Q&A: Visiting Guitarist Brings Passion, Skill

Nobody taught Peppino D'Agostino how to play Italian pop or flamenco guitar. He taught himself as a teenager, and now he's among the world's best acoustic guitar players.

D'Agostino returns for at least the fifth time—he's lost count—to Mission Viejo's on Saturday at 7 p.m. Ticket are $25.

This year he's bringing drummer Jeff Campitelli, who is best known for his work with Joe Satriani. The two will bring drums and synthesizers into a typically guitar-focused show.

Mission Viejo Patch: What do you love about music?

Peppino D'Agostino: It takes me to a different place when I perform, when I play in my room, when I practice it takes me to a different place. When I reach my goal, my happy place, the audience comes into that place.

The artist has an obligation to try to reach that happy place. It’s like being in the one when you lose yourself and you’re no longer there. I believe in it. It takes away from the daily trouble and routine or worries.

Patch: What do you want a listener to take away from your songs?

D'Agostino: There’s no specific thing. My song can have one effect on one person and a different effect on another person.

Just yesterday I played and someone in the audience was crying. They were really affected by the emotional impact of the music. That made me feel good, because I reached someone’s soul. Someone else was smiling. That was a clue the music was effective.

It can also be cerebral. A mixture of the heart and the mind, I like to move them emotionally but also intrigue them intellectually.

Patch: Acoustic guitar is sometimes thought of as background music. But your music rewards a close listen.

D'Agostino: For Bob Dylan it was a background instrument. But the guitar is a polyphonic instrument, almost like a mini-orchaestra. So you hear melodies and bass and rhythms.

Patch: How is it playing with Campitelli?

D'Agostino: It works really well. I think people can hear both instruments clearly and it doesn’t play very loud, he’s complimentary of my music, and I'm complimentary of his music.

Patch: What are some recent highs and lows in your career?

D'Agostino: A recent high? Playing with Sergio Assad, a legend of the classical guitar. He just finished a tour with Yoyo Ma, he wrote all the music for Yoyo Ma. Also, I had a number-one song in Italy a few months ago: Rock musician Basco Rossi performed my song Stammi Vicino

For a low, I think that has to do with the business side of music. It has to do with agents and managers. I feel that sometimes we’re treated like objects. There’s no clear understanding of the human side. That’s discouraging.