Stellar playing. Superior songwriting. Proven teaching.

When Mississippi John Hurt and the Reverend Gary Davis were sitting alone in their rooms in the 1920s figuring out how to make their guitars sing like pianos, no one could have anticipated that their efforts, emerging from a haze of poverty, would influence generations of guitarists thereafter. Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and The Grateful Dead are some of the current-day legends who discovered the blues genre of these pioneers and adapted it to their own covers. Another contemporary who as a kid also recognized the genius in the blues fingerpicking of Hurt and Davis was Chicagoan Eric Lugosch, who likewise sat alone in his formative years in his room figuring out the puzzles of how it was all done. Lugosch, though, unlike the Stones and Dead, was intent on successfully duplicating the virtuosity and difficulty of the art of solo guitar.

Fast forward several years later, and already a resident of the blues capital of the world in Chicago, Eric Lugosch found his place of residence to be fortuitous in helping him to claim his own bit of legend as a guitar instructor at the renowned Old Town School of Folk. From this pulpit, he spent 25 years passing the torch of fingerstyle secrets – from ragtime, swing, blues, folk and jazz – to his pupils. In 1984, he seized the holy grail of fingerstylists, a first place showing at the Winfield International Fingerstyle Guitar Competition, establishing his preeminence in the field. Just as telling of Lugosch’s skill is the recognition by cultural tastemakers in the genre. Peter Finger, the German fingerstylist and business helmsman of Acoustic Music Records, had his ear yanked around by the bouncy and joyful pianistic style of Lugosch’s playing. Since, Lugosch has released four albums on Finger’s record label, the most recent in 2024 entitled “Migration.” Autumn of 2024 found Lugosch on tour with Peter Finger with the International Guitar Night through more than a dozen German cities, as well as appearances in Italy, Paris, The Netherlands and Switzerland. Giants in the fingerstyle world have sung Eric’s praises. Pat Donohue said “He has internalized The Reverend Gary Davis’ s style to the point where he can improvise within that style and still have it come out his own.” Legendary American fingerstylist Duck Baker has called him “One of the very best.” Lugosch has shared the stage with Doc Watson, Taj Mahal, John Prine, David Bromberg, Leon Redbone and others.

His most recent CD release “Migration” is an amalgam of instrumental ragtime, blues and jazz that would do Mississippi John Hurt and Reverend Gary Davis proud. All except two tracks (Horace Silver and Hoagy Carmichael tunes) are originals, evidence of the same creative spirit that drove Hurt and the Reverend to accomplish great things in their lives. “Duck Bread” is especially notable, a fitting homage to the great fingerstyle player Duck Baker… complete with a guitar lick that mimics a duck quacking.

In a musical era of lip-synching, overpriced stadium shows, cookie-cutter sameness and supposed musical merit based on total internet streams… it’s refreshing to hear an artist like Eric Lugosch who authentically produces great music the old-fashioned way, with his heart and mind, one note at a time.

Achievements

In 1983 Eric won third place at the prestigious National Fingerpicking Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Inspired by his competitors, he came back the next year along with some of his original compositions and won first place. At age 25, he was the youngest winner at the time. The win gave a boost to his burgeoning career as a fingerstyle guitarist, which launched him into the national, and later international, spotlight. 

Soon after, Eric released his first recording, Strike, which is an original suite for guitar, flute and bass. Then in 1988, Eric moved from Philadelphia to the Midwest and started teaching at the renowned Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago where he remained for 25 years teaching fingerstyle guitar classes and private lessons.

Although Eric is best known as a fingerstyle guitarist, he is also a talented songwriter. Eric’s recording, Making Models, released by Waterdog Records in Chicago, is a reflection of his songwriting talents. It also demonstrates his bent for incorporating eclectic instrumentation – steel drums and accordion - with guitar and vocals.

In 1997 after performing the opening set at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley for legendary fingerstyle guitarist Duck Baker, Duck offered to submit Eric’s music to the guitarist Peter Finger, who is the owner of Acoustic Music Records in Germany. Duck’s recommendation worked, and Eric’s next three recordings were released by the label: Black Key Blues, Kind Heroes, and New Tradition. 

Black Key Blues is considered by many as one of the finest solo fingerstyle guitar albums ever produced. It is a collection of original tunes and interpretations of jazz and traditional American music. Kind Heroesand New Traditioncontain these same trademarks and additionally include some of Eric’s original songs. New Traditionfeatures duets with some of Chicago’s finest musicians. The title of the recording reflects Eric’s contemporary take on “pop songs of the 1800’s”.

Eric’s recording REVisionis an homage to the great Rev. Gary Davis. According to Pat Donahue, “(Eric) has internalized Davis’ style to the point where he can improvise within that style and still have it come out his own.” 

Eric continues to record and tour and also has been a contributing writer for Fingerstyle Guitarmagazine, Acoustic Guitarmagazine and Fingerstyle Journal.

Touring

Eric has performed and taught globally in festivals and concert halls including:

-       International Guitar Meeting, Sarzana, Italy

-       Stamford Folk & Blues Guitar Festival, Stamford, England

-       Wirral International Guitar Festival, Liverpool, England

-       Ullapool Guitar Festival, Ullapool, Scotland

-       International Guitar Night, Germany

-       Acoustic Guitar Weekend, Boblingen, Germany

-       Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, California

-       Chet Atkins Appreciation Society, Nashville, TN

-       Guitar Night at the Woodstock Opera House, Woodstock, IL

-       Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL

-       S.P.A.C.E., Evanston, IL

-       New York Guitar Festival 

-       Michigan Fingerstyle Guitar Society

-       Schoenberg Guitars, Tiburon, California

-       Walnut Valley Festival, Winfield, Kansas

-       Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp, Maryville, Tennessee

Eric has shared the bill with performers such as:

-       Doc Watson

-       Taj Mahal

-       John Prine

-       David Bromberg

-       Leon Redbone

-       Pat Donohue

-       Duck Baker

-       Stephen Bennett

-       Preston Reed

Teaching

Eric currently teaches privately from his home in Evanston, IL. He developed and maintained the popular Fingerstyle Academy, an online collection of lessons put together from his years of teaching at the Old Town School. He has two books of transcriptions available for purchase: Black Key Blues and Fingerstyle Academy as well as single transcriptions of his music.