Performing Arts

Paco Strickland’s Passion For Flamenco

Impassioned and possessing strong rhythmic undertones define both flamenco music and Wilmington NC’s musician, William “Paco” Strickland.

So it is no wonder that "Paco" is an accomplished master of the music originating from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. And while his career path, of over 40 years has taken him along the rhythmic roads of rock and roll to country and western, it is flamenco which he continually offers to area audiences through both live performances and his Sunday morning radio show “FLAMECO CAFÉ” on WUIN-106.7FM (The Penguin).

Strickland, an Ohio native, came to the Cape Fear region in his mid 30’s, tired of the road. He had had his fill of touring and playing biker bars where protective chicken wire across the bandstand was a necessary accessory.

“99.9% of the money I have earned in my life, I have earned with my guitar,” he proudly states. Being a rocker and an occasional band member of the touring “Hee Haw” entourage with notables like Chet Atkins had filled his personal coffers. Yet he harbored a secret desire for flamenco ever since his father had introduced him, in his childhood, to the genre at a concert at Kenyon College.

“I could not believe the notes that were being played,” he recalls. Now when playing the technically difficult music he strives to do the same thing. Make the music memorable.

His radio show, the nation’s only regularly broadcast program dedicated to flamenco, also effortlessly educates listeners to the differences between soleares, bulerías and rasgueado.

He delights in his personal ongoing journey with flamenco. Realizing his trek with the electric guitar had its limitations he is enthusiastic over the depths of knowledge he can still acquire with flamenco. “I can be 70 years old, and still be learning!”

Regularly he views such websites as YouTube.com for insights from other musicians from places like Russia and South Africa.

Besides his radio show, syndicated across the Continental US and to the Hawaiian Islands, and a regular Sunday Brunch gig at downtown Wilmington’s Deluxe Restaurant, Strickland also appears at local schools and area festivals and especially enjoys introducing flamenco to children. He acknowledges its “compass” is a weird beat for most, but a big thrill occurs when some young person seeks him out, post concert, and says “You came to my class in 4th grade and I remembered the music.”

So are born - a new generation of flamenco fans in the Cape Fear area.

story by Linda J. Bottjer, image courtesy of Brownie Harris

added: June 23, 2009

updated: June 29, 2009