Dear Friends,

This project may be the most meaningful initiative TrueFire has ever participated in and we urgently need your help. We're so proud to call Pete a friend but this is so much larger than that; Pete has contributed so much to the world of music and to the community of guitar and this is our opportunity to ensure that he continues to do so. In fact, this is our opportunity to stand together, pool our collective resources, and literally save this man's life. There's no one more deserving than Pete.

I urge you to buy as many of these CDs as your budget and heart allows; gift them to family, gift them to friends, gift them to co-workers, gift them to schools - let's spread our love together. Please read project-compiler Trashton Porter's notes below and sample the tracks contributed by fellow artists.

- Brad Wendkos, Founder of TrueFire, on behalf of everyone at TrueFire and all the artists we are privileged to work with.

Audio Samples

Click below to listen to tracks

About This Project

A Note from Trashton Porter

In July of 2011, I was interested in writing lyrics to an instrumental song by Pete Huttlinger. I went to his web site to see if I could find out the story behind the title of the song. It was there that I read Pete's blog and discovered the issues with his health. A congenital heart problem from birth has lead to complications.

I wanted to make a donation to Mr. Huttlinger & his family. However, I am the typical starving musician and had no money available to donate. It was then that I seemed to just know what I needed to do. My good friend and world- class guitarist, Iker Cedeno, attended Pete's alma mater, Berklee College of Music in Boston. Iker knows many of Pete's original songs. I approached him to see if he was interested in recording some Pete Huttlinger covers. He already had recorded several PH covers over the years. I wanted to add lyrics to one or two of Pete's instrumentals. We would then place these songs for sale on I-Tunes, Amazon and others. Proceeds would then go to Pete and his family to assist them in this difficult time.

I figured these efforts may not bring in much money to the Huttlinger's, but it was the best that I could do with just Iker and me in the project.

I have made friends with over 1,140 of the best fingerstyle guitar players in the world on Facebook. I started to chat with folks like Don Alder, Richard Smith, Michael Chapdelaine, Adam Rafferty and many others. I started a 'secret' group on Facebook, titled "Pete Huttlinger Benefit Recordings". I started adding individuals to the group as they expressed interest in making an album with ALL proceeds going to Pete & his family. This group consists only of world-class players and their agents, as well as, a few select others.

One issue with having artists like Tommy Emmanuel, and Richard Smith ( U.S. Fingerstyle Champion ) included in this project is their touring schedule. Many artists can not contribute to this project until sometime this December.

I knew fairly quickly that I was in this project way over my head. I had conversation with several agents, recording moguls, CEO's of large labels and others. I was very lucky to make friends with Betsy Alexander. She brought Muriel Anderson, Phil Keaggy, Keegan McClellan, and Carl Verheyen into the group. She has coached me through this project and been a wonderful help. It was Betsy who put me in touch Mr. Michael Molenda, Editor- In- Chief of Guitar Player Magazine. Michael has pledged to give this project his full attention.

'For Pete's Sake' compilation #1, is now for sale on iTunes for only $11.99! You may click here to preview the songs and purchase the digital download now! Information regarding the purchase of this compilation as a CD will be available shortly.

For those who would like to donate to Pete and his family, you may go to petehuttlinger.com and make a donation. All donations are greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions or comments, you may contact me at: trashtonporter@yahoo.com

- Trashton Porter

About the artists

A veritable all-star roster

Don Alder - 2007 International Fingerstyle Champion. Don contributed the song titled "For Pete's Sake".

Muriel Anderson - Muriel contributed "View From Space". This song went up on the space shuttle Discovery.

Michael Chapdelaine - Professor Mike teaches guitar at The University Of New Mexico. Michael,studied under Andres Segovia.

Phil Keaggy - Over 50 albums released and been voted one of the top three fingerstyle players in the world by Guitar Player magazine readers poll.

Sungha Jung - Born on September 2, 1996. Sungha has over 330 million Youtube plays, & over 500,000 subscribers.

Antoine Dufour - One of the very best Fingerstyle guitar players in the world. Has 5 albums to date & is part of the Candyrat label.

Bryan Rason - An upcoming player from Canada. Bryan has just released his debut album, "Follow Your Bliss".

Ben Powell - One of the very best DADGAD players in the world. His new album,"Preliminaries" is riveting.

Don Ross - The only artist to ever win twice the U.S. National Fingerstyle Competition. A true legend! Don, is on the Candyrat label.

Jack Pearson - Jack is a former member of The Allman Brothers Band. He has played with Vince Gill, Amy Grant and countless others

Iker Cedeno - A graduate from Berklee College Of Music. Iker is on the fast track to being one of the best players in the world.

Keith Miller - Keith is an amazing guitarist, arranger, and composer, who brings his thoughts and feelings to life, through his guitar.

Gareth Pearson - A Welsh guitar phenom, praised by his peers such as Tommy Emmanuel. Gareth also appears on the Candyrat Label.

Trashton Porter - A singer/songwriter who specializes in writing lyrics & performing vocals to instrumental fingerstyle compositions.

Al Petteway - Grammy Award- wining guitarist. Can be heard on over 75 recordings.

Keegan McClellan - This 21 year old was selected by Lee Ritenour to compete in the prestigious 2011 Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition...

Mark Kroos - winner of a contest sponsored by Guitar Player Magazine. This young man is totally an awesome player.

Carl Verheyen - "One of the top 10 guitar players in the world"-Guitar Magazine