James Kerr

MPP
Guitar and Bluegrass Ensemble
Guitar and Bluegrass Ensemble

Dr. James Limerick Kerr is a resonator steel guitarist, classical guitarist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and educator based in the NYC/Connecticut area.

James completed a doctorate in classical guitar performance in 2016 at Stony Brook University (SUNY). He studied jazz as an undergrad at the University of Michigan, and received a master's in music education from Columbia University. James Limerick Kerr is a fountain of American musical influences and his solo performances incorporate gospel blues, bluegrass, and Delta blues, along with original compositions for the resonator steel guitar (Dobro).

Dr. Kerr is Associate in Music Performance faculty at Columbia University, where he teaches applied classical and bluegrass guitar and directs the Bluegrass Ensemble. He also teaches guitar at Naugatuck Valley Community College, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY), and Neighborhood Music School in his hometown of New Haven, CT. As a dedicated educator and private instructor Dr. Kerr possesses the ability to be equally at home in the worlds of slide and steel guitar, bluegrass Dobro, and classical guitar.

Dr. Kerr is the author of A Twenty-First Century Guidebook for Guitarists: Practice, Performance, and Teaching (Kendall Hunt), a textbook for college guitar students.

James has also studied Renaissance lute technique and repertory in lessons and masterclasses with the world's leading players including Nigel North and Jakob Lindberg. James taught himself the resonator steel guitar (Dobro) by listening to classic bluegrass recordings. He eventually enjoyed the honor of sitting in with his Dobro inspiration Jerry Douglas in 2018 onstage in Manhattan.

As a sideman or ensemble member James Limerick Kerr has performed at such New York area venues as Irving Plaza, The Knitting Factory, Gracie Mansion, Trinity Church, The Wetlands, Symphony Space, as well as the Juilliard School and Yale University. He has performed with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and festival performances have included the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, The Craftsbury Chamber Festival, The Long Island Guitar Festival, The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, and the Battery Park Summer Concert Series in

Manhattan.