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Finger pickin' good

Doug Cox and Todd Butler team up for guitar show in Nanaimo
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Doug Cox performs with Todd Butler at Headliners in August.

Doug Cox still finds himself offering a bit of an introduction when he steps on stage.

The musician’s favourite instrument is the dobro, a resonator guitar identified by the large, circular metal hub on the face. It’s popular with the blues style that Cox plays.

He said it’s the most sensual instrument he’s found, in the way it mimics the human voice.

“You can pretty much make any sound on it that you can with the human voice,” he said. “It’s getting more and more popular.”

Cox plays the dobro, along with his guitar and mandolin, with his friend and fellow musician Todd Butler at Headliners on Aug. 17.

Cox, who’s been playing guitar since he was just eight years old, heard the dobro for the first time in a club in Victoria where Jerry Douglas was performing that night.

Cox put down his bottle-neck slide guitar and picked up a dobro.

“There just happened to be one in a nearby music store,” he said.

It’s a rare concert appearance for Cox, who’s been touring the U.S. and Europe with Betty Soo for the past eight months.

But he’s back home, having produced the latest Vancouver Island MusicFest, and is now working on two new albums. The first is inspired by a luthier and collector of guitars – each piece of music is written for a different guitar – and the second is of Cox’s original blues music.

Joining Cox at the Headliners concert is Butler, most widely known for his satirical songs on CBC radio and television. But Cox, whose known Butler for more than 30 years and played with him for 20, said Butler likes the opportunity to simply play music.

“He likes the opportunity to play,” Cox said. “He’s a great guitarist.”

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Tickets $20/advance from Arbutus Music, Fascinating Rhythm and Headliners; $25/door. Please call 250-753-2323.

arts@nanaimobulletin.com