RAY BELLRay is one of the best flatpick guitarists I know, and I've meet quite a few. He may be best known to many people as half of the former guitar picking country duo, Newkirk and Bell. Mild mannered guitar teacher by day, his main passions are country music and fiddle tunes. With country music, he is equally comfortable and dexterous on either acoustic or electric guitar. With fiddle tunes, he'll either use his guitar to pick them out with taste and precision or to provide a solid rhythm and melodic accompaniment for a lead fiddler. Always a pleasure to watch or listen to in either case. His current musical partner is the amazingly talented fiddler, Shamma Sabir of the Sabir Sisters fame from British Columbia (Canada). One of Ray's sideline hobbies is dabbling with sound recording. Actually it's well beyond the dabbling stage but on the other hand it still hasn't taken over his life, yet... Ray Bell can be heard on a 1998 CD recording of Newkirk and Bell, Dreams in a Dry Land (Harptree Productions #HCD002). Ray Bell teaches guitar and co-owns Music in the House in Regina. |