Giuseppe "Peppino" D'Agostino began playing guitar at the age of 10 when he heard his cousin play in church. He is basically self-taught and began picking out tunes by ear. Inspired by musicians like Paco de Lucia, Leo Kottke and Carlos Santana, he was composing and performing throughout Italy by the age of 18. After making his debut recording in his homeland with his first album Bluerba in 1981 and Silk and Steel two years later – both with fellow players that appreciated American bluegrass and new acoustic styles – D'Agostino took the bold leap and moved to America in 1985. Starting out by performing in the streets and on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, he graduated to playing in restaurants then clubs, and finally, concert halls and festivals after a fellow musician introduced D’Agostino to a booking agent. He made his American recording debut in 1987 with Acoustic Spirit on Shanachie Records.
Career
Peppino D’Agostino emerged on the acoustic guitar scene in the late 1980s and was part of the second wave of great acoustic fingerstylists that helped redefine the instrument in the 1990s. His virtuosic and emotional playing is a prime influence on today's younger generation of fingerstyle guitarists, but D’Agostino has continued to evolve and grow in ways that would have been hard to predict when he was blowing minds with the intensity and beauty of his playing on albums like Acoustic Spirit, Close to the Heart, and Nine White Kites. In 2017 Guitar Player listed him as one of the 50 transcendent superheroes of the acoustic guitar. The CD “Every Step of The Way” was awarded by Acoustic Guitar's People's Choice Awards with a bronze medal for Best Acoustic Album of All Time. His signature Seagull acoustic guitar has been voted among the ten best signature guitars by Guitar Player magazine. Peppino gives guitar workshops, master classes and seminars worldwide. Top leading publishers such as Truefire, Alfred Publishing, Hal Leonard and Acoustic Guitar Magazine Books have published his compositions and instructional methods. In addition to regular worldwide live performances, D’Agostino has released ten albums of original compositions in the US, five collaborations albums one with electric guitaristCorrado Rustici, one with electric guitarist Stef Burns one with classical guitarist David Tanenbaum one with the World Guitar Ensemble and one with the Pacific Guitar Ensemble) and three DVDs. He has been featured on numerous guitar samplers, and has written numerous guitar instructional books and videos. In 1997 he wrote, composed and produced a soundtrack for the feature length Italian movie Ardena, directed by Luca Barbareschi. In 2016 he composed, arranged and recorded the original score for a 15-minute auditorium program for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. To date Peppino has recorded 18 CD's, performed in over thirty three countries at international festivals and concert halls. He has shared the stage with such greats as Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel, Leo Kottke, Martin Taylor, Roland Dyens, and many more. D’Agostino's latest album of original compositions “Connexion” was released April 3, 2020.
