TALENTED Newcastle guitarist Kevin O'Hara has taken a new direction from blues and rock to so-called 'boom chick'.
He describes boom chick as 100% instrumental Chet Atkins style finger picking.
'I do arrangements of music from the 1920s onwards, the type of music our grandmothers used to play I suppose,' he said.
O'Hara is well known in Newcastle for his solo acoustic blues-rock performances.
He has also met with surprising success in Austria with a seven-piece cabaret band named Spartzen Express. In the same country he released three albums with rock and blues outfit Big Red. O'Hara said he was moving away from pubs and more into the club scene and the corporate world, where his melodic finger-picking was more suited.
'I still play the rock and blues stuff in pubs,' he said.
'I love it but as I get more experienced I am looking for new challenges.'
And boom chick provides that challenge, with the musician playing bass line, melody and rhythm at the same time.
O'Hara is looking forward to going back to Europe, predominantly Austria, Holland and Germany, in July.
'You have an edge being foreign over there ... they seem to listen more to what you have to say,' he said.
He will travel with his wife Gabriele, who originates from Austria, and their daughter Pearl.
On Saturday he will play at The Cricketers Arms, Myall Shores on Sunday, Hotel Delany on Wednesday, April 18 and Wests Leagues Club on April 21.
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