with Special Guests Jim and Morning Nichols

Saturday, June 15, 2024
7:30 PM

On this evening, Pacifica Performances is presenting a special performance with singer/songwriter Liz Watkins, and fingerstyle guitarist Jerome Malaval. They will be joined onstage by Jim Nichols on guitar, and vocalist Morning Nichols.

Born in Indiana and raised in Delaware, Liz has been writing songs since the age of 12. After dabbling on the piano and behind her brother’s drum set, she found the guitar to be the natural choice of instrument to develop her singing and songwriting skills. As a self-taught guitarist, she has begged, stolen, and borrowed guitar playing techniques from James Taylor, Jobim, and Chet Atkins while the range of her singing and songwriting influences includes Billy Joel, Burt Bacharach, Vince Gill, Stevie Wonder and Brandon Flowers.

She has toured extensively across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia, collecting musical inspiration along the way. Her repertoire includes bossa nova, jazz, country, pop, motown and anything else that she might add to the setlist at the last second.

When you talk about a “French guitarist,” you don’t immediately think of Nashville’s Chet Atkins or Jerry Reed. But Jerome Malaval, an accomplished guitarist who has mastered the intricate fingerpicking style of those American greats, is clearly a disciple of the Tennessee titan of the frets.

“I’m not from a musical family,” says Malaval, with an unmistakable country twang in his unusual accent. One of my brothers bought a recording of Chet Atkins and I was stricken by the way he played the guitar. I thought. that’s what I want to do.”

“It’s always challenging to do it as good as he did,” said Malaval of the unique sound created by Atkins. “Then you want to add something of yourself, something different.” – Excerpted from Jerome’s interview with Pacifica journalist Chris Hunter