From Fingerpickers in Africa to Strings Across Continents.
Before the global platform, there was a school, a circle of guitarists, and a belief that musicians deserved to meet, learn from, and create with one another.
Where it began
Founded in Rwanda. Built together.
In 2019, guitarist Deo Salvator founded Fingerpickers in Africa (FIA) to connect African fingerstyle guitarists and open doors to learning, performances, and artistic exchange. Among the early members who joined were Pappy Israel (Rwanda), Kevin Munyi (Kenya), and Nganji Arnaud (Rwanda).
Salvator also opened a guitar school and invited fellow musicians, including Nganji Arnaud, to teach alongside him. Teaching was not an afterthought: it was one of the ways the community became real. Friends gave their time, shared skills, and helped create opportunities for younger and emerging players.
2025–2026 · The Nashville chapter
New home. Same commitment.
In 2025, founder Deo Salvator moved from Rwanda to Nashville, Tennessee. Living thousands of miles from the community he helped build did not mean abandoning the connections, teaching opportunities, and collaborations created through Fingerpickers in Africa.
The move brought a broader question: if musicians could connect across African countries, why should the work stop at the continent’s borders? Strings Across Continents emerged in 2026 as the next chapter — rooted in Africa, open to stringed-instrument traditions worldwide, and dedicated to making collaborations happen wherever musicians live.
The location changed. The commitment remained. Music was never about one region.
2019
Fingerpickers in Africa begins
A Rwanda-founded network grows around fingerstyle guitar, peer support, and access to education.
Early years
A school and a teaching community
Deo Salvator opens a guitar school and invites friends including Nganji Arnaud to teach. Early members and supporters help FIA reach across African borders.
2020
An online festival connects players
FIA organizes an online festival as the pandemic restricts physical gatherings. Its digital community and Guitar.com connections help musicians share their work internationally.
2020 onward
Access to mentors and guitar camps
Thomas Leeb makes it possible for FIA members to attend his camp online without tuition, encounter their guitar heroes, and build connections with artists in Europe.
Workshops and exchange
Learning reaches Kigali and Burkina Faso
FIA organizes free guitar workshops in Kigali, Rwanda, and Burkina Faso, extending education beyond its original school.
2023
Meeting in Austria
Thomas Leeb welcomes founder Deo Salvator to his guitar camp in Austria with tuition waived, extending a relationship that began through online access.
2025
Fingerpickers in Africa Festival
The festival continues as an in-person platform for musicians and audiences. The full artist lineup will be added from archived official festival materials.
2026
Another festival chapter
FIA presents its 2026 festival program. Its website advertised a March 11–14 edition at Institut Français du Rwanda in Kigali. A complete verified lineup will be added to the festival archive.
Recent connections
Sharing knowledge across distance
Tommy Emmanuel joins a call with a group of guitarists in Africa, greeting them and sharing musical ideas and demonstrations — a simple example of the direct connections FIA was created to make possible.
2026 · From Nashville
A wider mission takes shape
After moving to Nashville in 2025, Deo Salvator expands the connection-building mission of Fingerpickers in Africa into Strings Across Continents. The work continues beyond any one region.
Next chapter
Strings Across Continents
The work expands beyond guitar and beyond Africa: initiating and activating collaborations among guitarists and players of stringed instruments around the world. FIA remains the founding community and African program.
Photo archive · The people and the music
The community in pictures
These photographs document musicians meeting, performing and learning together. They belong to the history of Fingerpickers in Africa and the relationships that continue through Strings Across Continents.
Guitarists meeting and sharing music.An expanded gathering of the guitar community.
2020 · Digital connections
From our online concert series to international guitar events
Fingerpickers in Africa online concerts · May 6–10, 2020
During the COVID-19 restrictions, Fingerpickers in Africa organized a livestreamed concert series on Instagram. The published schedule featured Godwyn and Ricky Lace, Deo Salvator and Nganji Arnaud, Pappy Israel, James Yoyo and Josué Bananjos. This was a Fingerpickers in Africa event.
Thomas Leeb Acoustic Bootcamp · 2020
Thomas Leeb opened access to his online acoustic guitar camp for members and friends of the community. A contemporary FIA Instagram post documented Deo Salvator and Josué Bananjos alongside friends Godwyn and Ricky Lace participating in three weeks of online masterclasses. The post thanked Thomas and named instructors including Don Ross, Petteri Sariola, Pino Forastiere, Mike Dawes, Newton Faulkner, and Thomas Leeb. The screenshot below preserves that announcement and a view of a group session. These artists were bootcamp instructors or participants in the wider event, not all direct FIA collaborators.
Guitar.com Live · October 2–4, 2020
FIA musicians including Deo Salvator, Nganji Arnaud, Godwyn, Ricky Lace and Josué Bananjos appear on the supplied Guitar.com Live lineup graphic. The wider virtual festival also featured artists such as Carlos Santana, St. Vincent, Joe Bonamassa, John Petrucci, Jason Isbell, Mark Tremonti, Mateus Asato, Martin Simpson, John McLaughlin and many others. Their appearance on the same event program does not imply they performed together or formally partnered with FIA.
Archived FIA Instagram post describing bootcamp participation and named masterclass instructors.A Thomas Leeb online camp session, documented by a participant screenshot.Guitar.com Live 2020 lineup graphic. This is the overall event lineup, not a list of FIA partners.
The people behind the journey
Built through friendship and generosity.
We recognize the early members and the musicians who offered support, teaching, connections, and encouragement. Their roles differed, and this acknowledgment does not imply that everyone held an official position.
Early members
The first community
Pappy Israel · Rwanda Kevin Munyi · Kenya Nganji Arnaud · Rwanda
François Sciortino · France Thomas Leeb · Austria Thilo Mutter · Czech Republic Tommy Emmanuel · Australia
With special gratitude to Thomas Leeb: since 2020, he has opened his camp online to FIA members without tuition, helping them connect with their heroes and the wider guitar community. In 2023, he also welcomed Deo Salvator to the camp in Austria with tuition waived.
And to Tommy Emmanuel: thank you for taking time to join a call with players back in Africa, say hello, and share a few musical ideas.
Quick links · Brand resources
Our visual identity
Read the official identity guide for our symbol, colors, typography, heritage and logo use.
We do more than connect names. We start collaborations.
Strings Across Continents builds on FIA's school, workshops, festivals, and mentorships. Our focus now is to bring guitarists and other stringed-instrument players together to compose, learn, record, tour, teach, and create across traditions and borders.
Fingerpickers in Africa is not erased. It is where this story began — and an ongoing part of what comes next.
