Guitar artists Jim Hurst, Roberto Dalla Vecchia perform

Noted guitarists Jim Hurst and Roberto Dalla Vecchia will perform Sunday, June 24 at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church’s 10 a.m. worship service and again during a 5 p.m. concert at the church. Both events are admission-free and open-to-the-public. (The duo will be in Birmingham to perform at Moonlight on the Mountain on Saturday evening, June 23.) 

“You won’t be able to sit still for long as these two entertain and amaze with two guitars and songs of all kinds,” according to the church’s pastor, Dr. Gary Furr.

The guitarists combined their talents in their 2015 release Atlantic Crossing that exhibits a rich and ingenious synthesis of American sounds and Mediterranean flavors expressed with inventiveness and energy and full of instrumental precision.

With a unique picking style, Hurst first drew national exposure with Holly Dunn’s Rio Band, touring with Trisha Yearwood and performing with Travis Tritt and Sara Evans. He later joined the Grammy-nominated Claire Lynch and her Front Porch String Band in 1995 where he teamed up with kindred spirit bassist Missy Raines. While with Claire Lynch, Missy and Jim formed a duet, creating ground-breaking arrangements. They earned IBMA Guitar and Bass Player of the Year for 2001 and 2002.

Acoustic guitar artist Roberto Dalla Vecchia draws deeply from his homeland of Italy to craft melodic folk-bluegrass tunes. He performs regularly at concerts and festivals and teaches at workshops throughout Europe and U.S. He won Acoustic Guitar Magazine's 2003 Homegrown CD Award. His CDGrateful won second place in the Instrumental Album category of the 2009 Just Plain Folks Music Awards. He has released seven CDs: Open Spaces (1998), Sit Back (2002), Grateful (2006), Unknown Legends (2008), Hand in Hand (2011), Morning Lights (2012) and Atlantic Crossing (2015).Flatpicking Guitar Magazine has called Vecchia “another monster talent from Italy (with) a mastery over tone and a grasp for sound quality that is positively awesome.”

You can hear Jim Hurst’s “I’m Not the Man I Was” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj4iDiUDwr4); “Long and Lonesome Old Freight Train”  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsy2mN0zuEc) and Roberto Dalla Vecchia’s Grateful” (https://youtu.be/foxAlw_wzNc)

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Vestavia Hills Baptist Church is located at 2600 Vestavia Dr. For information, call the church at 979-5920.