Classical guitarist Alan Mearns is playing his way across the United States and stopping in Southern Oregon to showcase his many musical talents.

With his latest album, “Sei Solo: Works by J.S. Bach,” as well as his folk music tunes and other songs, Mearns brings variety and virtuosity to the stage.

The trip to Oregon will be a first for the artist, who was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“I’ve actually never been to Oregon before,” he said. “I’m really excited; it’s nice to be in a cool, new place, and I love America’s vast beauty and topography.”

The Guitar Society of Southern Oregon and Britt Education & Engagement will present Mearns to Rogue Valley audiences with a concert from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8 at the Southern Oregon University Recital Hall, located at 450 S. Mountain Ave. in Ashland.

Tickets cost $30 per person or free for SOU students who present their school ID.

Tickets can be purchased online at eventbrite.com.

Mearns’ concert will include many of the songs from “Sei Solo,” his 2022 album based on the works of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and arranged and transcribed for classical guitar, which landed at No. 8 on the Billboard Classical charts.

“I’m also playing some pieces by (Frédéric) Chopin, then playing some Spanish music and my own music,” Mearns said.

The Northern Irish musician had an instrument in hand as early as the age of five, learning the violin until switching to guitar at age 10.

“Since I was a kid, my earliest memories were listening to Buddy Holly and ‘Peggy Sue,’” Mearns said. “I’ve always, since I was a kid, gone back and forth with pop music and classical music; it’s been a bit of strange flux.”

Experiencing adolescence in the 1980s and 1990s, Mearns was influenced by the popular rock and heavy metal artists in the mainstream such as Steve Vai, which led the budding musician into the world of classical composers.

“I had this taste for the sheer beauty of these high-level harmonies,” he said of classical music.

Moving to the United States in his late teens, Mearns continued his passion for guitar and classical music, with Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Bach and more.

“I had just moved to America and my parents took me to a guitar store, and I picked out a book of Bach pieces and just started learning them,” he said.

Mearns’ passion for the six strings and classical music led him to Appalachian State University to study classical guitar performance under classical guitar master Douglas James. After graduating, he continued his education at Austin Peay State University and learned from prominent guitar maestro Stanley Yates.

Since then, Mearns has played his tunes across the globe from Dublin, Ireland to Washington D.C.

“I love traveling and seeing new places; I love being in the moment in concert and manipulating time and space, and I hope to bring something for the audience,” he said.

Outside of his classical guitar work, Mearns writes original tunes and performs as alternative folk act Yes The Raven, works as a studio musician, composes new music and more.

The classical guitarist has a new project, “Lorca,” set to release in the spring of 2025.

The album will be brimming with Spanish classical music as well original tunes from Mearns.

To learn more about him and his music, visit alanmearns.com.

To learn more about the Guitar Society of Southern Oregon, visit guitarsocietyso.org.

For more information on Britt Education & Engagement, visit brittfest.org/education.