Guitarists bring a Celtic Christmas

Two guitarists will take to the stage in Evans today in a third annual concert of Celtic Christmas classics.

Steve Baughman and Robin Bullock bring their Christmas tour to Evans with a 7:30 p.m. performance at the Meeting Center at the Center for Maxilofacial Surgery on North Belair Road. Tickets are $18 at the door.

Baughman, a San Francisco native, and Bullock, who was born in Washington, D.C., but now lives in a village near Paris, will perform a 90-to 120-minute concert of Celtic Christmas duets, said Lillie Morris, the owner of Broadstrokes Gallery, in Evans.

Morris, the producer of the concert, met the musicians through a Celtic music camp in Asheville, N.C. A Celtic musician herself, Morris said the musical form is gaining in popularity, particularly in the South.

She said that in the past there was a line south of Asheville that Celtic music did not cross but that things have changed in recent years.

Morris said she and other musicians have played host to well-known acts from other regions of the country, helping to spread the influence and popularity of the genre.

"We've started a circuit if you will," she said. "When these musicians come this far south, they know they have a host for them in the Augusta area."

A reception with refreshments will follow the concert, and CDs will be available for purchase.