Masterclass with guitarist Clive Carroll

Join us for a rare opportunity for a masterclass with incredible fingerstyle guitarist Clive Carroll, who joins us for the latest edition of Belfast Guitar Night. 

Clive Carroll was recently described by Total Guitar Magazine as “...arguably the most accomplished fingerstylist in the world today…” and like John, he is equally at home playing Mississippi Blues as he is playing the Elizabethan lute music of John Dowland.

Ahead of the performance on Friday evening which coincides with the release of Clive’s new album which features the music of John Renbourn, come learn from one of the world's finest guitarist, as Clive leads a one-off workshop. Click here for more information about the performance: We highly recommend early booking for what is set to be an incredible night of music.

Clive Carroll began his musical journey in Chelmsford, Essex.  His parents had a taste for American country and old time music and it wasn’t long before Clive was playing in the family band on a homemade banjo.  By his early teens, guitar in hand, Clive was traversing the worlds the soul, pop, funk and traditional Irish music, balancing his affinity for Slayer with the etudes of Tárrega.  This breadth of musical curiosity was to become one of his strengths; even as a child Clive was as comfortable accompanying a group of folk singers as he was jamming along to Nirvana or performing the Rodrigo Guitar Concerto.

Clive went on to earn a 1st Class Honours Degree in Composition and Guitar from the famed Trinity College of Music in London, all the while balancing his classical work with forays into the world of the steel string guitar.  By the time he graduated, Clive had not only penned orchestral works, he had a written an album’s worth of solo acoustic guitar music.  A chance meeting with English guitar legend John Renbourn proved the catalyst for Clive’s debut album, Sixth Sense, which Renbourn deemed “a milestone in the journey of the steel-string guitar”.  He subsequently took Clive on the road with him and the pair toured North America and Europe together, thus launching Clive’s solo performing career.

Since then, Clive has established himself as one of the world’s premier acoustic guitar players.  He has toured across Europe, Australia, the Middle East, North America, and East Asia garnering praise for his sublime performances of everything from 16th and 17th century lute music to Jazz standards, Blues, Irish reels and his own groundbreaking compositions.  Lauded guitarist Tommy Emmanuel has also taken Clive on the road with him and similar nods to Clive’s musicianship have been given by everyone from classical guitarist John Williams to Madonna.

In addition to Clive’s four solo albums - Sixth Sense, The Red Guitar (which Tommy Emmanuel cites as one of his desert island discs!), Life in Colour, and The Furthest Tree - Clive has written music for television and film.  He notably collaborated with John Renbourn on the score for the film Driving Lessons, starring Julie Walters and Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame.

In 2021 Total Guitar Magazine cited Clive as “...arguably the most accomplished fingerstylist in the world today...” - Total Guitar Magazine.