Lunar Prairie Sitar/Guitar Duo

Salem-based J.J. Gregg performs lyrical and highly emotive improvisations on sitar, while David Van Auken, a Portland-based fingerstyle guitarist, makes contemporary compositions that extract from early acoustic country-blues traditions. Their collaborative songwriting is gentle, playful, raucous, contemplative, placid, visionary, unpredictable, and captivating. From lullabies to blues, ragas to tunes, J.J. and David craft an immersive musical experience not to be missed.

About the musicians-

A dynamic yet meditative sitar player, J.J. Gregg performs improvised and pre-composed music.  With over a decade of hands-on training in India from guru Ustad Usman Khan of Pune, J.J. immerses western experimental and jazz music into the traditional world of the sitar.  He has performed on the sitar in India, Japan, Thailand, and throughout the U.S. 

David Van Auken is an Oregon-based guitarist and filmmaker who's studied early-American acoustic music for over a decade. His original compositions grasp at old traditions, conjuring the familiar while evoking landscapes for the future. David has performed in venues throughout the Portland, Oregon area and beyond.   His music has been featured on radio programs around the globe, including  NPR WBUR Boston, WVKR New York, KEXP Seattle, and more!