Musings

Top 50 Hardest Working Guitarists – Part 5

And the final 10 are in! Rounding out our tribute to TrueFire educators, here’s our list of the Top 50 Hardest Working Guitarists in no particular order. Drumroll, please…

Mark Egan

Mark Egan is considered to be one of the most respected and in-demand electric bassists on the music scene today. His unique fretless bass sound and style is both distinctive and versatile and his musical contributions incomparable. With three platinum & three gold albums to his credit, Mark has recorded with the likes of the Pat Metheny Group, Sting, Arcadia, Roger Daltry and Joan Osborne; performed with the Gil Evans Orchestra, Marianne Faithful, David Sanborn, John McGlaughlin and Sophie B. Hawkins and has added his musical prowess to such movies and television shows as; Aladdin, The Color Of Money, A Chorus Line, NBC Sports, ABC’s All My Children, CNN/Headline News and numerous award winning television commercials. Mark not only continues his recording and touring efforts which recently included studio performances with Joan Osborne, Michael Franks, Rory Block, Marianne Faithful, and tours with; Elements, Bill Evans and Marianne Faithful, but his passion and visionary approach to contemporary jazz music has led him to the creation of his independent record label, Wavetone Records. He brings his twenty years of performing, recording and producing experience to this new label, dedicated to providing an outlet for creative music projects. To-date Wavetone has released to critical appraise four albums; Elements, Far East Volume I and II, Elements Untold Stories, Egan’s, Mosaic Joe Beck, Finger Painting and the most recent release, Jeff Ciampa, Signs of Life. In addition, Mark has realized his dream with the completion of is own state-of-the-art recording studio, Electric Fields, designed by the highly acclaimed acoustical architect John Storyk. Electric Fields is equipped with a 40-track digital recording system and an array of vintage sound processing gear. Projects already in production include Mark’s solo project, guitarist Jeff Ciampa Trio and Element’s long awaited studio album. Mark continues to explore new sound territories through his extraordinary recording, composing and touring activities. His successful efforts as a musician, producer and label manager keep him on the forefront of the contemporary music scene.

Learn with Mark’s awesome interactive audio guitar lessons.
Check out Mark’s official website – www.MarkEgan.com

Josh Workman
Josh Workman began playing guitar at age 10 and by the tender age of 13 was already out performing in the smoke-filled bars of San Francisco’s infamous North Beach. While still underage, he spent many nights hiding out in the back rooms of these clubs, as the venue owners tried to conceal him from the beat cops patrolling the area. At times, Josh’s school teachers would come watch him perform into the wee-hours, always wondering if he would be too tired to make it to class the next morning. Through his high school years, Josh attended the School of the Arts during the day, all the while continuing to perform and record at night and on weekends. Some of his earliest guitar teachers included Ray Scott, Tuck Andress (Tuck & Patti), Dave Creamer and Bruce Foreman. After a year at Berklee School of Music in Boston, at age 19 Josh left to finish his studies at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. This is where he fully immersed himself in learning to play jazz guitar. His mentors there included Gene Bertoncini, Jim Hall and Vic Juris. Thanks to pianist Armen Donelian, Josh began transcribing the music of John Abercrombie for German publisher, Advance Music. This led to a 5-year stint as house transcriber for Warner Bros., Hal Leonard and other publishers. Also during this time, he recorded and performed with artists such as world music ensemble D’Vash, The Jazz Passengers (featuring Deborah Harry of Blondie) and offshoots of the Groove Collective. Soon after his return to the Bay Area in 1995, Josh joined the renowned jump-swing band, Indigo Swing. It was during this period that he honed in on the jump-blues and early guitar styles of T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Tiny Grimes. Besides his work as a bandleader, Josh continues to be in-demand as a sideman; he performs with actress/vocalist Lynda Carter, vocalist Connie Evingson, pianist Larry Vuckovich (which includes previous appearances at the Monterey and San Francisco Jazz Festivals), vocalist Kim Nalley and several other ensembles. In addition to his busy performance schedule, Josh writes for Guitar Player Magazine.

Listen to Josh’s killer audio guitar lessons.
Check out Josh’s official website – www.JoshWorkman.com

Andy Ellis
Andy Ellis grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, and Paris, France, where he started studying classical guitar. While living in Bonn, Germany, Ellis discovered electric guitar and formed his first band, the Abstracts. The young teen played “beat shows” alongside older German bands in the mid ’60s, and this experience pushed him into the abyss of rock & roll. After studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Ellis joined the ranks of professional musicians, playing and teaching guitar in both the U.S. and Europe. In the late ’70s, he took up the Chapman Stick, studying with its maestro and inventor, Emmett Chapman. Ellis’ Stick playing led to a profile on NPR’s Morning Edition and opened the door to studio work (he played the Stick solo on Amy Grant’s Grammy-winning song, “Angels”). Ellis joined Keyboard magazine as a staff editor in 1988; two years later he jumped ship to its sister publication, Guitar Player, where he worked for more than 15 years. At Guitar Player, Ellis interviewed many greats, including Carlos Santana, Tony Rice, B.B. King and Mark Knopfler. Ellis’ interviews and articles have also been published in Guitar World Acoustic, Acoustic Guitar, Frets and Fretboard Journal, and his lessons appear in How to Play Blues Guitar, How to Play Rock Guitar, Guitar Player Sessions and other instructional books. Currently, Ellis lives in Nashville, where he accompanies singer-songwriters on baritone guitar and works as a freelance audio and video editor in addition to being writer and host of THE GUITAR SHOW WITH ANDY ELLIS.

Listen to Andy’s audio guitar lessons – 25 Blues Licks You MUST Know
Check out Andy’s official website – www.TheGuitarShow.com

Jesse Gress
Jesse Gress tours and records with Todd Rundgren and the Grammy®- nominated Tony Levin Band. A respected performer, music educator, and former music editor of Guitar Player, Jesse has hundreds of transcription folios and magazine articles to his credit, as well as five acclaimed reference books: Guitar Licks of the Texas Blues-Rock Heroes, GuitaRevolution – Lessons from the Groundbreakers & Innovators, The Guitar Cookbook, Guitar Lick Factory, and Guitar Licks of the Brit-Rock Heroes. He currently creates content for Guitar Player and Line 6′s GuitarPort.

Check out Jesse’s instructional book – Guitar Lick Factory
Check out Jesse’s official website: www.JesseGress.com

Adam Levy
For over 20 years, Adam Levy has been unlocking the guitar for students of all levels and varied interests. His teaching experience comprises several years with the National Guitar Workshop, the Blue Bear School in San Francisco, and private lessons for New School in New York City. He is the author of ‘Play the Right Stuff’ (book & DVD) and many of his lessons have been published in Guitar Player and Acoustic Guitar magazines. He was the featured guitarist in Norah Jones’ Handsome Band for seven years. His playing can also be heard on recordings by Amos Lee, Tracy Chapman. Adam Levy now offers guitar lessons worldwide. One-on-one sessions are available to students in the New York area and Southern California. (Levy divides his time bicoastally.) Online video lessons are available via Skype or iChat. Learn guitar basics, improvisation, chord theory, and ultimately develop the understanding and awareness to take the guitar in any direction you can imagine.

Learn with Adam’s interactive audio guitar lessons.
Check out Adam’s official website – www.AdamLevy.com

Jim Campilongo
Billboard Magazine calls Jim Campilongo, “an American treasure”, an accolade this guitarist’s artistry and influential career has richly earned him. With seven albums of original material and guest appearances on dozens of recordings; from the Bammie-winner’s contribution on Cake’s million-selling “Prolonging the Magic” to (most recently) doing lead guitar duties with The Little Willies, his band with Norah Jones, Campilongo’s virtuosity and originality has inspired a generation of guitar players. His songwriting uses a palette of the best in Blues, Country, Jazz and Rock with a sensitivity and wit that has also earned him the broad fan base most instrumental guitarists never enjoy. In addition to Chet Atkins and Roy Buchanan, Jim was deeply affected by Muddy Waters and the Sex Pistols. Around this time he was given a 1959 Telecaster by an appreciative student in exchange for successful bass lessons. “Playing that ’59 Tele changed everything for me,” Campilongo remembers, “It was like it told me to get serious.” Soon after, he formed the hugely popular Ten Gallon Cats, which featured pedal steel guitar and Jim’s ever-expanding Country/Jazz vocabulary. They recorded three CDs. Jim broke from the Cats and reached a creative pinnacle in his existing body of work with 1998′s Table For One, a collection of winsome and elegant compositions praised by Billboard as, “Americana at its most touching”. Guitar Player affirmed the CD as a showcase for Campilongo’s “darkly romantic melodicism”. The record also garnered Campilongo a new level of recognition. In 2002, Campilongo pulled up stakes and moved to New York, where he formed his Electric Trio, which toured Europe and Scandinavia and recorded the acclaimed CD American Hips, lauded by Guitar Player as “easily his best effort to date”. No Depression raved, “Campilongo meets himself every time he picks up his instrument; that brand of artistic bravery is rare and to be treasured.” Since 2004 the “Campy Trio” reigns each Monday night at New York’s Living Room, a residency that Time Out New York recommended as “one of the city’s strongest”.

Check out Jim’s interactive audio guitar lessons.
Visit Jim’s official website – www.JimCampilongo.com

Howard Morgen
Howard Morgen, six and seven-string guitarist/clinician and arranger has written fingerstyle jazz guitar columns and arrangements for Guitar Player, Guitar World, Acoustic Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar and is currently a columnist for Just Jazz Guitar magazine. In addition, Howard is the author of The Gershwin Collection for Solo Guitar, The Ellington Collection for Solo Guitar, Ten from Guitar Player, Solo Guitar Insights, Fingerstyle Favorites, Concepts, Preparations (Warner Bros.), Paul Simon for Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar (Amsco Pub.), and Fingerstyle Jazz Images for Christmas (Mel-Bay). His solo CD Howard Morgen plays Gershwin has won critical acclaim. He has been a guest artist/teacher during Jazz Week at the National Guitar Summer Workshop in Connecticut (1995-1997) and was on the faculty of the Guitar Study Center of the New School in Manhattan and the Jazz Studies Program at C.W.Post Campus, Long Island University. Among Howard’s students over recent years are singer-songwriter Paul Simon, Edie Brickel, Carly Simon, Christine Lavin. His bio is included in Maurice Summerfield’s The Jazz Guitar, Its Players and Personalities Since 1900. His new book Through Chord-Melody and Beyond (Alfreds)—with accompanying CD of songs and video by Howard Morgen and Howard Alden—is now available. His instructional video project, Fingerboard Breakthrough, from TrueFire.com, is expected to release soon.

Check out Howard’s interactive audio guitar lessons.
Howard’s official website – www.HowardMorgen.com

Jude Gold
A few excerpts from the Jude Gold interview:

JUDE, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING GUITAR?
Man, I don’t know. It’s been at least 17 or 18 … weeks. Ha!

WHAT’S THE MOST BIZARRE GIG YOU’VE EVER PLAYED?
That’d probably be the head cutting duel I had with none other than SPINAL TAP’s David St. Hubbins [actor Michael McKean] at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. We bloodied that stage, but both had a great time.

….AND THE MOST CHALLENGING?
Playing electric guitar and bass with the Oakland Symphony — which should’ve been a piece of cake ’cause I WROTE some of the music! By the way, there is no more amazing sound than sitting in the middle of a world-class orchestra.

HAVE YOU PLAYED ON ANY RECORDINGS YOU REALLY CAN’T PLAY FOR YOUR MOTHER?
Actually yes. I played a wild solo on 2 Live Crew’s “When We Get Them Hoes, We Let –” you know what, I can’t even say the rest of that song’s name.

WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SLAP GUITARS LIKE THAT?
Probably from the fact that when I first turned on the radio as a kid, funk groups like Earth Wind & Fire, Lakeside, Heatwave, The Jacksons, Kool & The Gang ruled the airwaves and I loved that music and still do. Do that slap shit on a baritone guitar through a Marshall and you can have some fun.

WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE GUITARIST OF ALL TIME?
I recently met Nile Rodgers, which was a total thrill, because his licks on “Le Freak (C’est Chic)” and “Good Times” are what first inspired me to play electric guitar when I was still in the fourth grade. It’s either him or Eddie Van Halen for me. And hundreds of other genius players.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST BIG GIG?
Opening for Joe Satriani at the San Jose Civic in ’96 with ZENNER — when I walked in that arena for soundcheck and saw that huge floor and all those empty seats, there were some big ol’ butterflies in my stomach. I love that adrenaline rush.

DID YOU EVER STUDY MUSIC FORMALLY?
I have a bachelor’s in music from UC Berkeley — go Bears! — but, I also got an education at night playing in the Bay Area club scene.

Jude Gold’s interactive audio guitar lessons.
Learn more about Jude – www.JudeGold.com

Joe Gore
Joe has been a senior editor at Guitar Player for five years, writing about an eclectic group of artists. He’s an active player as well – his achievement was playing on Tom Waits’ Grammy-winning Bone Machine album. Joe worked on a ‘techno-acid-jazz’ project with John Hassell, which also included bassist Flea of the Chili Peppers. He has a bachelor’s in music composition from UCLA and a master’s from UC Berkeley. Joe’s self-written, full biography can be found on his official website.

Check out Joe’s interactive audio guitar lessons.
Full official website – www.JoeGore.com

Sid Jacobs
Sid Jacobs was born in Miami Beach, Florida. Sid spent his first few years in Havana, Cuba prior to the revolution, after which, the Jacobs family returned to Miami. It is there, at the age of seven, he began his fascination with the guitar. When his family moved to Nevada, Sid obtained a position as guitar instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This made him, at eighteen, the youngest faculty member in the school’s music department. After moving to Los Angeles he developed the curriculum for the Advanced Bebop and Jazz Guitar course at the Dick Grove School and the Jazz Guitar class at the Musicians Institute (MI and GIT), where he continues to teach. In 1991, his CD It’s Not Goodnight was released. It is a straight-ahead blowing session featuring his original compositions. In 1998 Sid was the first North American jazz guitarist invited to perform in Argentina’s “Guitars of the World” festival. In May of 2001 he was invited to perform at the Ankara Music Festival in Turkey. 2007 saw the release of his CD Open Strings, a collection of pieces for solo guitar including his acclaimed arrangements of Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk tunes. Some of the great jazz artists with whom Sid has performed include Harold Land, Eddie Harris, Buddy Montgomery, Joe Diorio, Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings and Javon Jackson.

Check out Sid’s instructional guitar book – Guide Tones For Jazz Chords
Visit Sid’s official website – www.SidJacobs.com

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Musings

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September 10th 2009

Top 50 Hardest Working Guitarists – Part 3

The list must go on! Here are 10 more incredibly hard-working, talented, downright awesome guitarists from TrueFire’s stable of educators (listed in alphabetical order):

Bugs Henderson
Bugs’ signature sound was beginning to define itself during the 1970s with the blues. Quoting Bugs, “Blues was all that mattered to me; no other music was worth a damn.” During this time, Bugs moved from Tyler to Dallas in order to join the scene of a bar called The Cellar. “It’s really hard to explain that place,” Henderson remembers. “It was this big, black room. It had a red light that came on when the cops were coming in and another light for fights. The waitresses wore just bras and panties, but they ran three or four bands in a night and everybody played original music. We usually didn’t leave until four in the morning, and there was no other place like it around. It was the best thing that happened to my music. I learned a lot.” Henderson went from small clubs to playing on stage opening for artists such as the Allman Brothers, B.B King, and Leon Russell. Henderson described it as “a big change.” Bugs and his love for blues got tired of the wide-open riff-oriented rock, and friend Freddie King began pushing for Henderson to start his own band. Bugs the assembled his first record “At Last” released on succession of 14 albums spanning over four decades.

Check out Bugs’ latest blues guitar lessons – Bugs’ Blues
Visit Bugs’ official website – www.BugsHenderson.com

Rich Maloof
Rich Maloof is a longtime friend of the Fire. He has contributed to dozens of TrueFire lessons both on camera and as a producer behind the scenes, and now is our chief blog-man. Formerly the Editor In Chief of Guitar magazine, Rich has produced a ton of instructional content for musicians, including the book series The Way They Play, Alternate Tunings for Guitar, Joe Satriani: Riff By Riff, the biography of amp legend Jim Marshall, and several other works. He is the founding editor of the student magazine InTune and has also edited for Billboard, Hal Leonard Publishing, BackBeat Books, For Dummies, GuitarOne, Guitar Shop, and others. When he’s not playing guitar, Rich keeps his carpal tunnel syndrome active on a computer keyboard. He is a regular contributor to MSN.com and writes on health, technology and music for a number of other outlets on the Web and in print. In 2009, Rich has released two new books to the mass market: This Will Kill You (St. Martin’s Press, with co-author HP Newquist) and Rock & Roll: The Beat Goes On (Imagine Publications, with the legendary New York DJ Cousin Brucie).

Pre-order Rich’s killer new guitar lessons – 50 Acoustic Guitar Licks You MUST Know

Jeff McErlain
Jeff McErlain is a New York City based guitarist, songwriter, teacher and producer. At age 12, Jeff McErlain picked up a guitar and never looked back. Inspired by Beck, Hendrix and Page in his early years, he attended the Berklee College of Music where he was introduced to legends like Coltrane, Miles and Monk. After school, he headed to New York City, where he hooked up with Liquid Hips, a funk-metal group. After releasing three CDs and touring Europe, he started an instrumental trio where he has focused his efforts since. Jeff also produces and writes music, teaches at the National Guitar Workshop, and has a successful teaching practice. He has contributed to Guitar Player Magazine, Guitar World and is the author of Modern Rock Techniques. He has taught at the Bath International Guitar Festival and has shared the stage or worked with Scott Henderson, George Clinton, Zakk Wylde, Will Lee, Hiram Bullock, Omar Hakim, Anton Fig, and Keith Carlock to name a few. His main musical focus is his instrumental trio and last released a CD in early 2007.

Pre-order Jeff’s new blues guitar lessons – 50 Blues Guitar Licks You MUST Know
Visit Jeff’s official website – www.JeffMcErlain.com

Andreas Oberg
Andreas Oberg was born in Stockholm on August 6, 1978. At the age of 18, Andreas made a name for himself on the vibrant Swedish music scene scene performing with many of Swedens top artists and he was also admitted to the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm in 1998. During recent years Andreas Oberg has been working with his own projects as well as performing with artists in many different styles such as Les Paul, Eros Ramazzotti, Toots Thielemans, Hank Jones, Harvey Mason, Bireli Lagrene, Larry Coryell, Barbara Hendricks, Martin Taylor, Stuart Hamm, John Pisano, Danny Gottlieb, James Genus, Marian Petrescu, Jimmy Rosenberg, Wycliffe Gordon, Gary Novak, Roger Kellaway, Harvie S, Joe Beck, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Beasley, Joey De Francesco, Mark Murphy, Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Dorado Schmitt and Florin Nicolescu just to name a few. Andreas playing has impressed music listeners all over the world, with his energy, swing and technique. Andreas has performed on international TV & radio and has also been featured in numbers of international guitar and music magazines.

Check out Andreas’ latest jazz guitar lessons with Frank Vignola – Gypsy Jazz Duets
Visit Andreas’ official website – www.Andreas-Oberg.com

Gil Parris
Hailed by Guitar magazine as “the brightest new star in the genre since Larry Carlton,” guitar virtuoso Gil Parris is very comfortable in many musical idioms. A list of his many accomplishments is not easy to compile and is quite impressive considering his young age. While attending Berklee College of Music on a Jazz Masters scholarship, he left to tour Europe for three months doing “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Upon his return, one of his tapes landed him a national feature in the prestigious Guitar Player Magazine. Since, he’s performed and recorded with: Billy Vera, Bill Doggett, Richard Tee, Dr. John, Will Lee, David Mann, and Toni Braxton, to name but a few. Some of the highlights in his discography are: “Syndicate of Soul” (on Shanachie with Dr. John, Wilbur Bascomb, and Corey Glover), “Bluesiana Hurricane” (with Chuck Rainey, Bill Doggett, Lester Bowie, Bobby Watson), “Skallelujah” (with the Uptown Horns), Toko Furuuchi- “Strength” (for SONY/Japan with an all-star cast of New York studio players produced by Michael Colina), and Bakhiti Kumalo’s solo CD (Paul Simon’s bassist). Gil can be seen consistently performing in NYC with some of the scene’s best players. He’s headlined at many prestigious venues, such as B.B. King’s in Times Square, Town Hall, Metropolitan Cafe, and 55 Bar. When he’s not performing or recording, he contributes instructional articles to guitar magazines, is part of the affiliate jazz faculty at SUNY Purchase College, and has been promoting his first artist driven Hot Licks video, “Modern Blues Guitar.” Gil is also part of the national Hot Licks video, “Masters of the Stratocaster.” In addition, Gil has been the lead guitarist of Blood, Sweat & Tears for the past year, playing to thousands. Currently, Gil can be found on tour with rising sax star, David Mann (Tower of Power). They recently appeared together on NBC’s The Today Show, and followed with a sold-out performance at Jack Rose in NYC. Be sure to check out Gil’s newest record, “Blue Thumb” with guest stars Eric Alexander, Harvie S and Bob Malach.

Check out Gil’s modern blues-rock/funk-jazz guitar lessons – Inside Out
Visit Gil’s official website – www.GilParris.com

Rick Payne
Rick Payne is an established acoustic blues guitarist with many national and international tours to his credit. He has become especially well known for his authentic acoustic blues finger picking, in the many traditional styles of the blues including delta blues, piedmont, ragtime and slide and has recorded several albums of this kind. Often compared with Ry Cooder, slide guitar maestro Rick Payne’s performances have taken him to prime time TV, to festivals and theatres throughout the UK and on tour to Europe, USA, Scandinavia and Greek Islands. He has provided music to a number of major TV productions, for programmes on Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. He has also featured on The Paul Jones blues show on BBC Radio 2. Rick has recorded a number of CDs, including the noted ‘Blue River Blues’ for Bennett House Records California. Reviewers have described his sound as: heart wrenching and passionate, delicate and scorching, seriously brilliant, totally absorbing and spellbindingly evocative with raw and fiery vocals to match. As a teacher he has written and facilitated many guitar workshop style sessions, teaching the art of Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Rev Gary Davis and many more.

Check out Rick’s beginner blues guitar lessons – Blues in a Day
Visit Rick’s official website – www.RickPayne.co.uk

Paul Rishell
Paul Rishell was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1950, descended from a long line of Methodist preachers and Norwegian painters. At the age of ten, he discovered that he could keep time on the drums, though his feet didn’t reach the pedals. He started a band a few years later, playing surf music and rock ‘n roll, until a friend turned him on to the country blues records of Son House, Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. He immediately took up the guitar and in the early 70’s Paul moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and had the chance to play with many of the first and second generation of blues masters — including Son House, Johnny Shines, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Howlin’ Wolf. Paul Rishell’s debut recording, BLUES ON A HOLIDAY (Tone-Cool) was released in 1990 to resounding critical acclaim. The album was half acoustic, half electric, and established Paul as a masterful, versatile blues player and as well as a deeply soulful singer and songwriter. He followed that with SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH in 1993, which featured heart-stopping solo performances as well as guest artists Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters and “Little”Annie Raines. Paul’s original music has been used in plays, films, and countless television shows including Friends, Oprah, and A&E’s Biography. He has built up a stellar reputation over 40 years as a performer, teacher, and torchbearer of the country blues tradition. His former students include Susan Tedeschi and Michael Tarbox.

Check out Paul’s latest country blues guitar lessons – Dirt Road Blues
Visit Paul’s official website – www.PaulAndAnnie.com

Dave Rubin
Dave Rubin is a New York City blues guitarist, teacher and freelance writer. He currently writes for Guitar One Magazine and has written for Guitar Player, Guitar, Guitar Shop, Guitar World, Living Blues and Blues Access Magazines. In addition, he is an Associate Editor for a forthcoming Blues Encyclopedia from Routledge Press. As an author for the Hal Leonard Corporation, Dave has nine titles in his Inside the Blues series: The Greatest Electric Blues Guitarists: 1942-1982, The Art of the Shuffle, Power Trio Blues Guitar, 12 Bar Blues (nominated for the prestigious Paul Revere Award), Acoustic Country Blues, Birth of the Groove, Open Tunings for Blues Guitarists, Blues Turnarounds and Rockin’ the Blues: The Greatest Blues Rock 1963-1973. He has written more than twenty books for the Guitar School and Signature Licks series, including ones about B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. For Warner Brothers he has written a case book series as well as co-authoring a harmonica method. Dave is also the musical director for Star Licks’ blues videos series with titles for Son Seals, Honey Boy Edwards, Duke Robillard, Bob Margolin and Billy Boy Arnold produced to date. Dave has performed with Son Seals, Chuck Berry, Johnny Copeland, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, James Brown’s JBs, the Marvelettes, the Coasters and the Drifters. He also has made TV appearances on “New York Now” and “Blues Alley” and has recorded radio commercials for Mountain Dew and Orlek.

Check out Dave’s Big Book of Blues guitar lessons

Jeff Scheetz
Jeff has released 8 CDs. His name is on the Ernie Ball Super Slinky string package. He’s written a guitar instructional book and CD, released an instructional video, and a live video. He has toured the US, Europe and Mexico, and has been featured in Guitar, Guitar Player, Guitar School, and Guitar World magazines, as well as numerous magazines in Japan and Europe. He is endorsed by Ernie Ball strings, and Yamaha guitars for whom he has performed over 200 clinics worldwide, and played numerous NAMM shows, the LA guitar show and more. He is also endorsed by Avlex mics, Pro Stage Gear. He also is busy in his studio producing and mixing projects like the band “Crunchy” from former Galactic Cowboys bassist Monty Colvin. Jeff and his studio were featured in an EQ magazine article. He has recorded spots for Toyota, Chevrolet, and many others, and his music has been used for tons of commercials. His band has toured all over as headliners, and opening for the Scorpions, ZZ Top, Jeff Healey, Steve Vai, Cheap Trick, ELO, .38 Special, Eric Johnson, George Thorogood and more. Jeff has been a guitar instructor for 20 years, and besides the aforementioned book, CD and video, he also worked with Yamaha on the “Rock School” project writing curriculum and implementing schools in many music stores. He has written guitar columns for several magazines including 10 years worth for hm magazine. So he has a vast background of teaching.

Check out Jeff’s latest blues rock guitar lessons – Secret Sauce
Visit Jeff’s official website – www.JeffScheetz.com

Marc Schonbrun
Marc Schonbrun is a Performing Musician, an Author, and a respected Teacher. He has accomplished this in just over a quarter decade. Marc graduated Magna Cum Laude from The Crane School of Music majoring in Classical Guitar Performance, Music Theory and Composition. His current teaching schedule is booked solid with a waiting list of students. He was one of the youngest teachers at the prestigious National Summer Guitar Workshop in New Milford, Connecticut, working alongside other nationally known performers and teachers such as John Petrucci, Jim Hall and John Scofield. Marc has completed five books and is currently under contract on his sixth and seventh and eighth. His first four are published by F + W Publications in their popular “Everything” series. His books cover Guitar Playing, Music Recording, Music Theory and a Guitar Chords Encyclopedia. Marc has recently signed with Thomsons Course Technology Publications to write the first ever book detailing the marriage of guitars and computers. “Digital Guitar Power” will publish in spring 2006. Marc also has formed his own publication company and its flagship book “The Efficient Guitarist” has just gone to print. The “Efficient” guitarist will be a four-volume set that shows the full possibilities of what the guitar can do in a logical fashion; this has never attempted in such brevity and conciseness. Marc is also under contract to write a classical guitar book for Mel Bay publications, one of America’s largest sheet music publications – it should see publication by 2007. Marc is also writhing a monthly classical guitar column in the upcoming “Accent” magazine headed up by Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater. Marc is endorsed by D’Addario Strings, Godin Guitars, Metric Halo, Sibelius, Flite Sound Speakers, Native Instruments, and Starr Labs.

Check out Marc’s latest guitar lessons – Geek Guitar
Visit Marc’s official website – www.MarcSchonbrun.com

Comment on this post | Tags: acoustic, artist, business, digital, guitar, guitarist, live, music, musician, performance, playing, recording, rock, technology, truefire, video, vignola

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September 8th 2009

Top 50 Hardest Working Guitarists – Part 2

Labor Day weekend has come and gone, but our tribute to the ever-hard-working TrueFire faculty continues. Here are the next 10 guitarists to whom we owe a great amount of gratitude (alphabetical order):

Charles Chapman
Charles Chapman is a Professor in the Guitar Department at Berklee College of Music where he has taught since 1972. He is a versatile jazz guitarist with extensive performing and recording experience. Charles holds a Bachelors degree from Berklee College and a Masters of Education from Cambridge College. He performed four tunes on the Mel Bay¹s compilation CD “Anthology of Jazz Guitar Solos” and all nine solos on the CD that accompanies the text “Guitar Solos” by George Van Eps (MB94822BCD.) and has just released a solo CD titled Come Sunset.Charles has published 10 texts with Mel Bay and now performs on a regular basis at Guitar Shows and jazz festivals internationally. As a music journalist he has interviewed many of the most prominent guitarists in the field and is a frequent contributor to Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, Fender Frontline, 20th Century Guitar, Mel Bay Guitar Sessions, All About Jazz, Dowbeat and Just Jazz Guitar magazines with over 400 published articles and reviews.

Tired of playing the same old tunes? Check out Charles’ Interval Insights
Check out Charles’ official website: www.CharlesChapman.net

Robert Conti
Knowledgeable music industry people agree that Robert Conti is the most prolific, innovative and imitated jazz guitar educator on the international scene today. Demand for nearly 30 DVDs in six years is undeniable proof of his ability to continuously deliver high-impact results – that’s customer satisfaction! Every DVD will inspire you to breathe new life into your chord melody work and improv solos with a truckload of fresh, creative and exciting ideas. Indeed, nobody brings their “A-Game” knowledge to Jazz Guitar instruction like Robert Conti. If you’ve had your fill of theorists, gurus, philosophers, modologists, scale technicians, legends, confusion, institutions, theory godmothers, conservatories and delusion – then it’s time to discover the reasons why DVDs from Robert Conti are at the forefront of “go to” jazz guitar learning resources.

Check out Robert’s latest jazz guitar lessons: Jazz Master
Check out Robert’s official website: www.RobertConti.com

Joe Dalton
When country guitar master Joe Dalton picks up a six-string; everyone listens. A phenomenon that has followed Joe since he was a snot nosed kid in the 5th grade. Having picked up his first instrument at age 5, Dalton should have been considered a musical prodigy if it weren’t for the plain fact that he was only one of the latest branches to sprout from a very musical family tree with a legacy that spans decades. His great-grandfather conducted the City of Rome Orchestra in Italy; his grandfather was the leader of the New York Philharmonic; his father is solely responsible for bringing mallets into the U.S. Army Band Corps; his brother teaches at the Boston Conservatory…we could go on, but you get the point, right? Musical prowess runs through his veins; it’s the nucleus of his existence.

Joe’s country guitar lessons with a dash of rock, blues and jazz: Big Twang
Check out Joe on TrueFireTV: Joe Dalton’s eClinic

Joe Deloro
As his TrueFire lessons demonstrate, Joe enjoys exploring a variety of acoustic and electric guitar styles. Along the way he’s arranged numerous guitar transcription books for Warner Bros. Music Publications and Hal Leonard Corporation. Featured artists include: B.B. King, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Van Morrison, and Rush. As a writer, his instructional articles and CD lessons have appeared in Guitar Player, How To Play Guitar, Premier Guitar, and Acoustic Guitar magazines. In addition, he has also been invovlved in multimedia as an author, arranger, and narrator for the award-winning UBI Soft Entertainment CD-Roms: Plugged-In, and Songs of Lennon & McCartney.

Check out Joe’s latest blues rock guitar lessons: Blues Rock Road Trip 2
Check out Joe’s official website: www.JoeDeloro.com

Mimi Fox
Internationally renowned guitarist/composer/recording artist Mimi Fox has been named a winner in 6 consecutive Downbeat Magazine international critic’s polls and has been recognized by writers and colleagues alike as one of the most eloquent jazz guitarists on today’s scene. In one of many feature stories, Guitar Player Magazine hailed Mimi as “a prodigious talent who has not only mastered the traditional forms but has managed to reinvigorate them.” Mimi has performed/recorded with some of jazz’s most commanding players, including fellow guitarists Charlie Byrd, Stanley Jordan, Charlie Hunter, and Mundell Lowe, Grammy-nominated saxophonists Branford Marsalis, David Sanchez and Houston Person and the late Don Lanphere, vocalists Abbey Lincoln, Diana Krall, Kevin Mahogany and Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), B3 organ masters Barbara Denerlein and Dr. Lonnie Smith, and powerhouse drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. She has also performed outside of the jazz world with legends Stevie Wonder and John Sebastian and with Patty Larkin’s Vanguard Records-produced La Guitara project. Mimi has released eight highly acclaimed albums as a leader, including her two most recent on Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label. 2006′s double CD, Perpetually Hip, received rave reviews from scores of publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, which called this project Fox’s “Masterwork” and said: “The two discs stand as a definitive Fox statement. The first showcases her simmering interplay with a quartet featuring drum maestro Billy Hart, while the second captures her breathtaking solo style in an approach that is as harmonically resourceful as it is lyrically inventive.”

Check out Mimi’s latest jazz guitar lessons: Flying Solo
Check out Mimi’s official website: www.MimiFoxJazzGuitar.com

Vicki Genfan
Every now and then an artist comes along whose music reaches out and touches the soul of all who hear them…virtuoso guitarist, singer and composer Vicki Genfan is among those artists… Drawing from folk, jazz, pop, soul and world music, Vicki is redefining ‘singer/songwriter culture.’ With a mastery of the acoustic guitar that borders on pure alchemy, audiences are mesmerized by the waves of sound Vicki creates with just two hands and her voice. Using 29 alternate tunings and the percussive technique she calls ‘slap-tap’, you’ll find the addition of her pure, expressive vocals that dig deep and stir the heart to be the perfect accompaniment on many of her songs. Vicki writes and beautifully sings her own brand of music and lyrics while putting her unmistakable imprint on familiar tunes like the Beatles’ Norweigian Wood. An evening with Vicki is far more than a concert; stories, warmth and humor come gift wrapped in an unforgettable evening of music that leaves the audience always wanting more. Vicki has been recognized among the world’s greatest guitarists and musicians at festivals such as The International Montreal Jazz Festival, Germany’s Open Strings Guitar Festival, Italy’s Soave Guitar Festival, as well as at venues and Performing Arts Centers across the US and abroad. In 2005 she was one of the featured artists on ‘La Guitara’, the first compilation CD featuring female guitarists from around the globe, released by Vanguard Records. With several additional ground-breaking recordings behind her, recent acquisitions of the 6 string banjo, 12 string and baritone guitars, high demand at clinics and music camps and an ongoing European presence, Vicki continues to reach beyond musical borders and into new territory.

Vicki’s innovative guitar lessons will be available soon. Check back for details!
Check out Vicki’s official website: www.VickiGenfan.com

Richard Gilewitz
Composing and performing a kaleidoscopic mixture of instrumental selections for the guitar, Richard Gilewitz is an internationally acclaimed soloperformer who forges a new voice to include the expanse of his influences. His complex and energetic original works become stories from the guitar and deliver invitations to each listener to take a journey with him through the past and present realm of guitar music. Incorporating his own personality and orchestration into a sound tunnel of timeless musical history, Richard delivers a musical pallet filled with colorful imagery of samples from European, Contemporary, and Spanish Classical works to the Traditional Folk, Blues and American Primitive eras. Combining both standard and unique tunings with his interpretations, every single note is treated as an individual character in a society of notes. As he achieves a sound that is very distinctive, it is apparent that Richard’s own DNA is reflected in his playing.

If your creative juices have been lacking, your fix is Richard’s Fingerscapes
Check out Richard’s official website: www.RichardGilewitz.com

David Hamburger
David Hamburger has appeared at Merle Fest and the Kerrville and Philadelphia Folk Festivals, toured with Joan Baez and shared the stage with Dave Van Ronk, Jorma Kaukonen, Tony Trischka, Duke Robillard, Cindy Cashdollar and many others. His guitar, slide guitar and dobro playing can be heard on his solo albums Indigo Rose and David Hamburger Plays Blues, Ballads & a Pop Song and with the Grassy Knoll Boys on their debut CD, Buckeyed Rabbit. David is also a contributing editor to Acoustic Guitar and the author of several books, including the award-winning “Beginning Blues Guitar” and “The Acoustic Guitar Method,” also available on DVD from Homespun Tapes. He lives in Austin, Texas. “Fascinating…Hamburger’s touch on his Collings 00-2H is delicate and precise, but soulful – never stiff. The instructor gets an A.” – Vintage Guitar. “Hamburger…revitalizes American roots music.” – The New Yorker. “A dozen unaccompanied tracks of acoustic goodness…Brims with talent.” – The Austin Chronicle.

Check out David’s latest blues guitar lessons: Blues Alchemy
Check out David’s official website: www.DavidHamburger.com

Stu Hamm
Born in New Orleans, Hamm spent his childhood and youth in Champaign, Illinois, where he studied bass and piano, played in the stage band at Champaign High School, and was selected to the Illinois All-State Band. Hamm graduated from Hanover High in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1978 while living in Norwich, Vermont. Following high school, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he met guitarist Steve Vai and, through him, met Joe Satriani. Hamm played bass on Vai’s debut solo album, Flex-Able, which was released in 1984. Hamm has performed and recorded with Steve Vai, Frank Gambale, Joe Satriani and many other well-respected guitarists. It was playing live on tour with Satriani that brought Hamm’s skills to national attention. Subsequent recordings with Satriani and other rock/fusion artists along with the release of his own solo recordings solidified his reputation as a bassist and performer. Hamm’s first solo album, Radio Free Albemuth, inspired by the Philip K. Dick novel of the same name, was released in 1988. On it, Hamm demonstrated his abilities on a number of original compositions spanning a variety of genres including fusion, country, and classical. On solo pieces like “Country Music (A night in Hell),” he demonstrates his slapping and two-handed tapping proficiency as well as the ability to make the bass imitate the sounds of a wide range of instruments; the piece has since become a popular live piece. On the same album, he performs an arrangement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

Learn bass guitar with Stu’s bass guitar lessons for beginners: Bass Basics
Check out Stu’s official website: www.StuartHamm.net

Geoff Hartwell
Geoff Hartwell is a long-time faculty member at the National Guitar Workshop where he’s taught seminars in Austin, Texas and Chicago, Illinois with special guests Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar. At NGW he’s also shared the stage with Blues Legends such as Jimmy Thackery, formerly of Muddy Waters’ Band. Geoff was excited to share the stage again with Sonny on tour dates including B.B. King’s in NYC, and to collaborate with him on the recordings which yielded the new CD, “Hate To See You Go”. Geoff Hartwell has appeared in international magazines such as Guitar World and Vintage Guitar Magazine. Recent television performances include appearing as a “Naked Hippie” in a hugely popular skit on Saturday Night Live (which was chosen to open the “Best of the Year” DVD), and playing guitar for the theme to the Discovery Channel show “Outward Bound”, as well as interview/performances on The Guitar Show with Mike Byrnes, and “The Listening Room” on RNN. In addition to maintaining a busy clinic and teaching schedule, Geoff Hartwell continues to perform up to 200 nights per year.

Check out Geoff’s latest slide guitar lessons: Electric Slide
Check out Geoff’s official website: www.GeoffHartwell.com

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September 4th 2009

Top 50 Hardest Working Guitarists – Part 1

Labor Day weekend is upon us, and it is time that we honor all the hard work put in by the entire TrueFire faculty. They all have spent countless hours in and out of the studio trying to find the best and most innovative ways to teach and inspire. Their extraordinary efforts show through in the quality of their guitar lessons and for that we are all endlessly appreciative. To express our gratitude, we will be featuring each of them in this 5-part series on The Punch-In so you can get to know them all a little bit better.

So, without further adieu, here are the first 10 artists whom we consider to be part of the Top 50 Hardest Working Guitarists in the World (in alphabetical order):

Andy Aledort
Andy Aledort has been a significant figure in the international music scene over the last 20 years. As a senior editor for the top guitar-oriented music magazines GUITAR WORLD, GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, GUITAR EXTRA, GUITAR LEGENDS, and GUITAR WORLD ACOUSTIC, among others, his work is unsurpassed as a music transcriber, instructional columnist and journalist. He has authored over 200 books of guitar transcriptions as well as a series of guitar-related instructional books and videos/DVDs, all of which are distributed worldwide, for the leading music publishers Hal Leonard Corp., Warner Brothers Publishing and Cherry Lane Music. Aledort is a performing musician as well: along with leading his own ensembles in the New York/tri-state area, he is often tapped for high-profile appearances with artists such as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and the Allman Brothers band.

Check out Andy’s latest blues guitar lessons: Slow Blues Power
Check out Andy’s official website: www.AndyAledort.com

Trey Alexander
Trey Alexander picked up his first guitar at age 15. It was an antique acoustic model that his parents used as a decorative piece in their home. Although he had always loved music, this was Alexander’s first instrument and he began practicing so much that he wore the winding off of the strings. This is when Alexander’s dad, his biggest fan and inspiration, realized that his son was more than a curious teenager with an old guitar. Within a few weeks of discovering this instrument, Alexander began playing regularly at open mics and jam sessions and won his first guitar competition. When Alexander was 18, he saw Steve Vai perform live in concert, an experience he describes as “awe-inspiring.” He stayed up all night describing the experience to his father, who listened to him play for hours. His father told him, “You will be one of the best guitar players who has ever lived.” Those words were his father’s last as he died of a brain hemorrhage that night. Alexander realized that he needed to live his dream, to be a musician, and carry on his father’s legacy. As it turns out, his father was right.

Check out Trey’s latest rock guitar lessons: Quantum Rock
Check out Trey’s official website: www.TreyAlexander.net

Muriel Anderson
Widely respected as one of the country’s foremost guitarists, Muriel Anderson is the first woman to have won the National Finger picking Guitar Championship. Her recordings have traveled as far as outer space, accompanying the astronauts on a space shuttle mission. Muriel Anderson’s audiences experience a world of music in each concert – international, folk, classical, jazz, Beatles, bluegrass, and perhaps a Sousa march, played nylon string, steel string and harp guitar. Muriel was the first woman to win the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship and was also awarded a bronze level for classical in the 2009 Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s Players Choice poll. She has been composing since the age of six and has published works for guitar and orchestra, voice, and solo guitar. Muriel has published several instructional books and videos and tours extensively. She is also the founder and director of Music for Life Alliance charity, and is the host of Muriel Anderson’s All STAR GUITAR NIGHT. For the past 14 years, Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night concert series has brought together the world’s best guitar players and the music community in support of a great cause.

Check out Muriel’s latest fingerstyle guitar lessons: Arranging in the Key of D
Check out Muriel’s official website: www.MurielAnderson.com

Bruce Arnold
Bruce Arnold has developed an extensive reputation as a composer and guitar virtuoso. His works are an original juxtaposition of 20th Century twelve-tone compositional methods and jazz improvisation techniques. Interviewing Mr. Arnold in The Los Angeles Times, Jazz critic Don Heckman wrote “Arnold’s music never loses its contact with jazz and he deserves credit for his effort to expand the potential of the jazz palette.” —and The New York Times has written that “Bruce Arnold could be the ultimate crossover musician.” As an educator, Mr. Arnold has taught at some of the most prestigious music schools in America, including the New England Conservatory of Music, Dartmouth College, Berklee College of Music, Princeton University, New York University, New School University, City College of New York.

Check out Bruce’s latest jazz improvisation guitar lessons: Total Modal
Check out Bruce’s official website: www.ArnoldJazz.com

Jeff Beasley
Jeff Beasley holds B.A. degrees in Music and Classical Guitar, is a prolific educator, top columnist, popular workshop and clinic instructor, and writes the highly popular “Lethal Guitar” column for Premier Guitar magazine. Jeff has worked with some of the biggest names in shred guitar, he tours nationally and is a senior faculty member with the National Guitar Workshop. Jeff records instructional videos for Truefire, where his videos are always in the top sellers. Jeff has appeared in Guitarist Network magazine, Guitar For The Practicng Musician, Guitar Player, Music For The World, Music and Arts, Musicians Hotline, and Premier Guitar magazines. Jeff has 32 years experience in studio, teaching and performance, his debut CD “Tiebreaker” showcases his awesome guitar skills. Tiebreaker includes special guests Atma Anur (Jason Becker, Tony MacAlpine) and Doug Doppler (Favored Nations, Joe Satriani). Jeff is endorsed by Dean Guitars, Sierra Guitars, THD Amplifiers, Dimarzio Pickups, D’Addario Strings, In Tune Guitar Picks and Keeley Effects.

Check out Jeff’s latest blues rock guitar lessons: Shred-Ahead
Check out Jeff’s official website: www.JeffBeasleyBand.com

Stephen Bennett
American guitarist Stephen Bennett has become known over the last two decades as a versatile and original musician consistently garnering critical praise and audience enthusiasm for his recordings and live performances. With his musicality, relaxed stage presence and quick wit, Stephen has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Australia, Japan, and around Europe. With nearly 20 CD recordings to his credit at this writing, a new Stephen Bennett recording is always in the works. Aside from his work on the six-string guitar, Stephen is also one of the world’s premiere performers on the Harp Guitar, an instrument he inherited from his great-grandfather. As a composer and arranger, he has created an enduring repertoire and a significant body of recorded work for this instrument.

Check out Stephen’s latest fingerstyle guitar lessons: Fingerstyle Finesse
Check out Stephen’s official website: www.HarpGuitar.com

Matthieu Brandt
Matthieu Brandt from Amsterdam, Netherlands (b. 1961) has been strummin’ a guitar since 1983 when he traded his first P.C. for his first Alfa Guitar. Starting out as an acoustic fingerstyle blues player and studying with Irish Blues Virtuoso Martin Hutchinson, he quickly got an appetite for electric blues. He started out in his first blues band “Bealestreet” in 1985 – a band that was to exist for five looooong years. In 2000 he started giging with “Too True To Be Blue” and recorded his first Solo CD in 2002: ‘Back Log’. In that year he also started the band Mindway, together with Edo Donkers, Gerrit Berkouwer, Rodin van der Hart and Joren Nooij. In May 2006 Matt released his second album ‘Man in Shades’, featuring 12 all original songs. Performed by him and 16 guest musicians in different arrangements. Guest musicians include Larry John McNally (songwriter for Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, Chaka Kahn, Ed Boekee and many others.)

Check out Matthieu’s latest jump blues guitar lessons: Jump Blues
Check out Matthieu’s official website: www.SwingBlues.com

Chris Buono
Chris Buono has been called many things: arcane improviser, sound diabolist, fearless composer, content junkie, video stunt guitarist, crazed educator—the list goes on. If you’re looking for simpler terms you can go with recording artist (Lava/Atlantic, Lion Music, LNR, E-Magine Music, RKM/Kindred), bandleader (Diablo Project, Richard Weed Ensemble, BubbleFro), sideman (Bumblefoot, Karsh Kale, Graham Haynes, Tony C. and the Truth, DK Dyson, Spiraling and more), music journalist/columnist (Guitar Player, Guitar One, Just Jazz Guitar magazines to name a few), educator (Berklee College of Music, National Guitar Workshop), author (Alfred, Course Technology), video clinician (TrueFire), product clinician (M-Audio, First Act, Source Audio and more), etc. Call him what you want, one thing is certain—this cat is bad-ass and busy.

Check out Chris’ latest rock guitar lessons: 50 Rock Guitar Licks You MUST Know
Check out Chris’ official website: www.ChrisBuono.com

Brad Carlton
Brad is living proof that monster players don’t all live in the big music meccas. Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, our home city, he’s our hired gun – the guy we call in to perform the tough lessons when the author is not available. Brad, who has been teaching and leading his own bands for more than 20 years, prides himself on his versatility. His rep in the region is that he can play anything. Brad brilliantly performs an extensive lesson on Eddie Van Halen licks an exploration of London blues along with interpretations of Vernon Reid, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Mike Stern and even some 18th Century parlor guitar.

Check out Brad’s latest guitar lessons on the CAGED system: CAGED Cracked
Check out Brad’s official website: Brad Carlton on TrueFire

Larry Carlton
Eighteen‐time Grammy nominee, three‐time Grammy winner and all time guitar great, Larry Carlton established himself from his first recording, A Little Help From My Friends. His studio credits include musicians and groups like Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davis Jr., Herb Alpert, Quincy Jones, Bobby Bland, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and literally dozens of others. He went on to perform with the Crusaders and then with the multi platinum jazz super group Fourplay. With 30 albums to his credit and having performed on over 100 albums that have gone Gold or Platinum, Larry Carlton has set a standard for artistry that spans three decades. In 2008 Larry Carlton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Guitar Player magazine at the historical Ryman Auditorium and was presented the “Titan of Tone” award from Premier Guitar Magazine at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Larry also picked up 2 more Grammy nominations in 2009 bringing his career total to 18 nominations with 3 Grammy wins! Larry’s “Greatest Hits Rerecorded ‐ Volume One” released by 335 Records was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album and “Fortune Teller” from Fourplay’s Energy was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.