—particularly on a stellar cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.”
The guitar highlight was clearly her blow-by-blow account of how she went about winning the International Fingerstyle Championship. The audience reacted as if the competition was happening again right then and there. Lenée had everybody pulling for her, and by the time she got through performing, they might as well have wheeled out a podium and draped a medal around her neck.