Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke was born on September 11, 1945, in Athens, Georgia. His childhood involved frequent relocations, leading him to grow up in 12 different states. While living in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he developed an early interest in folk and Delta blues music, particularly influenced by Mississippi John Hurt. Kottke initially learned to play the trombone and violin before shifting his focus to the guitar, where he cultivated a unique picking style. A childhood incident resulted in partial hearing loss in his left ear due to a firecracker, a condition further impacted by noise exposure during his service in the United States Navy Reserve.

Kottke attended the University of Missouri for two semesters and later St. Cloud State College in Minnesota. He left college to hitchhike and busk, eventually settling in the Twin Cities. In the autumn of 1966, he became a regular performer at the Scholar Coffeehouse in Minneapolis. His debut album, “12-String Blues,” was released in 1969 on the independent Oblivion record label. Later that year, he recorded “6- and 12-String Guitar” for John Fahey’s Takoma Records. This album, also known as the “Armadillo album,” became a foundational work and has been re-released multiple times. In 1971, Capitol Records released Kottke’s first major-label record, “Mudlark.”

Throughout the 1970s, Kottke continued to record albums, including “Greenhouse” (1972), “My Feet Are Smiling” (1973), “Ice Water” (1973), and “Chewing Pine” (1975). During this period, he gained an international following through his folk festival performances. In the early 1980s, Kottke experienced tendinitis and nerve damage in his right hand, prompting a change in his playing technique to a classical style, utilizing fingertips over fingerpicks. This period also marked a shift from major labels to Private Music, a new-age music label, with albums like “A Shout Toward Noon” (1986). His later career included collaborations such as “Clone” (2002), “Sixty Six Steps” (2005), and “Noon” (2020) with Phish bassist Mike Gordon, along with numerous solo albums like “One Guitar, No Vocals” (1999) and “Try and Stop Me” (2004). In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in music performance from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.