Leo Kottke

The Dakota Presents Leo Kottke Venue Ordway Concert Hall View venue details Seating chart Duration 2 hours, 30 minutes with intermission December 5, 2026 Dec 5 2026 Saturday, 7:00 PM Wild, highly technical blend of bluegrass, folk, and jazz and classical. Recommended for fans of John Fahey, Ry Cooder, Michael Hedges, and Peter Lang Prolific guitarist Leo Kottke boasts an impressive body of work and an unrivaled fingerpicking style.

His forty-plus albums over four decades have earned him two Grammy nominations and widespread acclaim. Drawing inspiration from folk, blues, and jazz, he plays his signature six-string and twelve-string guitars with effortless aptitude, a big heart, and an even bigger grin.

Kottke was born in Athens, Georgia, but left town after a year and a half. Raised in twelve different states, he absorbed a variety of musical influences as a child.

There, he flirted with both violin and trombone, before abandoning Stravinsky for the guitar at age eleven. He added a love for the country blues of Mississippi John Hurt to the music of John Philip Sousa and Preston Epps.

Then, Kottke joined the Navy underage to be underwater, and eventually lost some hearing shooting at lightbulbs in the Atlantic. He served on the USS Halfbeak, a diesel submarine.

Discharged in 1964, he settled in the Twin Cities area and became a fixture at Minneapolis’ Scholar Coffeehouse, a venue previously home to Bob Dylan and John Koerner. Kottke has been awarded two Grammy nominations; a Doctorate in Music Performance by the Peck School of Music at the U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and a Certificate of Significant Achievement in Not Playing the Trombone from the U of Texas at Brownsville with Texas Southmost College.