Nat Hulskamp
I have been using the Pure Classic on my flamenco guitar for 19 years now. Over the years I have tried many pickups and none compare to the natural sound of the K&K systems. It is the true sound of the guitar, with a full and warm low end (nearly always lacking in other pickups), and without any of the brittle sound that many pickups have. As a nylon string player, it was a challenge to get the volume high enough in certain situations (for example, balanced with percussion or electric instruments, loud crowds or ambient noise). The Pure Classic was the solution for this, without sacrificing tone. I cannot recommend K&K pickups highly enough!
Nat Hulskamp was born in Portland, OR. He began studying guitar with guitarist/composer Paul Chasman at age seventeen. He was soon introduced to flamenco guitar by Jose Solano. His interest in the influence of Arabic music on flamenco led him to study oud in Morocco. After returning to the US, he moved to Seattle to study ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. There he worked with the groups Carmona Flamenco, The Rez Quartet and others ranging in style from Iraqi maqam and Ottoman classical music to flamenco. In 2000 he co-founded the Vancouver, BC based Arabic/ flamenco group Aire with Syrian ney player and singer Emad Armoush.
In 2004 he moved to Portland and formed the group Shabava with kamancheh/sehtar/violinist and singer Bobak Salehi and the trio Caminhos Cruzados with jazz guitarist Dan Balmer and Ghanaian percussion virtuoso Israel Annoh. Nat has studied with the top flamenco guitarists of today including, Diego del Morao, Manuel Parrilla, Pepe del Morao, José Antonio Rodriguez, Jesús Guerrero, Dani de Morón and Antonio Rey. In 2012 Nat received a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council to travel to Jerez de la Frontera, Spain to continue studying flamenco guitar with the Morao family, and was honored by the family with the guitar of the late-great Moraito Chico. Nat is the co-founder of Seffarine, a flamenco-Arabic fusion group he leads with his wife, Moroccan vocalist Lamiae Naki. He has recorded in Spain with living legends of flamenco including Diego del Morao, La Macanita, Luís de Perikín and LaBejazz among others, and has performed with José Antonio Rodríguez, Santiago Lara and Antonio Rey during their US tours. He now resides in Portland, teaching flamenco guitar and oud at Reed College and composing and performing with Caminhos Cruzados and Seffarine.
