Seth Austen is a nationally recognized acoustic multi-instrumentalist, composing, playing, recording and teaching diverse styles from traditional Appalachian, Celtic and New England contradance music to eastern European Klezmer, Balkan, Nordic, bottleneck blues and jazz. Seth has been involved in many American roots styles for 30 years and plays a wide array of stringed instruments.
- mandolin family: mandolin, mandola, bouzouki (octave mandolin), mandocello
- acoustic six and twelve string, National resonator, fretless and tenor guitars
- Weissenborn acoustic lap steel guitar
- fiddle, octave violin
- 5 string banjo
- fretted dulcimer
- ukulele
- tsimbl (eastern-European hammered dulcimer)
- Hungarian tekero (eastern-European hurdy gurdy)
- didgeridoo
- pennywhistle, low whistle
- overtone flute
- frame drums: tar, bendir, riq
Seth has composed music for film documentaries, To Our Credit: Bootstrap Banking In America and the World, aired on PBS, and Farmer To Farmer: Strategies For Sustainable Agriculture (Rodale Institute) and various radio documentaries. You've likely heard Seth’s music between news segments on NPR’s Morning Edition. Seth's composition The Computer Is Down is the theme music for The Computer Guys, a monthly call-in show about computers on WAMU-FM in Washington D.C.
Two of Seth's compositions, Klezmer Polska and Blues for Hardingfele were selected by The Hardanger Fiddle Association of America (HFAA) for inclusion in the first AmerikaSlattar Concert at AmeriKappleik, held in Stoughton, WI, and Northfield, MN, July 22-27 2003.
Seth's composition, Windy Skies, was the Second Place Winner of the First Annual Fiddle Tune Composition Contest sponsored by the Nebraska Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. The winning compositions were performed at the Monumental Fiddling Championship, and will be printed in Stringing Along, the quarterly journal of the Nebraska Chapter of the American String Teachers Association.
Seth has produced and/or engineered, as well as played on over 30 recordings by other acoustic artists. Three of the recordings that Seth produced have received Indie Awards from the National Association of Independent Record Producers (NAIRD), and another recording won a bronze award from CMA 2000. Seth is available to produce a limited number of recording projects each year.
Seth has written two guitar books for Mel Bay Publications; Bottlenecking Blues and Beyond, and Fingerstyle Guitar Collection and is also featured in Mel Bay anthologies; Deluxe Anthology of O'Carolan, Fingerstyle 2000 and Mandolin 2000. Seth is currently writing more books for guitar and mandolin.
Seth has co-taught seminars with players including Martin Simpson, John Renbourn, Alex deGrassi, Ed Gerhard and Don Ross at the National Guitar Workshop in New Milford, CT since its' inception in 1984 and has also taught at various other workshops and festivals nationwide. Seth is a gifted music teacher with over 25 years experience and hundreds of satisfied students and will work with dedicated players of any level either individually or in groups.
In 1981, Seth was a triple winner at the prestigious Walnut Valley National Flatpicking Championships, Winfield, KS, placing in fingerstyle guitar, mandolin and fretted dulcimer categories. |