Clive Carroll at Longstaff House

Clive Carroll’s unique tone, versatility, and unmistakeable voice as a composer, have seen him become one of the world’s premier acoustic guitar players and “…arguably the most accomplished fingerstylist in the world today…” (Total Guitar Magazine).

Clive made his musical debut at age two as a banjo-strumming cowboy singing nursery rhymes.

His parents had a passion for Irish, American country, and old-time music, and it wasn’t long before he was playing in the family band on a homemade banjo.

By his early teens, guitar in hand, Clive was traversing the worlds of soul, pop, funk and traditional Irish music, balancing his affinity for Slayer with the etudes of Tárrega.

This breadth of musical curiosity was to become one of his strengths; even as a child Clive was as comfortable accompanying a group of folk singers as he was jamming along to Nirvana or performing on banjo and guitar in the orchestral pits for musicals.

Clive went on to earn a 1st Class Honours Degree in Composition and Guitar from the famed Trinity College of Music in London, all the while balancing his classical work with forays into the world of the steel-string guitar.

By the time he graduated from Trinity, Clive had not only penned orchestral works, he had a written an album’s worth of solo acoustic guitar music.

A chance meeting with English guitar legend John Renbourn proved the catalyst for Clive’s debut album, “Sixth Sense,” which Renbourn deemed “a milestone in the journey of the steel-string guitar.”

He subsequently took Clive on the road with him and the pair toured North America and Europe together, launching Clive’s solo performing career.

Tours across Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East, and China, have seen Clive garner praise for his breathtaking, genre-bending live performances.

Lauded guitarist Tommy Emmanuel has brought Clive on tour across three continents, and he also appears on Emmanuel’s album “Accomplice One,” flanked on the track listing by the likes of Rodney Crowell and Mark Knopfler.

Clive has also toured and collaborated with guitar greats such as John Williams, D’Gary, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Xuefei Yang, and Ralph Towner.

In addition to Clive’s four solo albums—“Sixth Sense,” “The Red Guitar” (which Tommy Emmanuel cites as one of his desert island discs), “Life in Colour,” and “The Furthest Tree”—he has written music for television and film.

He notably collaborated with John Renbourn to score the film “Driving Lessons,” which features Julie Walters and Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame.

2023 saw the release of monumental project, “The Abbot – Clive Carroll plays the music of John Renbourn,” a double-album of solo works alongside ensemble interpretations, featuring 21 guest musicians and a medieval ensemble.

“The Abbot” was described by Now Spinning Magazine as “…a gateway to a world of intricate, melodic, and beautiful music. It’s akin to having someone paint vibrant tapestries in your living room—a rich, immersive experience.”

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