On Monday night, Ames City Auditorium will be filled to its brim with a crowd so diverse, it would typically only be found at an awkward family reunion.

Decades’ worth of fans will fill the auditorium, as 61-year-old guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke, revered as a master of his craft, will grace the stage and play selections from his 24 full-length albums and more than a dozen other recordings.

Tickets can still be obtained by calling the Ames City Auditorium.

Thomas Neuerburg, sophomore in vocal music education, is a professionally trained musician who has been teaching himself guitar for four years. He looks forward to Kottke’s performance.

“Leo Kottke is the reason I first picked up the guitar,” Neuerburg said. “He’s also the main reason I’ve kept playing guitar.”

The feelings of Kottke’s place in music may not be universal, however. Several officers for the ISU Guitar Club said they had no knowledge of Kottke, and those who did didn’t express much interest in the concert.

Brian Marsh, junior in pre-advertising and vice president of the club, said he was familiar with Kottke, but he didn’t much care for his music.

“I can’t stand it,” he said.

But for listeners who are fond of Kottke, like Neuerburg, his upcoming performance will most likely be well-received.

Neuerburg said he will definitely be attending Monday’s concert and hopes the rest of the crowd shows up as excited as he will be. He said he thinks it’s important for guitarists to step out of their comfort zones and expose themselves to musicians like Kottke, even if it’s not what they would typically listen to.

In particular, Neuerburg finds Kottke’s concert would be a good experience for anybody interested in the modern history of guitar.

“Leo Kottke is almost single-handedly responsible for keeping the 12-string guitar alive during the ’70s and ’80s,” Neuerburg said. “After a short burst of popularity in the ’50s and ’60s, the 12-string guitar could easily have died off if Kottke hadn’t developed the instrument in such innovative ways.”