TrueFire Live: Guitar Lessons + Q&As: Recent Episodes
TrueFire - Guitar Lessons
TrueFire Live features top guitarists & educators covering a variety of educational topics across all guitar styles and skill levels in addition to Q&A and performances. Hosted by TrueFire's founder and shot live in the TrueFire Studio, this podcast is perfect for avid guitar players.
Lindsay Ell's rare combination of skills as a master guitarist, profound singer-songwriter, dynamic performer, and passionate educator power this fast-track, hands-on How to Solo Handbook. Leveraging years of experience and a deep passion for music education, Lindsay distills her unique teaching methods and TrueFire’s learning technologies to provide guitar students with an accelerated, immersive learning experience.
“Okay, so you play guitar already and are now anxious to learn how to solo—awesome! I love soloing so much that it’s something I work on every day of my life. I’m excited to share with you the magical building blocks I use in my solos. The great news is that it’s so easy to get started.
I’ve organized this handbook into three sections. We’ll start by understanding chord progression structures using “chord boxes” to lay out a road map of notes on the neck in any key.
Then, we’ll practice the five pentatonic scale patterns and look at how they fit together over the chord boxes – giving us notes that are easy to find and sound great anywhere you play them in a progression.
And as the cherry on top, we'll introduce major scale notes to add color to your solos. I'll reveal my hacks for identifying the key of any song, and we'll explore ways to infuse your soloing with that soulful, expressive touch.
The best part? You and I are in this together. We'll jam through it all, practicing what we learn over song progressions I've crafted for this course, spanning various styles and keys. I’ve also included a practice journal with diagrams and tools to help guide your soloing learning journey.”
The How to Solo Handbook will accelerate your journey in guitar soloing, using techniques developed by Lindsay herself. Here, every lesson embodies her commitment to nurturing and expanding your musical abilities. Join Lindsay Ell and tap into a wealth of knowledge, skill, and passion as you embark on a transformative guitar-playing adventure.
You’ll have TrueFire’s interactive learning tools at your fingertips to customize your workspace and learn at your own pace.
The demonstrations and performances are tabbed, notated, and synced to the video lessons with controls for looping, slow motion, fretboard animation, and other tools designed to accelerate your progress.
You’ll also get the tab and standard notation files to print out, downloadable Guitar Pro files, and backing tracks to practice and record with.
Grab your guitar, and let’s dig in with Lindsay Ell!
Q&A featuring Maton Guitars! This session includes TrueFire's own Joe Robinson talking about his signature Maton model; Maton's Head of Product Development and R&D, Patrick Evans; and Maton's General Manager, David Steedman. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
Joe Robinson:
Joe Robinson, at 29 years of age, has earned a reputation as one of the worlds great guitar players and a brilliant singer/songwriter.
Born and raised in the Australian bush, Joe has lived in Nashville, Tennessee for the last decade and has performed or recorded with a long list of celebrated music icons including Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Keb Mo, Les Paul, The Wailers, Styx, John Jorgenson, Lee Roy Parnell, and friend and mentor, Tommy Emmanuel, CGP.
Joe won the second season of Australias Got Talent, aged 16, and has since developed a worldwide touring career, performing over 2,000 concerts across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, China and his native Australia.
Considered one of the preeminent fingerstyle guitarists in the world today, performing complex arrangements that feature the bass line, chords, and melody all played simultaneously. Joe carries forward the legacy of legendary guitarists Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Lenny Breau, and Tommy Emmanuel.
Joe has released four solo albums to great acclaim and his latest release Undertones (2019) is a celebrated 12-song collection. Premier Guitar magazine observes Undertones proves he is far more than a flashy prodigy - Robinson has developed into an artist with a fully formed vision of who he is and where he wants to go. In an album review, Acoustic Guitar magazine noted the virtuosos latest is dense with brilliant moments, Robinson's guitar playing is what really does the talking.
Joe was voted Best New Talent in the Guitar Player Readers Poll and his talents were further recognized by Guitar Player magazine as part of a cover story entitled Youth-quake 2017: Ten Mind-Blowing Young Guitarists. In the article, Guitar Player observes Robinson is equally mind-blowing as an acoustic fingerpicker and electric soloist - his YouTube videos display an astounding combination of taste, speed, cagey phrasing, and a clear, articulate, and sparking tone.
In addition to Joes TrueFire courses, and Guitar Synergy channel - his educational platform, Joes12.com is a 12-week course that covers topics including practicing, songwriting, arranging, performing, touring, your why mission and features guest mentors including Tommy Emmanuel, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, John Jorgenson, Rodney Crowell, Fred Gretsch and author/neuroscientist Daniel Levitin.
Matt Schofield, Josh Smith, and Jeff McErlain talk about their Two-Rock Amplifiers, give tone tips, and perform. For more TrueFire Live sessions, check out https://truefire.com/live
About Matt:
Though he holds a British passport and is an inductee of the British Blues Hall of Fame, Matt Schofield has been making his mark globally as one of the top players in the new class of six string wunderkinds.
The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, In Schofield, the UK has produced the best Blues guitarist from any country in decades head and shoulders above the herd, while Guitar & Bass Magazine rated him in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time ranking him with icons Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Born in the industrial city of Manchester and raised amongst the rolling hills and locked in time Cotswolds, Schofield began playing guitar at the age of 12.
My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day; it was three or four tracks from a concert. Later, when I was in California with my father, he showed me BB King with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan on video.
It was like; Ive got to do this. Theres something about the way the three of them were jamming. B.B. really was majestic. As an 11-or 12-year-old watching him, I was mesmerized but didnt think there was any way I could ever do that. It was too special. But when I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with him, I thought maybe I could. Stevie made it seem accessible to people. I taught myself, working my way through my Dads great blues record collection. I did my first gig age 13, and Ive been doing it ever since.
At age 18 he left the countryside and moved to London. There, as a sideman, he was able to hone his skills as backing a great variety of experienced and well known artists of the British Blues scene, visiting American artists, as well start touring internationally. The introspective, well read (lover of science, history and philosophy) and passionate Schofield said, this enabled me to stay close to my roots while learning my trade and exploring a variety of musical frontiers.
By age 25 I was starting to explore my own band projects. Although my formative guitar influences are the largely the old school blues players, I never wanted my own music to be constrained by a rigid formula, or even genre. I just want to play Matt Schofield music. Classic Jazz, funk, soul and rock and all the music I love have all found their way into it. The process of writing and singing has become increasingly important to me, and I feel its those other aspects of creativity that helped define my own voice on the guitar. Its always been important to find a context for the guitar to be part of, so that its not just guitar solos for their own sake.
I remain a music lover first and foremost. The recognition Ive received from both fans and peers is humbling and inspiring, and those pinch me moments where I found myself trading licks with heroes like Robben Ford and Buddy Guy are still the biggest thrill.
Now after five studio albums and a solid 10 years of touring with my own band, I have definite broader concepts I want to explore. Remaining open to where the music might take me while maintaining the excitement that improvising and collaborating with talented musicians allow, is key to me. My inspiration and goals came from many places: My influences old and new, including musicians I have wanted to collaborate with for years. Things I still feel I hadn't fully realized on previous studio records, and a need to keep pushing myself. It all meets at the place where Im heading now. Im always aiming to go as far as possible to capturing the same connection with the listener that I aim to make at a live show or on record. Thats the goal. Capturing that special moment."
About Josh:
Josh Smith was born October 7, 1979 in Middletown, Connecticut. Before he was 1, his family relocated to Florida, eventually settling in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. At age 3, he received his first guitar and at 6, he started taking guitar lessons.
Josh was exposed to the blues at an early age. He listened to a variety of artists, such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Albert King and T-Bone Walker. He also started going to concerts, including the Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
By 12, Josh was playing at established professional blues jams in South Florida, such as Musicians Exchange Café in Fort Lauderdale and Club M in Hollywood, FL.
When Josh was 13, the Rhino Cats, house band at Club M, asked him to be the lead guitarist. Musicians Exchange owner Don Cohen was so taken aback by the talent of this young musician that he offered to help manage and develop Josh’s career.
The Café was renowned for bringing in the best national touring blues bands, and Josh was quick to learn how to approach these blues greats, many of whom would invite Josh to sit in with them, thinking it may be a “novelty” to have a 14-year-old kid playing the blues. The novelty quickly wore off and was replaced by musicians stopping, watching and listening as this “kid” wailed out blues licks better than many of the touring guitarists on the circuit. Josh began sitting in with such greats as Jimmy Thackery, Tinsley Ellis, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Johnny “Clyde” Copeland, Double Trouble, Joanna Connor and Kim Simmonds, among others. Jimmy Thackery said of the 14-year-old, “Josh is three heartbreaks away from being a true blues guitar genius.” At 14, Josh released his first CD, Born Under a Blue Sign , and at 15, he released his second CD, Woodsheddin.
While performing all over South Florida, Josh Smith and the Rhino Cats quickly became one of the most in-demand blues bands in the area. In 1994, while Josh was only 15, they received the Florida Jammy Award for best blues band and were selected as XS Readers Choice Winners in 1995 for best blues band. In 1996, then a senior in high school, Josh was put on the cover of the national magazine High School Senior , which hailed him as an “Up and Coming Guitar Legend.” That same year, Washburn Guitars Int’l recognized Josh’s talent and offered him an endorsement. They flew Josh to Chicago and guitar luthier Grover Jackson built him a custom guitar.
Although Josh was an honor student, after graduation from high school in June 1997, Josh followed his heart and began pursuing what he was best at. His first national tour ensued with his newly formed power trio, Josh Smith and the Frost. Josh was now the band leader and vocalist, so he not only had to continue developing his guitar chops, but had to concentrate on his vocal prowess. In September 1997, Josh enlisted world-renowned producer Jim Gaines, whose credits include Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Luther Allison, Steve Miller and Jimmy Thackery, to produce his third CD, Too Damn Cold.
By 1998, Josh had completed four national tours with his band. In January 1998, Billboard Magazine took note of the rising young talent in a Continental Drift article. In February 1998, Josh was asked to support B.B. King on a number of theatre dates. In March 1998, the TV show Chicago Hope purchased the rights to the tune “32 degrees” from Too Damn Cold . An international CD release, The Mentos Freshmaker Tour , included the title cut, “Too Damn Cold,” in the spring of 1998.
Josh toured nationally all of 1999 and in October of that year, he entered the recording studio again with Jim Gaines and produced Woman , his fourth CD. This CD was released and well received in the spring of 2000. Josh continued to tour the East Coast from New York to Florida through 2001 with his band. In June 2002, he married and he and his wife decided to move to Los Angeles. Josh was ready for something new and wanted to be around a variety of musicians. He also began being a sideman.
Within a year of moving to L.A., he was retained by Virgin recording artist Ricky Fante. He played nationally and internationally with Ricky for the next two years.
In May 2006, Josh recorded his fifth CD, Deep Roots . A more traditional blues CD, his music was once again well received by Blueswax and Blues Revue magazine. Josh continued to play with a variety of artists, such as actress Taryn Manning, Universal hip-hop artist Benny Cassette and Tara Ellis, to name a few. In January 2007, Josh was hired by 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks to be his lead guitarist. They completed two national tours from February-September 2007 with monthly dates and charity events until June 2008 when Taylor started Grease! on Broadway. In July 2008, Josh was hired by Raphael Saadiq. Since that time, Josh has played such high profile gigs with Raphael as backing Mick Jagger at the Grammy Awards in 2011 and the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2011. Josh continues to tour nationally and internationally with Raphael.
Josh released his 6th studio CD, “Inception,” in 2009. This is an all-instrumental CD with a variety of genres that was once again well received by the public and critics alike.
In 2010, Josh was signed to Crosscut Records, a label based out of Germany. Crosscut re-released Josh’s CD, “Deep Roots,” as “I’m Gonna Be Ready.” In October 2012, Josh’s CD, “Don’t Give Up On Me,” was released in Germany.
Josh continues to live in the Los Angeles area with his wife and two children.
About Jeff:
Jeff McErlain is one of the rare musicians who can teach as well as he plays. This is borne out by Jeff being one of the most in demand guitar instructors as well as performing and recording with Robben Ford.
Jeffs unique curriculum and method of teaching is perfect for the player who has been working at the guitar for a while but wants to go to the next level. Jeff has a straight forward and easy rapport with his students, he breaks things down so they can be easily understood, applied, and most importantly, made fun.
Music is a language and learning it can be approached in much
TrueFire presents an online music festival featuring 14 of its top educators:
Shane Theriot, Johnny Hiland, Vinny Raniolo, Matt Schofield, Brooks Robertson, Kid Andersen, Robben Ford, Tommy Emmanuel, David Henriksson, Stephen Mougin, Steve Jenkins, Joe Robinson, Andy McKee, and Andy Timmons.
Check out https://truefire.com/live for more TrueFire Live sessions!
Dave and Joel Hosler from Seven C Music talk about the role that guitar techs play, and how what technical skills you can learn to maintain your guitars! To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
For more about Seven C Music, please visit https://www.sevencmusic.com/
Corey Congilio talks with Universal Audio's own James Santiago and Tore Mogensen about Universal Audio's recording interfaces and software. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Corey Congilio:
Since picking up the guitar at age thirteen, Corey Congilio has been steadily forming a solid musical foundation built upon honesty, integrity and respect for his art form. Born and raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Corey was exposed to music from his father, mother and guitar playing uncles. This exposure to music of all types at an early age, helped to lay a foundation of passion, versatility and appreciation of what music is, where it comes from, and what it should be.
Realizing at an early age that music and the guitar would be his life’s focus, Corey moved to Pittsburgh, PA to attend the Art Institute Of Pittsburgh. There, Corey studied audio engineering but, didn’t get into music production officially until a few years after graduation. In the late 1990’s Pittsburgh had a vibrant music scene rich with blues, R&B, and original Rock. Corey shot up through the ranks by hanging out with the city’s best players who helped in honing his skills and overall musical maturity.
In 2005, Corey produced his first EP for a local country artist and his love of the studio began to blossom. Corey became an in demand session player in Pittsburgh and began to produce projects for singer-songwriters. His projects ran the gamut of styles that showed off his ability on instruments other than the guitar.
Over a 10-year period as an instructor, Corey has taught hundreds of students ranging in age, from six to eighty years old. A decade’s worth of guitar instruction helped to connect Corey to the world’s leader in online guitar instruction, TrueFire. Corey released his first official TrueFire course entitled, 50 Texas Blues Licks You Must Know, in 2011 and his fate as a worldwide guitar instructor was sealed. Since the launch of 50 Texas Blues, Corey continues to release top selling courses of all ability ranges through TrueFire.
His passion for teaching and presenting lends itself to the world of musical instrument demonstration as well. Since 2014, Corey has been an artist clinician for the most iconic acoustic guitar maker in the world, C.F.Martin Guitar & Co.
Corey moved to Nashville in 2013 and has quickly become a part of the town’s rich music community. Since moving to Nashville, he continues to broaden his musical horizons by performing with artists of all genres and participating in multiple recording sessions for songwriters and television.
Corey’s latest EP “Well Suited” was released in 2016 and he is currently writing and recording more music for a future project.
PRS Guitarist Bryan Ewald discusses all things PRS, including the SE T60E Acoustic Guitar. Check out https://truefire.com/live for more TrueFire Live sessions.
Ariane Cap & Andrew Ford talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Ariane:
Born and raised in Innsbruck, Austria, Ariane has been musically active since the age of five, playing classical piano and the recorder. She entered the Conservatory of the Land Tirol at age 6, where she studied the piano and the flute until the age of 18. She started playing in local rock, pop and dance bands and picked up the electric bass and soon added the upright. She entered the Academy of Music Vienna in 1996 studying jazz bass and bass education. In 1998, she received a scholarship from the Academy of Music of Vienna in Austria to the University of Miami, where she spent a year in the graduate program on Austrian and US scholarships. She then received a teaching assistantship at the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she received her Graduate Certificate of Music.
Ariane has studied with greats such as Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Chuck Rainey, Gerald Veasley, Kai Eckhardt, Kenny Werner, and others.
Ariane has played in countless bands and projects in Europe and the US, enjoying eclectic styles. She particularly loved playing with bands such as the Mozartband (a fusion of funk, rock and Mozart featuring members of the Viennese Philharmonic), and the Celtic rock band Tempest, who she toured with for three years. Ariane recorded and toured with "kindie-rock" sensation The Sippy Cups, a psychedelic rock circus appealing to kids and their parents alike with jugglers, aerialists, and a rocking show, as well as The Palmwine Boys, who fuse acoustic African Palmwine Music with Americana. Ariane was part of the creation of Cirque du Soleil's adaptation of The Tempest, Amaluna, in Montreal.
She is an experienced sideman as well, most recently supporting guitar virtuoso Muriel Anderson and the German flamenco stars Tierra Negra on fretted and fretless basses, or Cabo Jazz pianist Diego Rodriguez and vocalist extraordinaire Daline Jones. She recently recorded with multi Grammy award winning producer Keith Olsen. Current bands include Lara Price's Girls Got the Blues, an all-star female cast of Bay Area musicians including Janice Maxie-Reid, Pam Hawkins and Annie Sampson, as well as the platinum winning band Generation Esmeralda with Jimmy Goings. She plays 80's Rock and adaptations of game music with the band Raj and the Zenmasters.
Ariane also performs a solo set featuring a genre bending selection (from Bach via Jazz to African World Music) of originals and covers performed on her effects and looping setup. Her latest project is a duo with Bassoonist Paul Hanson, the OoN Band (Out of Nowhere).
The founder of "Step Up Music Vallejo," she is also an educator. She co-conducts bass seminars and rock camps all over the US, teaching along side Steve Bailey, Leo Nocentelli, DJ Logic, Dave LaRue, Carl Verheyen, Walfredo Reyes, and others. She regularly teaches at the Berkeley Jazz School and Workshop, in high demand for her "Pattern system" approach and her creative way of integrating music theory and ear training naturally. In 2014, she was selected by the prestigious Ucross Foundation to participate in an artist in residence program in Ucross, Wyoming. She used this time to write, compose and practice 11 hours a day and more.
As a freelancing composer and sound designer, Ariane has turned out music and sound for hand held and online games for Wolf Track Audio, Karney Music, and Sound and Somatone.
About Andrew:
Andrew Ford is a bass player, composer, arranger, producer and educator. He has performed with legendary artists in almost every major genre of music, while also having a Masters degree in Education. He has recorded, toured, or performed with Al Jarreau, Whitney Houston, David Crosby, Robben Ford, Chaka Khan, George Duke, Gladys Knight, James Ingram, Israel Houghton, Dianne Reeves, Peabo Bryson, Patti Austin, Lynne Fiddmont, Christopher Cross, Jerry Butler, Michael McDonald, David Pack, The Emotions, Melissa Manchester, Brenda Russell, Phil Perry, The Stylistics, Larry Carlton, Oleta Adams, Jeffrey Osborne, Jeff Lorber, Deniece Williams, Randy Crawford, Norman Brown, Graham Nash, Boney James, Paul Brown, Kirk Whalum, Michael Paulo and many others.
Andrew has taught bass at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood(BIT), Citrus Community College, the Los Angeles Music Academy, and the University of La Verne. He has also taught Music Business at the college level. He has written or co-written many songs, including "Flame" which is on the 2013 Grammy Nominated Al Jarreau project. Andrew has also had success writing for tv, with a number of songs in regular rotation.
Rob Garland & Andy Aledort talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Rob:
Growing up in England I worked in a diverse array of bands and performed on the London college circuit. Later I played hundreds of gigs at numerous festivals (The Big Muddy Blues Festival, Blues In The District, Washington Blues, etc). and at clubs around the U.S. with my group, Rob Garland & The Blue Monks, opening for artists such as B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Booker T. The band attained airplay on international radio and T.V. stations.
I graduated from Christ Church College in the U.K. with a Bachelors degree in Music/Radio Film & Television. After moving to the U.S. I studied with jazz great Jimmy Bruno.
Since being featured in guitar magazines, (Guitarist, Guitar One, Premier Guitar, etc), my first instructional book was published by Cherry Lane in 2007 which led to a wonderful relationship with TrueFire where currently I run an artist channel (Babylon), write articles for RIFF Journal, host live YouTube sessions and create instructional courses, such as the best selling Chord Navigator: CAGED series. You can check out my courses and watch video introductions on the Guitar Lessons & TrueFire Courses page of my website.
I've been a guitar teacher for over 25 years and am very proud to be part of the faculty at Musicians Institute, in Hollywood, CA. I also teach private lessons from my home in L.A. via Zoom/Skype.
Currently I play gigs with jazz/funk band Catatonic and my fusion power trio Rob Garland's Eclectic Trio at venues such as The Baked Potato, Vitello's, Alva's Showroom and The Mint. I've performed sessions at Los Angeles studios such as Revolver and The Village Recorder and co-written music for Bad Robot.
I love writing, recording and releasing my original music ranging in genre from jazz/rock instrumental to acoustic vocal folk, which can be streamed on Spotify or downloaded on iTunes as well as numerous other digital platforms. Check out the Music page on my website for more information and links.
In September 2018 I was honoured to perform and jam with legendary guitarist Steve Vai at the 'Big Mama-Jama Jamathon' in Hollywood, CA.
Some of the amazing musicians I've worked with include Jimmy Haslip (The Yellowjackets), Andy Sanesi (Scott Henderson), Tony Newton (Gary Moore), Mick Stevens (Brand X) and Gus Thornton (Albert King).
Endorsements include the wonderful folks at Bogner amplification, Xotic guitars, Curt Mangan strings, Chicken Picks and Moody Leather Straps.
I love all different genres of music and am influenced by everyone from Joni Mitchell to Frank Zappa, via Prince and Black Sabbath!
About Andy:
Only a handful of people on the planet can deliver the instructional goods on guitar as well as Andy Aledort. Andy has served as senior editor for several top guitar magazines, has authored over 200 guitar instruction books, and has studied the styles and techniques of virtually every major electric blues and rock guitar artist in history. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone better qualified to present a more thorough guitar lesson curriculum than Andy Aledort.
Over the last 10 years, Andy Aledort has sold over one million instructional DVDs, and continues to produce new DVD products for Guitar World and TrueFire. There are many additional Aledort products on the market available from other companies such as Hal Leonard and Alfred Music PubAledort has also been featured nationally on Comcast Music On Demand every day, seven days a week. All of the many different products he’s created for GW are featured, including excerpts from his Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland instructional DVDs.
Aledort has been touring for the last eight years with Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers and plays slide guitar in the band. Additionally, he appears on the new “Dickey Betts & Great Southern: 30 Years Of Southern Rock” 2 Disc DVD and the double live CD, “The Official Bootleg”.Aledort regularly participates in the Jimi Hendrix Tribute Tours of the last nine years and is featured on the live Experience Hendrix DVD available from jimihendrix.com appearing with Paul Rodgers, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Mick Taylor, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Robert Randolph and others. He’s also performed and recorded many times with Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton. They appear with Aledort on a cut from his upcoming studio album.
Andy Aledort performs regularly in the tri-state area with his band, the Groove Kings, and are looking to expand their touring parameters. They released an acclaimed studio album, Put A Sock In It, a few years ago, and released a equally highly-regarded live album, Live at North Star, in 2009.
PRS Guitarist Bryan Ewald discusses all things PRS, including the S2 Singlecut 594 Electric Guitar. Check out https://truefire.com/live for more TrueFire Live sessions.
TrueFire presents an online music festival featuring 14 of its top educators:
Kelly Richey, Kirk Fletcher, Doug Munro, Eric Lambert, Rusty Cooley, Carl Burnett, Peter Mulvey, David Becker, Andrea Quartarone, Robert Renman, Andy Aledort, Scott Sharrard, Ellis Paul, and Sean McGowan.
Check out https://truefire.com/live for more TrueFire Live sessions!
Sheryl Bailey & Jon Herington talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Sheryl:
The Downbeat Critics Poll voted Sheryl a Rising Star (2013-2016) and One of the new greats of her chosen instrument Phillip Booth, Downbeat Magazine
As a leader, she has toured the US, Canada, Finland, Austria, Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and the UK with her many projects: The Sheryl Bailey 3, The Sheryl Bailey 4, The Electric Ladyland Project, Acoustic Muse, and Plucky Strum. She has 10 critically acclaimed releases as a leader. Her latest is Plucky Strum with bass master Harvie S via Whaling City Sound.
She has toured and recorded with Richard Bona, Anat Cohen, David Krakauers Ancestral Groove, Abraham Inc., John Zorn, Irene Cara, Lea Delaria, George Garzone, Jack Wilkins, Shingo Okudaira, Steve Slagle, Harvie S, Ken Peplowski, Kim Plainfield, and Gary Thomas.
As an educator, she has been Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music since 2000, is faculty at The Collective School of Music in NYC, and has hosted master classes and workshops worldwide. Her Mel Bay publication, Moveable Shapes, is a top seller in their Jazz Curriculum Series. Her latest adventure is her TrueFire Channel Bebop Dojo Bootcamp. Bebop Dojo Essentials course and 50 Bebop Licks Everyone Should Know are also top TrueFire titles from Bailey.
Sheryl plays her Signature McCurdy Mercury Model, Acoustic Image Amplifiers, Stone Bridge Acoustic Guitars and Earthquaker Devices.
About Jon:
Jon Herington is a longtime New York city based guitarist, singer/songwriter, producer, and bandleader. He is the leader of the Jon Herington Band and has been the guitarist of choice with the iconic band Steely Dan for both recording and touring since 1999. With the launch of Adult Entertainment, Jon now has five solo releases in his discography. His previous release, Time on My Hands, was nominated for Vintage Guitar Hall of Fame Album of the Year.
In recent years Jon expanded into education and is currently offering instruction via TrueFire, the world's most comprehensive library of guitar instruction. The TrueFire Ear IQ series currently has two offerings, “Reactive Improvisation: Develop Big Ears and Powerful Improvisation Skills” and “Soloing Strategies: Creative and Harmonic Approaches for Crafting Solos”. In 2015, Jon released “Arrangements for Guitar”, a collection of 18 songs arranged for solo guitar, presenting the unique “chord melody” style of solo jazz guitar that impressed him as a young player.
Jon's love for music surfaced early, and he studied piano, saxophone, and harmony in his grade school years. Just before his high school years, however, he developed a passion for pop music and the electric guitar, and soon was writing songs and performing with his own band near his New Jersey Shore home doing opening slots for local hero Bruce Springsteen, beginning a performing career that has continued ever since. College followed, with extensive musical studies in both classical and jazz composition and theory at Rutgers University, and private jazz guitar study, with the help of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, with the late, great jazz guitarist, Harry Leahey. Next came several years of study with the late Dennis Sandole, the acclaimed music teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who once taught the late greats James Moody and John Coltrane.
Jon's gigging life took a detour for about three years when he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, home to jazz guitar great Wes Montgomery. There Jon played jazz, with the many accomplished local players and former band-mates of Wes, including Wes's brother Buddy Montgomery, "Killer" Ray Appleton, "Pookie" Johnson, and organist and vocalist Terry Hayden, as well as the many talented young players who were students or residents in Indiana, including Jim Beard, Bob Hurst, Kenny Aronov, Chris Botti, and Shawn Pelton. Jon also began doing extensive session work at the time in several of the local studios and played on dozens of jingles and albums.
After a return to the New York area, Jon began the challenging process of establishing a working life in New York. His work included performing with many different bands and for many Broadway shows, session recording, teaching, and an occasional writing or arranging job.
Jon's debut release in 1992 titled The Complete Rhyming Dictionary (remastered and retitled as Pulse and Cadence) was an instrumental recording, showcasing eight of his own compositions as well as the brilliant playing of keyboardist Jim Beard, bassist Victor Bailey, drummer Peter Erskine, and percussionist Arto Tuncboyacian.
Since late 1999, Jon has been the guitarist of choice with Steely Dan for both recording and touring. Jon has also toured with Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs, Bette Midler, the Jim Beard group, The Blue Nile, Phoebe Snow, Madeleine Peyroux, Bobby Caldwell, Catherine Russell, Rob Morsberger, saxophonist Bill Evans, the contemporary jazz superband Chroma, Lucy Kaplansky, jazz/blues organ great Jack McDuff, and The Dukes of September (a supergroup featuring Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs, and Michael McDonald).
Some of Jon's recording highlights (aside from Adult Entertainment, Time On My Hands, shine (shine shine), Like So, and Pulse and Cadence) are the Walter Becker release Circus Money, the most recent Donald Fagen release Sunken Condos, as well as his prior release Morph the Cat, the Steely Dan albums Two Against Nature (Grammy Award Winner) and Everything Must Go, Jim Beard's five recordings (the first four co-produced by Jon), two Bill Evans records, Escape and Starfish and the Moon, Michael "Patches" Stewart's Penetration, Bob Berg's Riddles and Virtual Reality, Lucy Kaplansky's 10 Year Night, Michael Brecker's Now You See It...(Now You Don't), Randy Brecker's Toe to Toe, Victor Bailey's Bottoms Up, Chroma's Music on the Edge (with Mike Stern and others), Rob Morsberger's The End of Physics, Relativity [Blues], A Periodic Rush of Waves, The Chronicle of a Literal Man, Ghosts Before Breakfast, A Part of You, and the DVD Rob Morsberger Live, and Lynne Robyn's Red Bird in Snow, one of Jon's production efforts. Jon can also be seen on Steely Dan's live Two Against Nature DVD, the Making of Aja DVD from the “Classic Albums” series and the Dukes of September Live at Lincoln Center DVD. Jon's current work remains a combination of free-lancing as a guitarist and producer in New York, song-writing and band-leading work with his own group, and world-wide touring in support of some of the world's most renowned musical artists.
David Grissom, Corey Congilio, and Tony McManus talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About David:
David Grissom has toured and recorded with artists such as John Mellencamp, Joe Ely, Storyville, The Allman Brothers Band, The Dixie Chicks, Chris Isaak, Robben Ford, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ringo Starr, Buddy Guy, and John Mayall, . His songs have been recorded by Trisha Yearwood, Lee Ann Womack, John Mayall, Shannon Curfman and Storyville among others..
David joined Texas legend Joe Elys band in 1985 and toured and recorded nonstop until 1991 when he joined John Mellencamps band. David made 3 records with John and toured extensively from 1991 through 1993. After Mellencamp, David went back to Texas to form Storyville, the band that included the Double Trouble rhythm section and powerhouse vocalist Malford Milligan. David is currently doing sessions and excited to release his fifth solo CD Trio Live 2020 in May of 2020.
About Corey:
Since picking up the guitar at age thirteen, Corey Congilio has been steadily forming a solid musical foundation built upon honesty, integrity and respect for his art form. Born and raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Corey was exposed to music from his father, mother and guitar playing uncles. This exposure to music of all types at an early age, helped to lay a foundation of passion, versatility and appreciation of what music is, where it comes from, and what it should be.
Realizing at an early age that music and the guitar would be his life’s focus, Corey moved to Pittsburgh, PA to attend the Art Institute Of Pittsburgh. There, Corey studied audio engineering but, didn’t get into music production officially until a few years after graduation. In the late 1990’s Pittsburgh had a vibrant music scene rich with blues, R&B, and original Rock. Corey shot up through the ranks by hanging out with the city’s best players who helped in honing his skills and overall musical maturity.
In 2005, Corey produced his first EP for a local country artist and his love of the studio began to blossom. Corey became an in demand session player in Pittsburgh and began to produce projects for singer-songwriters. His projects ran the gamut of styles that showed off his ability on instruments other than the guitar.
Over a 10-year period as an instructor, Corey has taught hundreds of students ranging in age, from six to eighty years old. A decade’s worth of guitar instruction helped to connect Corey to the world’s leader in online guitar instruction, TrueFire. Corey released his first official TrueFire course entitled, 50 Texas Blues Licks You Must Know, in 2011 and his fate as a worldwide guitar instructor was sealed. Since the launch of 50 Texas Blues, Corey continues to release top selling courses of all ability ranges through TrueFire.
His passion for teaching and presenting lends itself to the world of musical instrument demonstration as well. Since 2014, Corey has been an artist clinician for the most iconic acoustic guitar maker in the world, C.F.Martin Guitar & Co.
Corey moved to Nashville in 2013 and has quickly become a part of the town’s rich music community. Since moving to Nashville, he continues to broaden his musical horizons by performing with artists of all genres and participating in multiple recording sessions for songwriters and television.
Corey’s latest EP “Well Suited” was released in 2016 and he is currently writing and recording more music for a future project.
About Tony:
Tony McManus has come to be recognized throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic Music. From early childhood his twin obsessions of traditional music and acoustic guitar have worked together to produce a startlingly original approach to this ancient art. In Tony’s hands the complex ornamentation normally associated with fiddles and pipes are accurately transferred to guitar in a way that preserves the integrity and emotional impact of the music. His ability to reach audiences unfamiliar with traditional music is remarkable- he is quite comfortable at predominantly classical events such as the Dundee and Derry Guitar Festivals (appearing six times between the two) the Uppsala Guitar Festival and even The Bogotá International Guitar Festival where he followed virtuoso Eduardo Fernandez.
PRS Guitarist Bryan Ewald discusses all things PRS, including the Sonzera 20 Watt Combo Amp. Check out https://truefire.com/live for more TrueFire Live sessions.
Andy Wood talks about his soloing guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Andy:
ANDY WOOD is recognized as part of the forefront of this generation’s top influential guitarists.
Currently touring as a solo guitarist and mandolinist along with working on a host of additional musical projects, Andy is also performing live with his own band promoting CAUGHT BETWEEN THE TRUTH AND A LIE, the double album which showcases his vast musical influences and abilities.
Andy has toured professionally with a wide range of acts, including most recently Gary Allan, LOCASH, Rascal Flatts, Scott Stapp, and Sebastian Bach. Looking for an outlet for styles other than hard rock, Andy also released his debut solo album A DISCONCERTING AMALGAM. This instrumental record covers a broad range of genres including fusion, rock, metal, and acoustic bluegrass. Andy Wood is known for blurring the lines of preconceived genres.
Andy spent most of his childhood playing and competing in bluegrass festivals. Touring the bluegrass circuit with his cousin and grandfather provided Andy with the necessary exposure that helped refine and sharpen his skills. Andy and his cousin held various state championship titles.
At the young age of sixteen, Andy finished second in the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MANDOLIN CONTEST in Winfield, Kansas. All of this was accomplished before Andy discovered the world of electric guitar at the age of eighteen.
Fast-forward a few years. Andy’s curiosity and appreciation for music drew him into the world of electric guitars. The new instrument was familiar due to his experience with acoustic instruments, but at the same time, allowed him to manipulate his sound in ways never before possible. He began studying the styles of Nashville session players such as Brent Mason and Albert Lee.
It was not long after Andy had immersed himself in new styles such as jazz, swing, fusion, and rock. Andy began to study other guitar greats such as The Dixie Dregs, Eric Johnson, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai. The young guitarist began incorporating their influences into his own style.
At the age of 22, Andy was drawn back to competition in the form of GUITARMAGGEDON, a guitar contest sponsored by Guitar Center. Andy was a face in the crowd of 3,400 other contestants, but he made his presence known by being crowned champion of this prestigious tournament.
Not long after winning Guitarmaggedon, Andy became a founding member of the rock group DOWN FROM UP. They have toured with Seven Dust, Drowning Pool and 10 Years.
As Andy climbs to greater and greater heights, his technical proficiency and tasteful chops makes Mr. Wood a force to be reckoned with, and a name you will not forget. If you find yourself “Caught Between The Truth and a Lie,” you’ll need all the “Charisma” you can get your hands on!
Jason Loughlin talks about his guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Jason:
Jason Loughlin's creative guitar playing has supported artists such as Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Amos Lee, Sam Outlaw, Brandi Carlile, Rachael Yamagata, The Secret Sisters, Valerie June, Keb Mo, Jennifer Nettles, Brent Cobb, Shannon McNally, Jack Ingram, Marshall Crenshaw, Dale Watson, Jim Heath, Nellie McKay, Lesley Gore, The Sweetback Sisters, James Burton and Mike Viola. In 2011, Jason released his debut album Peach Crate which was met with critical acclaim.
"We hear an instrumentalist of great range, taste and joy."-Downbeat Magazine
Uncannily well-constructed launching pads for great picking. A great guitar album that could easily sit alongside those of his inspirations.-Vintage Guitar Magazine
Currently, Jason lives in Brooklyn, NY where he performs with his bands The String Gliders and Aquarium Solarium, teaches and produces records.
Reverend Robert Jones & Jeff McErlain talk about their blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Reverend Jones:
Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is a native Detroiter and an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor, and power of American Roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.
For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches, and civil rights organizations. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Acclaimed photographer James Fraher writes about Robert: “Perhaps the world’s most highly educated blues musician, an ordained minister, a longtime DJ, and a living encyclopedia of blues history, the Reverend Robert Jones is comfortable among juke joint loud talkers, fancy-hatted church ladies, and PhDs alike."
About Jeff:
Jeff McErlain is one of the rare musicians who can teach as well as he plays. This is borne out by Jeff being one of the most in demand guitar instructors as well as performing and recording with Robben Ford.
Jeffs unique curriculum and method of teaching is perfect for the player who has been working at the guitar for a while but wants to go to the next level. Jeff has a straight forward and easy rapport with his students, he breaks things down so they can be easily understood, applied, and most importantly, made fun.
Music is a language and learning it can be approached in much the same way one would learn to speak a new language. Jeffs years of experience has helped him develop a three point teaching approach. It consists of Vocabulary, Repertoire, and Practical Fingerboard Knowledge. This three point method gives the student a clear path to learning and playing the blues and blues rock. This approach has also earned him a loyal base of students. Jeff is also one of TrueFires popular instructors with over 30 courses under his belt.
Jeffs latest CD NOW features Robben Ford on all tracks. Robben also produced the cd. Robben chose Jeff to launch his new label. Jeff subsequently toured as a member of Robbens band performing both of their music. He has performed with Jimmy Haslip, Toss Panos, Keith Carlock, Matt Schofield, David Grissom, and others.
Jeff has toured with many bands thought out the US, Europe, and Asia. Jeff recently performed at the Umbria Blues Festival with Josh Smith and Ariel Posen.
Jeff has been teaching with Robben Ford in his traveling Guitar Dojo for 5 years, the Crown Guitar Festival, Ruby Mountain Guitar Festival, The National Guitar Workshop and private clinics. Jeff was also the guitar instructor and musical consultant for the movie August Rush (you can also see him in the beginning of the movie as a young Robin Williams).
Jeff has written for Guiana World, Guitar Player, and Premier Guitar and studied Berklee College of Music.
A lover of gear Jeff endorses Two-Rock Amplifiers, Michael Tuttle Guitars, Collings Guitars, DAdarrio strings, Universal Audio, and ThroBak pickups.
Jeffs website is jeffmcerlain.com
Muriel Anderson, Cathy Fink, & Marcy Marxer talk about their guitar, banjo, and ukulele lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Muriel:
Considered one of the USA's foremost guitarists and harp-guitarists, Muriel Anderson is also a gifted educator. She is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. She is host and originator of the "Muriel Anderson's ALL STAR GUITAR NIGHT" as well as founder of the Music for Life Alliance, to support music education in schools and grassroots programs nationwide. Her double CD "Nightlight Daylight" is the first to use fiber optics in the package, her original idea, and it has won a dozen national and international honors. Her Heartstrings recording accompanied the astronauts on a space shuttle mission, and her new release "Acoustic Chef" is both an international cookbook and a CD.
About Cathy:
Singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, banjo picker, guitar player and community activist, Cathy Fink lives an eclectic career in the music industry and beyond. She is not only well known as half of the GRAMMY winning duo, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, but for her volunteer efforts and activism within the music industry and on behalf of issues and organizations that care about children.
Cathy is one of the country's finest clawhammer banjo players. In 1980 she became the first woman to win the West Virginia State Old Time Banjo contest, an honor she earned 3 times. She has taught banjo, guitar, fiddle, vocal styles, harmony singing and songwriting at music camps such as Augusta, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Kaufman Kamp, California Coast Music Camp and Swannanoa since 1984.
About Marcy:
Two-time Grammy winner Marcy Marxer is the Queen of Swing. A master of several stringed instruments, Marcy is extraordinarily dialed into traditional roots music be it old-time country, folk, bluegrass and of course swing. Marxer has over 50 recordings to her credit and has been honored with 8 Signature Model Instruments from C.F. Martin & Co. (the MC3H Acoustic Guitar and MM5-17T tenor guitar), Gold Tone Instruments (CEB-4-MM model Cello Banjo), National Reso-Phonics (MM Triolean Tenor Guitar) and Kala, Talsma and Ken Miller Signature Model Ukuleles.
Marcy has been featured in Acoustic Guitar Magazine and their special editions of Ukulele Magazine and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. She has also written articles for all of the above. Marcy also happens to be a very gifted instructor, which will serve you quite well in this introduction to swing guitar rhythm playing. If you know how to tune your guitar and already have a few chords under your belt, Marcy will get you up, running and swingin' in no time at all.
Brad Carlton talks about his guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Brad:
February 5th, 1970 -That was the day I began my lifelong career of guitar education. Since then, I've discovered my passion truly lies in inspiring my students to realize their musical dreams. I am a self-taught musician, and throughout my 50+ years of teaching I've been a student of how people learn. My role as a coach is to teach you how to know and hear the information in your head, see it on your instrument, and execute it with flawless technique.
I've instructed literally thousands of students ranging from absolute beginners to seasoned professionals, and I've created over 135 video courses which address various topics regarding playing the guitar. All of these are available at TrueFire. Rather than a one-size fits all approach to music education, I have found the more effective method, and one I truly enjoy, is through creating an element of spontaneity in a lesson, keeping both the student and the teacher excited about the idea of studying and discovering music through the instrument.
I have the reputation as the man who can play anything. I'm not stating this just to brag: Through being well-versed in many styles, I am equipped to teach students across a wide spectrum of musical genres and techniques.
As a professional musician, I've played literally every kind of gig you can imagine from funky bars to the classical concert stage, from session work to international European music festivals. Through these experiences and others, I can offer insight for the aspiring musician that extends far beyond the classroom.
If the idea of studying with me sounds appealing, lets talk about my teaching philosophy:
- You are your own teacher and I am your coach.
- You will be encouraged to sing the music that you want to play, because if you can sing it, you can play it.
- The foundational issues of rhythm will be preeminent in all that you do.
- You will learn how to utilize the guitar to its maximum potential in the areas of melody, harmony, and rhythm.
You might be thinking, This guy is not for the faint of heart! Let me assure you: My goal is always that you enjoy improving in your craft and in the art of making music. Whether you're a virtuoso or not, I truly believe that anyone can enjoy the pleasures of being able to express oneself through music.
Adam Levy, Mimi Fox, and Stu Hamm talk about their guitar and bass lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Adam:
To call Adam Levy a "well-traveled musician" would be a hell of an understatement. During a six-year stint touring as a member of Norah Jones' Handsome Band, Levy went round the world several times and maxed out the pages of his passportand then a second onewith country stamps and visas. He first played with Jones at the very beginning of the singer's career and went on to be the featured electric guitarist on her wildly successful first three albums and DVDs. Levy held the enviable gig through 2007, ultimately leaving to follow his own path as a performing songwriter.
Levy released two CDs under his own name while in Jones' band, and has continued to release new recordings annually since thensome featuring his lyrical songs, some wholly instrumental. His best-known is 'The Heart Collector,' praised by No Depression online as "a great album overflowing with warm and soulful songs that enchant the ears and captivate the heart." Other recent CDs include 'Town & Country,' 'Blueberry Blonde,' and 'Live from Sun Studio'the latter tracked, of course, at the legendary Memphis mecca where Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley cut their first acetates.
Jones is not the only top-shelf artist whose music Levy has been party to. He can be heard on Tracy Chapman's New Beginning (that's Levy's laid-back blues solo on "Give Me One Reason"), Amos Lee's eponymous Blue Note debut (featured on the single, "Arms of a Woman"), Lisa Loeb's 'Lullaby Girl,' Vulfpeck's 'The Beautiful Game,' Allen Toussaint's 'American Tunes,' and Meshell Ndegeocello's 'Ventriloquism.'
Levy is also well-known as a writer and journalist, with articles appearing regularly in the pages of Fretboard Journal and Acoustic Guitar magazines. And he has earned a reputation as an esteemed educator. He is the author of Jazz Guitar Sight-Reading (book) and Play the Right Stuff (book & DVD), and has led many workshops and masterclasses all across the U.-and internationally.
About Mimi:
Internationally renowned guitarist, composer and 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.
About Stu:
Stu Hamm 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.
Frank Vignola, and Anita Camarella & Davide Facchini talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Frank:
Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his "Five Most Admired Guitarists List" for the Wall Street Journal. Vignola's jaw dropping technique explains why the New York Times deemed him "one of the brightest stars of the guitar".
Frank Vignola has become one of the most popular and sought after guitarists on the international music scene. His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 14 countries on three continents - and still growing - performing in some of the worlds most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New Yorks Lincoln Center and the worlds oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.
Vignola has also dedicated the last 25 years of his professional career to teaching jazz guitar starting with his assignment to found a jazz guitar department at Arizona State University in the years 1996/97. In the years following, he wrote over 20 books for Mel Bay Publications. In 2007, Vignola recorded his first course for Truefire.com, "Vamps, Jams and Improv". Since then, he has recorded over 30 courses and together, they have developed an online jazz studio which houses over 1000 unique teaching videos based on subscribers questions and requests. The Frank Vignola "Jazz Studio" channel is also home to the unique "Jazz Song Learning System", a 6 part song learning system. Currently, Vignola dedicates most of his professional time to online teaching many students of all levels.
About Anita & Davide:
The Duo was founded in 2000: two exceptional musicians coming from different musical directions (Anita Camarella from early music and jazz and Davide Facchini from rock and blues) but united by their common passion and curiosity for different musical languages.
Over the last 18 years Anita Camarella and Davide Facchini have been committed to researching, analysing and working-out songs from the Italian Swing era of the 30s and 40s: unforgettable lyrics and music telling of typical Italian life-experiences and anecdotes of that time.
Their passion for this music culminated in two recordings: Quei motivetti che ci piaccion tanto! (2002) and their new album La famiglia canterina (2013) that was honored with the LadyLake Indie Music Awards Best Album 2013 U.S.A.
Their music reflects the influences of swing and jazz, as well as their own fresh and original guitar and a-capella compositions.
This talented couple can already look back on many years of international concerts, including prestigious festivals and exhibitions in Italy, Europe, United States and Russia their aim being to share and make known to the world this important aspect of Italian cultural history.
Radio stations in United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Tunisia, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Hungary, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Italy have broadcasted their music.
Anita Camarella and Davide Facchini have performed in some of the most important and renowned concert halls (e.g. Nashvilles Ryman Auditorium), alongside some of the most famous artists on the international guitar scene (Tommy Emmanuel, Paul Franklin, Stephen Bennett, Muriel Anderson, Carl Verheyen, Thom Bresh, Buster B. Jones, and many others).
Josh Smith, Jennifer Batten, & Charlie Apicella talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Josh:
Josh Smith was born October 7, 1979 in Middletown, Connecticut. Before he was 1, his family relocated to Florida, eventually settling in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. At age 3, he received his first guitar and at 6, he started taking guitar lessons.
Josh was exposed to the blues at an early age. He listened to a variety of artists, such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Albert King and T-Bone Walker. He also started going to concerts, including the Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
By 12, Josh was playing at established professional blues jams in South Florida, such as Musicians Exchange Café in Fort Lauderdale and Club M in Hollywood, FL.
When Josh was 13, the Rhino Cats, house band at Club M, asked him to be the lead guitarist. Musicians Exchange owner Don Cohen was so taken aback by the talent of this young musician that he offered to help manage and develop Josh’s career.
The Café was renowned for bringing in the best national touring blues bands, and Josh was quick to learn how to approach these blues greats, many of whom would invite Josh to sit in with them, thinking it may be a “novelty” to have a 14-year-old kid playing the blues. The novelty quickly wore off and was replaced by musicians stopping, watching and listening as this “kid” wailed out blues licks better than many of the touring guitarists on the circuit. Josh began sitting in with such greats as Jimmy Thackery, Tinsley Ellis, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Johnny “Clyde” Copeland, Double Trouble, Joanna Connor and Kim Simmonds, among others. Jimmy Thackery said of the 14-year-old, “Josh is three heartbreaks away from being a true blues guitar genius.” At 14, Josh released his first CD, Born Under a Blue Sign , and at 15, he released his second CD, Woodsheddin.
While performing all over South Florida, Josh Smith and the Rhino Cats quickly became one of the most in-demand blues bands in the area. In 1994, while Josh was only 15, they received the Florida Jammy Award for best blues band and were selected as XS Readers Choice Winners in 1995 for best blues band. In 1996, then a senior in high school, Josh was put on the cover of the national magazine High School Senior , which hailed him as an “Up and Coming Guitar Legend.” That same year, Washburn Guitars Int’l recognized Josh’s talent and offered him an endorsement. They flew Josh to Chicago and guitar luthier Grover Jackson built him a custom guitar.
Although Josh was an honor student, after graduation from high school in June 1997, Josh followed his heart and began pursuing what he was best at. His first national tour ensued with his newly formed power trio, Josh Smith and the Frost. Josh was now the band leader and vocalist, so he not only had to continue developing his guitar chops, but had to concentrate on his vocal prowess. In September 1997, Josh enlisted world-renowned producer Jim Gaines, whose credits include Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Luther Allison, Steve Miller and Jimmy Thackery, to produce his third CD, Too Damn Cold.
By 1998, Josh had completed four national tours with his band. In January 1998, Billboard Magazine took note of the rising young talent in a Continental Drift article. In February 1998, Josh was asked to support B.B. King on a number of theatre dates. In March 1998, the TV show Chicago Hope purchased the rights to the tune “32 degrees” from Too Damn Cold . An international CD release, The Mentos Freshmaker Tour , included the title cut, “Too Damn Cold,” in the spring of 1998.
Josh toured nationally all of 1999 and in October of that year, he entered the recording studio again with Jim Gaines and produced Woman , his fourth CD. This CD was released and well received in the spring of 2000. Josh continued to tour the East Coast from New York to Florida through 2001 with his band. In June 2002, he married and he and his wife decided to move to Los Angeles. Josh was ready for something new and wanted to be around a variety of musicians. He also began being a sideman.
Within a year of moving to L.A., he was retained by Virgin recording artist Ricky Fante. He played nationally and internationally with Ricky for the next two years.
In May 2006, Josh recorded his fifth CD, Deep Roots . A more traditional blues CD, his music was once again well received by Blueswax and Blues Revue magazine. Josh continued to play with a variety of artists, such as actress Taryn Manning, Universal hip-hop artist Benny Cassette and Tara Ellis, to name a few. In January 2007, Josh was hired by 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks to be his lead guitarist. They completed two national tours from February-September 2007 with monthly dates and charity events until June 2008 when Taylor started Grease! on Broadway. In July 2008, Josh was hired by Raphael Saadiq. Since that time, Josh has played such high profile gigs with Raphael as backing Mick Jagger at the Grammy Awards in 2011 and the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2011. Josh continues to tour nationally and internationally with Raphael.
Josh released his 6th studio CD, “Inception,” in 2009. This is an all-instrumental CD with a variety of genres that was once again well received by the public and critics alike.
In 2010, Josh was signed to Crosscut Records, a label based out of Germany. Crosscut re-released Josh’s CD, “Deep Roots,” as “I’m Gonna Be Ready.” In October 2012, Josh’s CD, “Don’t Give Up On Me,” was released in Germany.
Josh continues to live in the Los Angeles area with his wife and two children.
About Jennifer:
M.I. grad Jennifer Batten performed with Michael Jackson for 10 years followed by 3 years and 2 CD's with Jeff Beck. She released 3 CDs under her own name the last of which also includes a DVD exploring her film making endeavors. She's written two music books and has released three TrueFire courses. She continues to tour the globe under her own name either performing solo in synch with her films, with various bands, or workshops. In 2015 she launched a brand new four hour crash course workshop called Self-Empowerment for the Modern Musician which she continues to tour and expand. Her newest CD released September 2017 is in the classic rock genre with vocalist Marc Scherer, called Scherer Batten- BattleZone on Melodic Rock Records.
About Charlie:
Charlie Apicella was voted onto the 84th annual DownBeat Readers Poll for Guitar and nominated in the 2019 Hot House NYC Readers Jazz Awards in three categories:
Jazz Artist Of The Year, Group (Charlie Apicella & Iron City), and Guitarist Of The Year
He has performed concerts and recorded with jazz legends Dave Holland, Sonny Fortune, and John Blake, Jr. as well as contemporary masters Joe Magnarelli, Vic Juris, Dave Stryker, and Don Braden.
In 2014 he was invited by Pat Martino to study improvisation, composition, and Pat's unique method for learning the mechanics of the guitar.
Charlie began his music training in 1999 at the University of Massachusetts studying composition and improvisation with Yusef Lateef, music history with Archie Shepp, and private guitar lessons with Dave Stryker
Massimo Varini, Ariel Posen, and Vicki Genfan talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Massimo:
Composer, arranger, producer, Grammy-winner, renown educator, monster acoustic and electric guitarist, Massimo Varini is a modern day Renaissance man of music.
Fittingly a native Italian, Massimo's credits span 55-million records sold, Four Grammy's (for his recording with the Top Italian Artist Laura Pausini), more than 38million YouTube video views, multiple Top 10 listings in the charts, a signature PRS guitar and Martin Guitar, dozens of top-ranked educational publications, and dozens of successful collaborations with some of the most famous International singers, arrangers, producers and musicians. Since 2013 he's the Project Leader for Eko Guitars: Vision, Concept & Design!
Nearly every album Varini is involved in lands at the top of the European charts for weeks on end.
Passionate, creative, innovative and a bona fide master of his instrument, Massimo Varini is one of the planet's most accomplished and influential artists. Fortunately for students of guitar, Massimo is also a very skilled and prolific educator who possesses that rare ability to be able to communicate sophisticated musical concepts in a very clear and accessible manner that transcends language barriers.
About Ariel
A lifelong musician, there are few roles Ariel Posen hasn't played.
Although born in Winnipeg, Posen spent much of his childhood on the road, traveling from show to show with his musician parents. He began playing guitar at 9 years old, kicking off a career that eventually found him traveling the globe for his own gigs, including shows as a member of the Juno Award-winning, roots-rock band The Bros. Landreth. Several years later, Posen began working on an album of his own, tracking his new songs in the same studio in which his parents once recorded their albums.
How Long marks Posen's long-awaited solo debut, showcasing not only his chops as an instrumentalist but his talents as a diverse songwriter, too. The record casts a wide net, moving from rootsy blues to R&B to melodic rock & roll. A co-writer and producer for artists of all genres, Posen shows the full range of his talents on these 10 tracks, nodding to his influences — including The Beatles and many more — along the way. How Long is not a guitar record, although there's certainly plenty of guitar to be heard here. Instead, it's a song record, filled with hooks, autobiographical lyrics, and Posen's compelling voice.
"The guitar is the tool to get the music out," he says. "Always serve the song first. Otherwise, you're just playing an instrument.”
About Vicki:
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. 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.
Tim Lerch and John Knowles C.G.P. talk about their guitar lessons available on TrueFire, perform, and answer questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Tim:
World renowned for his Solo Guitar playing and his approach to Jazz and Blues, Tim is also member of the legendary Northwest Gypsy Jazz Group Pearl Django. Tim is also one half of a very popular Guitar Duo with Jamie Findlay. In between gigs with PD and Jamie, Tim tries to play as many Solo Guitar performances as he can fit into the schedule. Tim is an Emmy award Winning Composer and a sought after session guitarist.
About John:
John Knowles has worked with the finest fingerstyle and classical guitarists including Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Lenny Breau, Tommy Emmanuel, and the Romero Family. His music has been recorded by Chet, Jerry, Tommy, the Romero Family and James Galway. His Gorilla Song (co-written with his son Jay) is an international hit with recordings by Raffi and XUXA. Guitarists around the world learn from his FingerStyle Quarterly. John's work has won a Grammy and two Emmy nominations. In 1996, Chet Atkins awarded John the first Honorary CGP (Certified Guitar Player) degree and in 2004, John was inducted into the National Thumb Picker's Hall of Fame for the second time. John earned his PhD in physics from Texas Christian University in 1968.
Matt Schofield talks about his blues rhythm and In The Jam guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Matt:
Though he holds a British passport and is an inductee of the British Blues Hall of Fame, Matt Schofield has been making his mark globally as one of the top players in the new class of six string wunderkinds.
The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, In Schofield, the UK has produced the best Blues guitarist from any country in decades head and shoulders above the herd, while Guitar & Bass Magazine rated him in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time ranking him with icons Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Born in the industrial city of Manchester and raised amongst the rolling hills and locked in time Cotswolds, Schofield began playing guitar at the age of 12.
My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day; it was three or four tracks from a concert. Later, when I was in California with my father, he showed me BB King with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan on video.
It was like; Ive got to do this. Theres something about the way the three of them were jamming. B.B. really was majestic. As an 11-or 12-year-old watching him, I was mesmerized but didnt think there was any way I could ever do that. It was too special. But when I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with him, I thought maybe I could. Stevie made it seem accessible to people. I taught myself, working my way through my Dads great blues record collection. I did my first gig age 13, and Ive been doing it ever since.
At age 18 he left the countryside and moved to London. There, as a sideman, he was able to hone his skills as backing a great variety of experienced and well known artists of the British Blues scene, visiting American artists, as well start touring internationally. The introspective, well read (lover of science, history and philosophy) and passionate Schofield said, this enabled me to stay close to my roots while learning my trade and exploring a variety of musical frontiers.
By age 25 I was starting to explore my own band projects. Although my formative guitar influences are the largely the old school blues players, I never wanted my own music to be constrained by a rigid formula, or even genre. I just want to play Matt Schofield music. Classic Jazz, funk, soul and rock and all the music I love have all found their way into it. The process of writing and singing has become increasingly important to me, and I feel its those other aspects of creativity that helped define my own voice on the guitar. Its always been important to find a context for the guitar to be part of, so that its not just guitar solos for their own sake.
I remain a music lover first and foremost. The recognition Ive received from both fans and peers is humbling and inspiring, and those pinch me moments where I found myself trading licks with heroes like Robben Ford and Buddy Guy are still the biggest thrill.
Now after five studio albums and a solid 10 years of touring with my own band, I have definite broader concepts I want to explore. Remaining open to where the music might take me while maintaining the excitement that improvising and collaborating with talented musicians allow, is key to me. My inspiration and goals came from many places: My influences old and new, including musicians I have wanted to collaborate with for years. Things I still feel I hadn't fully realized on previous studio records, and a need to keep pushing myself. It all meets at the place where Im heading now. Im always aiming to go as far as possible to capturing the same connection with the listener that I aim to make at a live show or on record. Thats the goal. Capturing that special moment."
Carter Arrington talks about his improv guitar guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Carter:
In the creative world, we sometimes accept the notion that individuality must be sacrificed for success, or that professionalism is a substitute for passion. Though all of these qualities have great importance, they are far from mutually exclusive and all can be present when one exercises care in their field. Carter Arrington's lifetime of professional live performance and academic training has made him one of the most sought-after guitarists in Austin, a valued private teacher, and a fixture across genres and many musical scenes.
Growing up in Roanoke, VA, Carter discovered the guitar at age twelve. The eventual decision to make music a career solidified during a trip to Berklee in Boston to attend their summer guitar sessions. The level of talent and fellowship he experienced from these other musicians hailing from all over the world left him inspired and determined, and it felt like home. Later relocating to Atlanta, Carter attended the Atlanta Institute of Music at night while still in his junior year of high school, later teaching classes after graduating. AIM provided a valuable foundation to further his education, and the city of Atlanta was home to an incredible pallet of culture, both musically and personally. Eventually arriving in Austin to attend The University of Texas in 2003, the city's live music scene provided the ultimate training ground for his musical development. Balancing ongoing study and instruction with live performance in a variety of settings, Austin was the place to develop a career and thrive.
By 2006, Carter completed his Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance at the University of Texas at Austin. Highlights include 3 Downbeat Student Music Awards and performances at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals. After graduation, Carter continued his teaching career both privately and through UT's ALMA program while expanding his performance opportunities throughout the city and beyond.
Carter has worked with a variety of artists and has shared performance/recording credits with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Progger, Peter Rowan, Eric Johnson, Alejandro Escovedo, Bernard Purdie, Fred Wesley, David Grissom, Crystal Bowersox, Col. Bruce Hampton, Kirk Covington, MOTOWN The Musical, Andre Hayward, Carmen Bradford, and many others both in the US and abroad. Commercial clients for studio work have included The Sundance Channel, Texas A&M, The Texas Lottery, Treviso, Louis Henna Chevrolet, among many others.
2016 was a landmark year for new opportunities and included the release of fusion group Progger's 3rd album, "Scattering", on Ropeadope records, a run of shows with the critically acclaimed Broadway play "Motown! The Musical", headlining the Psycho Las Vegas festival with Arthur Brown, performing weekly with guitar monster David Grissom, and some touring with rock-icon Alejandro Escovedo. A show with the ATL Collective presenting music from James Brown's Funky Christmas presented the opportunity to perform for some of the Brown family and to share the stage with legends Bernard Purdie(Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin) and James' long standing trombonist, Fred Wesley.
2017 has brought a tour with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in 8 major cities in support of the Zim Zam Zim album and Arthur's 1st tour in the United States in 47 years, the last time being in 1969 playing massive festivals alongside Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Jefferson Airplane. Tracking for Progger's 4th album at Atlantic Sound Studios in Brooklyn NY, work on a soundtrack for the short film "What We Have Left", and playing on a television pilot for "Pacific Coast Highwaymen" has kept the front half of the year busy along with the usual gigs and work around Austin.
With a driven personality, dedication to new opportunities, and a reputation for his pursuit of excellence, Carter Arrington has made passion for music the center of his life. He brings a strong musical foundation combined with seasoned performance experience, and his network of satisfied band mates, clients, and students would be happy to tell you just how easy he makes it look.
Tim Lerch talks about his Jazz Blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Tim:
World renowned for his Solo Guitar playing and his approach to Jazz and Blues, Tim is also member of the legendary Northwest Gypsy Jazz Group Pearl Django. Tim is also one half of a very popular Guitar Duo with Jamie Findlay. In between gigs with PD and Jamie, Tim tries to play as many Solo Guitar performances as he can fit into the schedule. Tim is an Emmy award Winning Composer and a sought after session guitarist.
Sean McGowan talks about his jazz blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Sean:
Sean McGowan is a fingerstyle jazz guitarist who combines many diverse musical influences with unconventional techniques to create a broad palette of textures within his compositions and arrangements for solo guitar. His first recording, "River Coffee" won the Best Independent Release of the Year Award (2002) from Acoustic Guitar magazine and music from the recording has been featured on BBCs Great Guitars" radio program, Maine Public Radio, and has been published in Japans Acoustic Guitar magazine and Mel Bays Master Anthology of Fingerstyle Guitar, Vol. 3 (2005). His recordings Indigo (2008) and Sphere: the Music of Thelonious Monk (2011) offer compelling portraits of classic jazz standards performed on solo electric archtop guitar. Sphere was named one of Acoustic Guitar magazines Essential Albums of 2011". As a soloist, Sean has performed at several festivals including the Novi Sad International Jazz Festival in Serbia, the Healdsburg Guitar Festival in Napa Valley, Copper Mountain Guitar Town, the Newport Guitar Festival, and the Classic American Guitar Show in New York. He has also collaborated with several dance and improv companies, as well as with jazz and acoustic musicians throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Sean is an avid arts educator and currently serves as an assistant professor of music and the Guitar Program Director at the University of Colorado Denver. He earned a DMA in Guitar Performance from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and has conducted jazz guitar workshops at Berklee College, Bowdoin College, USC, University of Maine, University of Oregon, McNally Smith College, String Letter Music School in San Anselmo, and for the Seattle Jazz Guitar Society and Cheyenne Guitar Society. He has also presented and performed at the Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans, the International Symposium for the Performing Arts Medicine Association in Aspen, CO, and numerous College Music Society national and regional conferences.
Sean is a strong advocate for injury prevention and health education for musicians, and his workshops incorporate a holistic approach to playing. He is also a contributing editor and educational advisor for Acoustic Guitar magazine. His method books for guitar include Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Essentials (String Letter), The Acoustic Jazz Guitarist (String Letter), and Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Solos (Hal Leonard), a collection of solo transcriptions from his recordings.
Robben Ford talks about his jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Robben:
Named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine and recipient of Guitar Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Legend award, Robben Ford's innovative and soulful musicality triggered a revolution in electric blues guitar styling.
A five-time Grammy nominee, bandleader and prolific composer, Robben has collaborated with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, L.A. Express with Tom Scott, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Claus Ogerman, Michael McDonald, Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Greg Allman, John Scofield and many others.
Jeff McErlain talks about his soloing guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Jeff:
Jeff McErlain is one of the rare musicians who can teach as well as he plays. This is borne out by Jeff being one of the most in demand guitar instructors as well as performing and recording with Robben Ford.
Jeffs unique curriculum and method of teaching is perfect for the player who has been working at the guitar for a while but wants to go to the next level. Jeff has a straight forward and easy rapport with his students, he breaks things down so they can be easily understood, applied, and most importantly, made fun.
Music is a language and learning it can be approached in much the same way one would learn to speak a new language. Jeffs years of experience has helped him develop a three point teaching approach. It consists of Vocabulary, Repertoire, and Practical Fingerboard Knowledge. This three point method gives the student a clear path to learning and playing the blues and blues rock. This approach has also earned him a loyal base of students. Jeff is also one of TrueFires popular instructors with over 30 courses under his belt.
Jeffs latest CD NOW features Robben Ford on all tracks. Robben also produced the cd. Robben chose Jeff to launch his new label. Jeff subsequently toured as a member of Robbens band performing both of their music. He has performed with Jimmy Haslip, Toss Panos, Keith Carlock, Matt Schofield, David Grissom, and others.
Jeff has toured with many bands thought out the US, Europe, and Asia. Jeff recently performed at the Umbria Blues Festival with Josh Smith and Ariel Posen.
Jeff has been teaching with Robben Ford in his traveling Guitar Dojo for 5 years, the Crown Guitar Festival, Ruby Mountain Guitar Festival, The National Guitar Workshop and private clinics. Jeff was also the guitar instructor and musical consultant for the movie August Rush (you can also see him in the beginning of the movie as a young Robin Williams).
Jeff has written for Guiana World, Guitar Player, and Premier Guitar and studied Berklee College of Music.
A lover of gear Jeff endorses Two-Rock Amplifiers, Michael Tuttle Guitars, Collings Guitars, DAdarrio strings, Universal Audio, and ThroBak pickups.
Wolf Marshall talks about his Unboxed Jazz Improv guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Wolf:
Wolf Marshall is a unique hybrid. He's internationally acclaimed as both a guitarist and educator. Through his many products and publications, Wolf has gained an enormous worldwide following and status usually accorded only to "famed players" in "name bands," and has been listened to on his recordings by more aspiring fretboard enthusiasts than most so-called guitar heroes.
Wolf has been rightfully nicknamed the "Rich Little of Guitar." He's the leading "impressionist" in the industry, emulating, on record, the styles of the greats with unerring accuracy. And not only does he perform the most challenging licks and tricks of players like Pat Martino, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, B.B. King, Jeff Beck, Wes Montgomery, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton and countless others on his best-selling book/CD packages, but he explains and demonstrates their special techniques and approaches to legions of guitar students globally.
Wolf set the standards for modern guitar education in the 1980s. Then, his innovative transcription books, audio "licks" releases (on Star Licks, Music Sales, and Cherry Lane labels), and videos created the basis for an industry that continues to boom today and shows no signs of abating. He is also a highly respected music author, contributing long-running articles and columns to Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician (Guitar), Guitar School, Guitar Edge and Jazz Improv since 1984. Wolf’s regular column "Fretprints" has run every month in Vintage Guitar for the past eleven years. Moreover, music magazines in France, Germany and Holland as well as domestic newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have interviewed him as a celebrity educator and music expert.
Recommended by the legendary jazz artist Kenny Burrell, Wolf has been on the faculty of the UCLA Jazz Department since 2007. He currently teaches Jazz Improvisation and guitar master classes in the Ethnomusicology section of the university.
In the past, Wolf has worked closely with a number of manufacturers, and featured their instruments prominently on his recorded releases and in public performances. He has endorsed, and been endorsed by, prestigious companies such as Fender Musical Instruments, Heritage Guitars, Sadowsky Guitars, Gibson USA, Martin Guitars, Paul Reed Smith, Thomastik-Infeld, Jim Dunlop, Acoustic Image, Raezer’s Edge, National Resophonic, and Dobro, as well as Takamine, Line 6, Kahler, Gitane, Akai, Gemini and Digitech.
Massimo talks about his guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Massimo:
Composer, arranger, producer, Grammy-winner, renown educator, monster acoustic and electric guitarist, Massimo Varini is a modern day Renaissance man of music.
Fittingly a native Italian, Massimo's credits span 55-million records sold, Four Grammy's (for his recording with the Top Italian Artist Laura Pausini), more than 38million YouTube video views, multiple Top 10 listings in the charts, a signature PRS guitar and Martin Guitar, dozens of top-ranked educational publications, and dozens of successful collaborations with some of the most famous International singers, arrangers, producers and musicians. Since 2013 he's the Project Leader for Eko Guitars: Vision, Concept & Design!
Nearly every album Varini is involved in lands at the top of the European charts for weeks on end.
Passionate, creative, innovative and a bona fide master of his instrument, Massimo Varini is one of the planet's most accomplished and influential artists. Fortunately for students of guitar, Massimo is also a very skilled and prolific educator who possesses that rare ability to be able to communicate sophisticated musical concepts in a very clear and accessible manner that transcends language barriers.
With two exciting course projects underway, TrueFire is extremely proud to welcome Massimo to its family of educators. Ciao!
Rob Garland talks about his guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Rob:
Growing up in England I worked in a diverse array of bands and performed on the London college circuit. Later I played hundreds of gigs at numerous festivals (The Big Muddy Blues Festival, Blues In The District, Washington Blues, etc). and at clubs around the U.S. with my group, Rob Garland & The Blue Monks, opening for artists such as B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Booker T. The band attained airplay on international radio and T.V. stations.
I graduated from Christ Church College in the U.K. with a Bachelors degree in Music/Radio Film & Television. After moving to the U.S. I studied with jazz great Jimmy Bruno.
Since being featured in guitar magazines, (Guitarist, Guitar One, Premier Guitar, etc), my first instructional book was published by Cherry Lane in 2007 which led to a wonderful relationship with TrueFire where currently I run an artist channel (Babylon), write articles for RIFF Journal, host live YouTube sessions and create instructional courses, such as the best selling Chord Navigator: CAGED series. You can check out my courses and watch video introductions on the Guitar Lessons & TrueFire Courses page of my website.
I've been a guitar teacher for over 25 years and am very proud to be part of the faculty at Musicians Institute, in Hollywood, CA. I also teach private lessons from my home in L.A. via Zoom/Skype.
Currently I play gigs with jazz/funk band Catatonic and my fusion power trio Rob Garland's Eclectic Trio at venues such as The Baked Potato, Vitello's, Alva's Showroom and The Mint. I've performed sessions at Los Angeles studios such as Revolver and The Village Recorder and co-written music for Bad Robot.
I love writing, recording and releasing my original music ranging in genre from jazz/rock instrumental to acoustic vocal folk, which can be streamed on Spotify or downloaded on iTunes as well as numerous other digital platforms. Check out the Music page on my website for more information and links.
In September 2018 I was honoured to perform and jam with legendary guitarist Steve Vai at the 'Big Mama-Jama Jamathon' in Hollywood, CA.
Some of the amazing musicians I've worked with include Jimmy Haslip (The Yellowjackets), Andy Sanesi (Scott Henderson), Tony Newton (Gary Moore), Mick Stevens (Brand X) and Gus Thornton (Albert King).
Endorsements include the wonderful folks at Bogner amplification, Xotic guitars, Curt Mangan strings, Chicken Picks and Moody Leather Straps.
I love all different genres of music and am influenced by everyone from Joni Mitchell to Frank Zappa, via Prince and Black Sabbath!
Peter Mulvey talks about his String Traveler guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Peter:
Peter Mulvey has been a songwriter, road-dog, raconteur and almost-poet since before he can remember. Raised working-class Catholic on the Northwest side of Milwaukee, he took a semester in Ireland, and immediately began cutting classes to busk on Grafton Street in Dublin and hitchhike through the country, finding whatever gigs he could. Back stateside, he spent a couple years gigging in the Midwest before lighting out for Boston, where he returned to busking (this time in the subway) and coffeehouses. Small shows led to larger shows, which eventually led to regional and then national and international touring. The wheels have not stopped since.
Eighteen records, one illustrated book, thousands of live performances, a TEDx talk, a decades-long association with the National Youth Science Camp, opening for luminaries such as Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Chuck Prophet, appearances on NPR, an annual autumn tour by bicycle, emceeing festivals, hosting his own boutique festival (the Lamplighter Sessions, in Boston and Wisconsin)… Mulvey never stops. He has built his life’s work on collaboration and on an instinct for the eclectic and the vital. He folds everything he encounters into his work: poetry, social justice, scientific literacy, and a deeply abiding humanism are all on plain display in his art.
Early in 2017, a series of upheavals found Mulvey living through a winter in a friend’s empty house in the small Midwestern town of Fort Atkinson. Unmoored and lost in the middle of his life, walking hours each day, sometimes with friends but most often alone, along the frozen marsh of the Bark river and through the wintry oak savannah nearby. The songs came in fast and strange and vivid. At night he wrote them down at a table in the spare house, just a mile from the Cafe Carpe (which Mulvey describes as his spiritual home). These songs became his new record, “There Is Another World,” a vivid dreamscape of imagistic, haiku-like auditory sketches, within which are plenty of wrenching, haunting, and even sweet songs.
Frank Vignola talks about his Jazz Soloing Fakebook guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Frank:
Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his "Five Most Admired Guitarists List" for the Wall Street Journal. Vignola's jaw dropping technique explains why the New York Times deemed him "one of the brightest stars of the guitar".
Frank Vignola has become one of the most popular and sought after guitarists on the international music scene. His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 14 countries on three continents - and still growing - performing in some of the worlds most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New Yorks Lincoln Center and the worlds oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.
Vignola has also dedicated the last 25 years of his professional career to teaching jazz guitar starting with his assignment to found a jazz guitar department at Arizona State University in the years 1996/97. In the years following, he wrote over 20 books for Mel Bay Publications. In 2007, Vignola recorded his first course for Truefire.com, "Vamps, Jams and Improv". Since then, he has recorded over 30 courses and together, they have developed an online jazz studio which houses over 1000 unique teaching videos based on subscribers questions and requests. The Frank Vignola "Jazz Studio" channel is also home to the unique "Jazz Song Learning System", a 6 part song learning system. Currently, Vignola dedicates most of his professional time to online teaching many students of all levels.
Andy Wood talks about his mandolin and guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Andy:
ANDY WOOD is recognized as part of the forefront of this generation’s top influential guitarists.
Currently touring as a solo guitarist and mandolinist along with working on a host of additional musical projects, Andy is also performing live with his own band promoting CAUGHT BETWEEN THE TRUTH AND A LIE, the double album which showcases his vast musical influences and abilities.
Andy has toured professionally with a wide range of acts, including most recently Gary Allan, LOCASH, Rascal Flatts, Scott Stapp, and Sebastian Bach. Looking for an outlet for styles other than hard rock, Andy also released his debut solo album A DISCONCERTING AMALGAM. This instrumental record covers a broad range of genres including fusion, rock, metal, and acoustic bluegrass. Andy Wood is known for blurring the lines of preconceived genres.
Andy spent most of his childhood playing and competing in bluegrass festivals. Touring the bluegrass circuit with his cousin and grandfather provided Andy with the necessary exposure that helped refine and sharpen his skills. Andy and his cousin held various state championship titles.
At the young age of sixteen, Andy finished second in the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MANDOLIN CONTEST in Winfield, Kansas. All of this was accomplished before Andy discovered the world of electric guitar at the age of eighteen.
Fast-forward a few years. Andy’s curiosity and appreciation for music drew him into the world of electric guitars. The new instrument was familiar due to his experience with acoustic instruments, but at the same time, allowed him to manipulate his sound in ways never before possible. He began studying the styles of Nashville session players such as Brent Mason and Albert Lee.
It was not long after Andy had immersed himself in new styles such as jazz, swing, fusion, and rock. Andy began to study other guitar greats such as The Dixie Dregs, Eric Johnson, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai. The young guitarist began incorporating their influences into his own style.
At the age of 22, Andy was drawn back to competition in the form of GUITARMAGGEDON, a guitar contest sponsored by Guitar Center. Andy was a face in the crowd of 3,400 other contestants, but he made his presence known by being crowned champion of this prestigious tournament.
Not long after winning Guitarmaggedon, Andy became a founding member of the rock group DOWN FROM UP. They have toured with Seven Dust, Drowning Pool and 10 Years.
As Andy climbs to greater and greater heights, his technical proficiency and tasteful chops makes Mr. Wood a force to be reckoned with, and a name you will not forget. If you find yourself “Caught Between The Truth and a Lie,” you’ll need all the “Charisma” you can get your hands on!
Scott Sharrard talks about his Souther Roots Licks & Creative Approaches guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Scott:
Scott Sharrard is best known as lead guitarist and bandleader to the late Gregg Allman. But his personal artistic journey – which includes singing, songwriting, producing and arranging – began long before he first teamed up with the rock icon.
It’s a mission that resumes with “Saving Grace,” Sharrard’s fifth [or sixth?] album -- and his first since Allman’s death.
“Gregg had a pure passion and heart,” Sharrard says of his friend, “especially when it came to being a musician. That authenticity and dedication is a daily inspiration, and I will always carry that with me onstage and in the studio.”
“Saving Grace,” with the blues at its core, bears a distinctly southern spirit, seamlessly assimilating the sounds of American roots music that Sharrard has long embraced. Sessions took place in Memphis and at the historic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Half the album employs the Hi Rhythm Section, the other The Swampers of Muscle Shoals.
“These guys are legends and heroes of ours who have played on so many life-changing records,” Sharrard says. “This record was steeped in the best the South has to offer. We cut the rhythm section and lead vocals all live on the floor, direct to tape. Old school. We let the songs and the band speak. We also had some of the best barbecue and soul food you could ever imagine, and a lot of laughs and good times with our heroes. How can you lose?”
‘All those cats schooled me…’
Sharrard’s travels to the heart of the American South began in his native Milwaukee. He was born December 28, 1976 – the day his hero Freddie King died – and was a club fixture in Brewtown long before he could legally take a drink.
“Milwaukee at that time was an oasis for a whole group of musical masters,” Sharrard recalls. “Mel Rhyne, Buddy Miles, Hubert Sumlin, Luther Allison, Clyde Stubblefield… They were our local bar bands! All those cats schooled me in different ways, backstage, on gigs and at jams.”
Sharrard was 15 when his father took him to a local blues joint called the Up and Under Pub. There he sat in with singer/guitarist (and local one-named legend) Stokes, who would become his mentor. Another was powerhouse “Chitlin’ Circuit” singer and guitarist Willie Higgins.
Sharrard soon graduated to occasional dates in Chicago, with tutelage coming via jams alongside two fabled Muddy Waters sidemen, drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and pianist Pinetop Perkins.
Big Apple, not Big Easy
Then came a chance 1996 move to New York City. The 20-year-old Sharrard, eager to bolt Milwaukee, had his mind on New Orleans. But his friend Sean Dixon, with whom he had a band called The Chesterfields, had found a rent-controlled apartment in the East Village.
“That settled it,” Sharrard remembers with a laugh. “I became a New York City resident for the first time. My next-door neighbor was Allen Ginsberg, who was already one of my literary heroes at that time. I used to eat at Mee’s Chinese restaurant sitting across from Allen. It was our corner restaurant with a cheap dinner special. He’d always order the ginger fish and write! … It was like a dream, really. All those giant buildings spreading into infinity. It was so overwhelming.”
Sharrard had been in the Big Apple but a year when he met iconic Atlantic Records executive Ahmet Ertegun, who mentored The Chesterfields and gave the young guitar-slinger some sage advice.
“Ahmet told me that you must do it all – and well – if you want to survive as a musician,” Sharrard remembers. “He told me to get it all together: writing, singing, producing, playing, arranging. He convinced me to work twice as hard because around 2000 he saw the end of the music business as we knew it. He felt no one was around to support artists like back in the heyday of the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies.”
The Chesterfields cut three albums and toured nationally before Sharrard began to chart his own course. A series of releases followed, including “Dawnbreaker” (2005), “Analog/Monolog” (2008) and “Ante Up” (2009).
Ertegun wasn’t the only legend with Sharrard on his radar back then: The young guitarist also forged a relationship with Levon Helm – performing with The Band drummer about a dozen times, including his final gig just before his death in April of 2012.
Sharrard remains close with Helm’s daughter, Amy, and a host of other artists on the Woodstock scene.
Preparation meets opportunity
It was through Amy’s then-husband, multi-instrumentalist Jay Collins – already a member of Allman’s band – that Sharrard embarked on the collaboration of a lifetime. In the fall of 2008, Sharrard began a nearly decade-long run with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
“I grew up on the music of the Allman Brothers,” says Sharrard. “I consider first hearing them to be the ‘Big Bang’ moment for me as a pre-teen. I’ve always been chasing what I like to call ‘Real Rock and Roll,’ a blend of blues, jazz, soul, country and folk – with the central goal being to create an original sound of your own. In that respect, working with Gregg just solidified everything I’ve believed since I was a kid.”
Sharrard joined the Gregg Allman Band as a touring guitarist and later became Musical Director.
The fruitful partnership ended with the 69-year-old Allman’s death on May 27, 2017. But not before Allman covered Sharrard’s “Love Like Kerosene” on 2015’s “Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon, GA,” and again on Allman’s eighth and final solo album, the posthumous, GRAMMY-nominated “Southern Blood” (Rounder Records, 2017).
Another “Southern Blood” track, the unforgettable farewell “My Only True Friend” – co-written by Sharrard and Allman – earned a GRAMMY nomination for Americana Song of the Year.
Sharrard’s deep respect for Allman factored heavily into the 2018 release date for “Saving Grace.” Tracking was completed in December of 2016. But Sharrard – knowing Allman’s health was failing and that “Southern Blood” would be his last hurrah – chose to delay its unveiling.
He’s now begun a new chapter with an album he consciously wanted to summarize the last 20 years of his work – and one that showcases the totality of his artistry: as guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger and bandleader.
In short, he says, it’s rock n’ roll rooted in everything else.
“I basically have a rock ’n’ roll band,” Sharrard explains. “When I was growing up, I loved bands like Little Feat, Led Zeppelin and the Allmans. They would explore so many styles and experiment. That’s something I have always tried to embrace, and that’s how I want to present my music today. This is what I tried to do with Gregg. Now I’m continuing that as a solo artist.”
Scott has recently joined the legendary band Little Feat as a guitarist/vocalist. He will be releasing his 6th solo album in Spring 2020.
Clive Carroll talks about his acoustic guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Clive:
Guitar phenomenon Clive Carroll’s masterful compositions, coupled with his versatility and unparalleled technical virtuosity, have rendered him one of today’s most admired and respected guitarists.
Born in England, Clive began his musical journey in Chelmsford, Essex. His parents had a taste for American country and old time music and it wasn’t long before Clive was playing in the family band on a homemade banjo. By his early teens, guitar in hand, Clive was traversing the worlds of soul, pop, funk, and traditional Irish music, balancing his affinity for Slayer with the etudes of Tárrega. This breadth of musical curiosity was to become one of his strengths; even as a child Clive was as comfortable accompanying a group of folk singers as he was jamming along to Nirvana or performing standards with the Essex Youth Orchestra.
Clive went on to earn a 1st Class Honours Degree in Composition and Guitar from the famed Trinity College of Music in London, all the while balancing his classical work with forays into the world of the steel string guitar. By the time he graduated from Trinity, Clive had not only penned orchestral works, he had written an album’s worth of solo acoustic guitar music. A chance meeting with English guitar legend John Renbourn proved the catalyst for Clive’s debut album, “Sixth Sense”, which Renbourn deemed “a milestone in the journey of the steel-string guitar”. He subsequently took Clive on the road with him and the pair toured North America and Europe together, launching Clive’s solo performing career.
Since then, Clive has established himself as one of the world’s premier acoustic guitar players. He has toured across Europe, Australia, the Middle East and North America, garnering praise for his sublime performances of everything from 16th and 17th century lute music to Jazz standards, Blues, Irish reels and his own groundbreaking compositions. Lauded guitarist Tommy Emmanuel has also taken Clive on the road, and similar nods to Clive’s musicianship have been given by everyone from classical guitarist John Williams to Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Michelin award-winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli, and the Sultanate of Oman.
To date, Clive has released four solo albums; “Sixth Sense”, “The Red Guitar” (which Tommy Emmanuel cites as one of his desert island discs!), “Life in Colour” and "The Furthest Tree". Clive has also written music for television and film, most notably composing the music for the film “Driving Lessons”, which features Julie Walters and Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame.
Clive newest CD, “The Furthest Tree”, was released in May 2016 and is already being hailed as some of his finest work to date.
Gareth Pearson talks about his Acoustic Grooves & Country Blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Gareth:
Gareth Pearson is referred to as "The Welsh Tornado", which is particularly appropriate, seeing as this special talent combines fingerstyle pyrotechnics with explosive lead runs making Pearson one of the most exciting acoustic musicians gigging today.
Gareth's distinctive style can be heard through his creative and innovative arrangements of Michael Jackson, Radiohead, and Bruno Mars, to his own beautiful and often intricate original compositions. Drawing his playing style initially from influences such as Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Jerry Reed, and Tommy Emmanuel, he has developed a style that is both inspiring and entertaining.
Within a year of taking up the guitar, Gareth was opening for Tommy Emmanuel on his 2005 UK tour. It was in Cardiff where Tommy invited Gareth to play at the CAAS convention (Chet Atkins Appreciation Society in Nashville, Tennessee).
Later that year, Gareth was performing and touring alongside Ray Davies (The Kinks), John Renbourne, and Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes. During the Southside Johnny tour, Gareth was invited by Southside to be flown over to the USA to open for his annual New Years Eve concert at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey.
The following year Gareth was invited by Tommy Emmanuel to be the support act for his UK tour, following extensive UK supports to Jan Akkerman, Andy McKee, and appearing at numerous folk festivals and guitar workshops including the Montreal Jazz Festival.
With appearances throughout Europe and a growing reputation, Gareth was invited to perform at the 2008 Canadian Guitar Festival where he came to the attention of Candyrat Records. This laid the seed for Gareth to be the first UK guitarist to be signed by the label. On its release, Gareths debut album Urban Echoes Vol 1 was selected by Acoustic Guitar editors and frequent contributors as one of the Essential Acoustic Albums of 2010.
With Appearances at the 2009 Montreal Guitar Festival, USA, and worldwide tours and guitar workshops, Gareth's reputation as a performer and teacher is constantly growing.
"I really respect Gareth's abilities. He's a great young man and a great ambassador for the acoustic guitar." - Tommy Emmanuel C.G.P
"I'm Gareth's number one fan! What a guitarist! His original compositions hit the ears like cool spring water on a hot summer's day. His stage show has everyone up on their feet. Fingerstyle guitar is in good hands for the next generation." - Stefan Grossman
"Not only is Gareth one of the most amazing guitarists around, he is a really nice guy and funny as hell!" - Andy McKee
"My friend Gareth Pearson is a huge talent and in his genre, one of the best young players around. I mean there's many roads that lead to Rome, but this one is definitely a great one. I can see a great future for him". - Jan Akkerman
Steve Jenkins talks about his bass guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Steve:
Steve Jenkins is part of the new wave of modern electric bass players. In addition to his mind-blowing technical prowess, his musicianship has allowed him to fit into a diverse range of musical situations that have run the gamut from face-melting prog-metal to experimental microtonal jazz-funk to dubbed-out electronica bass lines to classic sounding r&b grooves--sometimes all within the framework of one song. He also has a strong grasp of using effects and technology which makes him a true sonic force to be reckoned with. Whether playing as a sideman or as a leader making his own music, Steve is known for his beyond solid groove, creative use of cutting-edge effects and textures, melodic/virtuosic solos, and mastery of different tones and techniques for any given musical situation.
As a sideman, he has toured, performed, or recorded with the likes of: Vernon Reid, Mark Lettieri, Tony MacAlpine, Screaming Headless Torsos, David Fiuczynski, Stimpy Lockjaw, Alex Skolnick, Josh Smith, Thomas Pridgen, Victor Wooten, Javier Reyes, Keith Carlock, Cindy Blackman Santana, Gene Lake as well as many others.
As a bandleader, he released the critically acclaimed "mad science" in late 2004. And in May 2013, he released the long-awaited"Steve Jenkins And The Coaxial Flutter" which has been receiving high praise from press, fans, and even legendary musicians such as Dennis Chambers.
As an educator, he has taught at Berklee College of Music's BassLines Summer Program (now called the Victor Wooten Summer Bass Workshop) and has been an artist-in-residence at the Bass Collective in NYC. He has also taught masterclasses and clinics all over the world and was part of the first group of faculty to teach at the Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Southeast India in the Summer/Fall of 2010. He also teaches private lessons in person and via Skype.
After 13 years of living in New York City, Steve moved to Los Angeles in March of 2017.
Steve Jenkins proudly endorses Aguilar Amplification, Brubaker Basses, and Jim Dunlop/MXR pedals & strings.
Here are what some critics say:
"[Steve Jenkins And The Coaxial Flutter]" is a showcase for Jenkins' wealth of bass techniques, his wide variety of tones, and his ability to smoothly jump from fusion solos to metal riffage, sometimes all in the span of one song." -Bass Player Magazine
Having already held his own with avant-garde guitarists David Fiuczynski and Vernon Reid, New York Citys Steve Jenkins doesnt need to prove anything in terms of what he can handle. Theres plenty more than just chops and math-rock proficiency at work here. -Bass Player Magazine
"He belongs in the vanguard of formidable young bass soloists, but he separates from that pack by locking down every groove that comes his way." -All About Jazz
"Jenkins augments his considerable chops with a cool vision." -Bill Milkowski, Jazziz Magazine
Corey Congilio talks about his blues soloing and acoustic soloing guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Corey:
Since picking up the guitar at age thirteen, Corey Congilio has been steadily forming a solid musical foundation built upon honesty, integrity and respect for his art form. Born and raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Corey was exposed to music from his father, mother and guitar playing uncles. This exposure to music of all types at an early age, helped to lay a foundation of passion, versatility and appreciation of what music is, where it comes from, and what it should be.
Realizing at an early age that music and the guitar would be his life’s focus, Corey moved to Pittsburgh, PA to attend the Art Institute Of Pittsburgh. There, Corey studied audio engineering but, didn’t get into music production officially until a few years after graduation. In the late 1990’s Pittsburgh had a vibrant music scene rich with blues, R&B, and original Rock. Corey shot up through the ranks by hanging out with the city’s best players who helped in honing his skills and overall musical maturity.
In 2005, Corey produced his first EP for a local country artist and his love of the studio began to blossom. Corey became an in demand session player in Pittsburgh and began to produce projects for singer-songwriters. His projects ran the gamut of styles that showed off his ability on instruments other than the guitar.
Over a 10-year period as an instructor, Corey has taught hundreds of students ranging in age, from six to eighty years old. A decade’s worth of guitar instruction helped to connect Corey to the world’s leader in online guitar instruction, TrueFire. Corey released his first official TrueFire course entitled, 50 Texas Blues Licks You Must Know, in 2011 and his fate as a worldwide guitar instructor was sealed. Since the launch of 50 Texas Blues, Corey continues to release top selling courses of all ability ranges through TrueFire.
His passion for teaching and presenting lends itself to the world of musical instrument demonstration as well. Since 2014, Corey has been an artist clinician for the most iconic acoustic guitar maker in the world, C.F.Martin Guitar & Co.
Corey moved to Nashville in 2013 and has quickly become a part of the town’s rich music community. Since moving to Nashville, he continues to broaden his musical horizons by performing with artists of all genres and participating in multiple recording sessions for songwriters and television.
Corey’s latest EP “Well Suited” was released in 2016 and he is currently writing and recording more music for a future project.
Greg Martin talks about his Kentucky Backcountry Blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Greg:
Greg Martin is a master of homecooked Southern-style Rock, Blues, Country and Rockabilly guitar. Along with his band, The Kentucky HeadHunters, he has helped reshape the face of country music. To date the HeadHunters have released six albums, winning countless awards and Grammies. In 1992, Greg Martin filled in for injured Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist, Ed King. The HeadHunters have also collaborated with the great Johnnie Johnson on a stellar rockin’ blues CD “That’ll Work!”. Johnnie was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame this year by Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards. Greg also released a Gospel Blues CD with former Wet Willie singer, Jimmy Hall, entitled “The Revelators”.
Tim Lerch talks about his solo jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Tim:
World renowned for his Solo Guitar playing and his approach to Jazz and Blues, Tim is also member of the legendary Northwest Gypsy Jazz Group Pearl Django. Tim is also one half of a very popular Guitar Duo with Jamie Findlay. In between gigs with PD and Jamie, Tim tries to play as many Solo Guitar performances as he can fit into the schedule. Also, a sought after session guitarist, Tim records frequently in Seattle and Vancouver.
Ariane Cap talk about her bass guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Ariane:
Born and raised in Innsbruck, Austria, Ariane has been musically active since the age of five, playing classical piano and the recorder. She entered the Conservatory of the Land Tirol at age 6, where she studied the piano and the flute until the age of 18. She started playing in local rock, pop and dance bands and picked up the electric bass and soon added the upright. She entered the Academy of Music Vienna in 1996 studying jazz bass and bass education. In 1998, she received a scholarship from the Academy of Music of Vienna in Austria to the University of Miami, where she spent a year in the graduate program on Austrian and US scholarships. She then received a teaching assistantship at the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she received her Graduate Certificate of Music.
Ariane has studied with greats such as Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Chuck Rainey, Gerald Veasley, Kai Eckhardt, Kenny Werner, and others.
Ariane has played in countless bands and projects in Europe and the US, enjoying eclectic styles. She particularly loved playing with bands such as the Mozartband (a fusion of funk, rock and Mozart featuring members of the Viennese Philharmonic), and the Celtic rock band Tempest, who she toured with for three years. Ariane recorded and toured with "kindie-rock" sensation The Sippy Cups, a psychedelic rock circus appealing to kids and their parents alike with jugglers, aerialists, and a rocking show, as well as The Palmwine Boys, who fuse acoustic African Palmwine Music with Americana. Ariane was part of the creation of Cirque du Soleil's adaptation of The Tempest, Amaluna, in Montreal.
She is an experienced sideman as well, most recently supporting guitar virtuoso Muriel Anderson and the German flamenco stars Tierra Negra on fretted and fretless basses, or Cabo Jazz pianist Diego Rodriguez and vocalist extraordinaire Daline Jones. She recently recorded with multi Grammy award winning producer Keith Olsen. Current bands include Lara Price's Girls Got the Blues, an all-star female cast of Bay Area musicians including Janice Maxie-Reid, Pam Hawkins and Annie Sampson, as well as the platinum winning band Generation Esmeralda with Jimmy Goings. She plays 80's Rock and adaptations of game music with the band Raj and the Zenmasters.
Ariane also performs a solo set featuring a genre bending selection (from Bach via Jazz to African World Music) of originals and covers performed on her effects and looping setup. Her latest project is a duo with Bassoonist Paul Hanson, the OoN Band (Out of Nowhere).
The founder of "Step Up Music Vallejo," she is also an educator. She co-conducts bass seminars and rock camps all over the US, teaching along side Steve Bailey, Leo Nocentelli, DJ Logic, Dave LaRue, Carl Verheyen, Walfredo Reyes, and others. She regularly teaches at the Berkeley Jazz School and Workshop, in high demand for her "Pattern system" approach and her creative way of integrating music theory and ear training naturally. In 2014, she was selected by the prestigious Ucross Foundation to participate in an artist in residence program in Ucross, Wymoning. She used this time to write, compose and practice 11 hours a day and more.
As a freelancing composer and sound designer, Ariane has turned out music and sound for hand held and online games for Wolf Track Audio, Karney Music, and Sound and Somatone.
David Henriksson talks about his blues electric guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About David:
Swedish guitarist David Henriksson moved to Nashville in 2017 and has since played with 12 artists who topped the Billboard charts and 3 Grammy winning artists. He’s performed multiple times at iconic venues such as Ryman Auditorium and Grand Ole Opry House. David also is a featured educator at TrueFire and a writer featured at guitar.com. He’ll tell you more details as you continue to read:
"Born in ’88. Learned how to operate my dad’s vinyl player and started playing violin in ’94. Switched to acoustic guitar in ’97. Got my first electric in ’01. Heard Stevie Ray Vaughan for the first time and more or less decided to dedicate my life to guitar in ’02. I’ve loved music and been fascinated by numbers for as long as I can remember. I suspect you’re more interested in the music though, so I won’t specify every year certain stuff happened from now on. Well, I’ll try at least…
After diggin’ deep into Stevie Ray’s music and blues rock guitar for a couple of years, I studied at Sweden’s biggest music high school called Rytmus. This was a fantastic time to connect with like-minded people and to get some more formal training and a great foundation in music theory that I felt really helped my understanding of music. I played with an original band called The Events and in addition to both regional, national and international gigs we also released 2 full-length albums where I was part of writing all the songs, recording, producing and mixing.
Since playing original music won’t pay the bills quite as easily, I also started two cover bands called Pure Pleasure and Cassius Clay. Around the same time I also studied a Bachelor’s Degree specially for ”Electric Guitar Teaching” at the Stockholm University College of Music Education.
As I was halfway into my 20’s, I realized making a living playing guitar and having some of the finest gear I could imagine didn’t really cut it. I wanted MORE. I felt like music was my job and that my passion was slowly fading away, but I wouldn’t let it happen. Inspiration was what I needed, and I decided to go for a trip somewhere. I sold a bunch of gear, inherited some money from a distant relative and was very grateful to receive the Hagström Award from The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. With a decent budget, I headed to United States of America for an 11 week long trip, this was one of the most important decision I’ve ever made. It changed my life completely.
After a road trip going through amazing cities such as New Orleans, Austin, Dallas and Memphis I finally set my foot in Nashville and everything just felt RIGHT! I loved the music scene and I ended up getting great connections with industry professionals in just a matter of a few weeks. I decided I wanted to try to use all the connections I made in the states and the only way to be able to work legally is to get a work visa. It’s NOT an easy process though…
I left my cover band after the summer of 2015 to widen my resume and at the same time I got in touch with a lawyer to help me with the incredibly tricky visa process. Almost everything I did was with the final goal of moving to Nashville to continue my career over there. I grew new connections, backed up up’n’coming artists, started recording demo videos for different companies and more or less everything that came my way that I thought could help me reach my goal. It sure took longer than I thought it would, but after almost 2 years I finally got my visa approved and a couple of months later I relocated to Nashville.
After 6 weeks in town, I got hired as a lead guitarist for 90’s country icon Tracy Lawrence. Within 4 months, I had made my debut at Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and in national TV. It was a crazy experience, but it was such a great feeling that all the hard work finally paid off. I’ve traveled with my guitar and played in 36 American states, with 12 Billboard topping artists and played guitar solos on cat walks in front of 30.000 people - I’m quite happy I learned how to handle that vinyl player and was drawn to guitar based music when I was 6 years old.
Identify your dream, make up a plan, work hard, be patient and I’m quite sure good stuff will come your way as well. Don’t give up!"
Kid Andersen talks about his blues licks guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Kid:
Chris “Kid” Andersen was born in Telemark, Norway in 1980. A blues fan since childhood, Andersen fell in love with the music of Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Junior Watson, and the Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie). By the time he was 18, he was backing all the American blues stars who came through Norway, including Homesick James, Nappy Brown and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. He moved to California at age 21, eventually earning himself a green card as an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability.”
Andersen released four solo albums before joining blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite’s band in 2004, a gig that lasted until he joined Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. Kid Andersen is known as the guitarist for Rick Estrin & The Nightcats with 3 BMA Nominations for Guitarist of the Year. The virtuoso also is the man behind Greaseland Studios, THE hub for authentic Blues Music in the Bay Area. Kid is bringing some of his favorite collaborators to Biscuits and Blues.
John Knowles talks about his fingerstyle guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About John:
John Knowles has worked with the finest fingerstyle and classical guitarists including Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Lenny Breau, Tommy Emmanuel, and the Romero Family. His music has been recorded by Chet, Jerry, Tommy, the Romero Family and James Galway. His Gorilla Song (co-written with his son Jay) is an international hit with recordings by Raffi and XUXA. Guitarists around the world learn from his FingerStyle Quarterly. John's work has won a Grammy and two Emmy nominations. In 1996, Chet Atkins awarded John the first Honorary CGP (Certified Guitar Player) degree and in 2004, John was inducted into the National Thumb Picker's Hall of Fame for the second time. John earned his PhD in physics from Texas Christian University in 1968.
Bill "The Buddha" Dickens talks about his bass guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Bill:
Bill Dickens has enjoyed a legendary career: The list of credits do not fit on one page; he has been a highly prized bass player in the studio and on stage for many years. Janet Jackson, The Meters, Ramsey Lewis, and many more have tapped his extraordinary bass style for their albums. Bill has appeared live with Chaka Kahn, Bernie Worrell, Grover Washington, Johnny Mathis, Al Dimeola, Pat Metheny, and dozens more. He has been a producer and writer on projects with Aretha Franklin, Bootsy Collins, Terry Hunter, Brian Culbertson, Fareed Haque, Jerry Harrison, and more. Bill ‘The Buddha’ Dickens has done it all.
Robben Ford talks about his soloing guitar lessons, as well as his songwriting lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Robben:
Named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine and recipient of Guitar Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Legend award, Robben Ford's innovative and soulful musicality triggered a revolution in electric blues guitar styling.
A five-time Grammy nominee, bandleader and prolific composer, Robben has collaborated with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, L.A. Express with Tom Scott, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Claus Ogerman, Michael McDonald, Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Greg Allman, John Scofield and many others.
Josh Smith talks about his Improv guitar lessons and In The Jam available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Josh:
Josh Smith was born October 7, 1979 in Middletown, Connecticut. Before he was 1, his family relocated to Florida, eventually settling in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. At age 3, he received his first guitar and at 6, he started taking guitar lessons.
Josh was exposed to the blues at an early age. He listened to a variety of artists, such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Albert King and T-Bone Walker. He also started going to concerts, including the Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
By 12, Josh was playing at established professional blues jams in South Florida, such as Musicians Exchange Café in Fort Lauderdale and Club M in Hollywood, FL.
When Josh was 13, the Rhino Cats, house band at Club M, asked him to be the lead guitarist. Musicians Exchange owner Don Cohen was so taken aback by the talent of this young musician that he offered to help manage and develop Josh’s career.
The Café was renowned for bringing in the best national touring blues bands, and Josh was quick to learn how to approach these blues greats, many of whom would invite Josh to sit in with them, thinking it may be a “novelty” to have a 14-year-old kid playing the blues. The novelty quickly wore off and was replaced by musicians stopping, watching and listening as this “kid” wailed out blues licks better than many of the touring guitarists on the circuit. Josh began sitting in with such greats as Jimmy Thackery, Tinsley Ellis, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Johnny “Clyde” Copeland, Double Trouble, Joanna Connor and Kim Simmonds, among others. Jimmy Thackery said of the 14-year-old, “Josh is three heartbreaks away from being a true blues guitar genius.” At 14, Josh released his first CD, Born Under a Blue Sign , and at 15, he released his second CD, Woodsheddin.
While performing all over South Florida, Josh Smith and the Rhino Cats quickly became one of the most in-demand blues bands in the area. In 1994, while Josh was only 15, they received the Florida Jammy Award for best blues band and were selected as XS Readers Choice Winners in 1995 for best blues band. In 1996, then a senior in high school, Josh was put on the cover of the national magazine High School Senior , which hailed him as an “Up and Coming Guitar Legend.” That same year, Washburn Guitars Int’l recognized Josh’s talent and offered him an endorsement. They flew Josh to Chicago and guitar luthier Grover Jackson built him a custom guitar.
Although Josh was an honor student, after graduation from high school in June 1997, Josh followed his heart and began pursuing what he was best at. His first national tour ensued with his newly formed power trio, Josh Smith and the Frost. Josh was now the band leader and vocalist, so he not only had to continue developing his guitar chops, but had to concentrate on his vocal prowess. In September 1997, Josh enlisted world-renowned producer Jim Gaines, whose credits include Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Luther Allison, Steve Miller and Jimmy Thackery, to produce his third CD, Too Damn Cold.
By 1998, Josh had completed four national tours with his band. In January 1998, Billboard Magazine took note of the rising young talent in a Continental Drift article. In February 1998, Josh was asked to support B.B. King on a number of theatre dates. In March 1998, the TV show Chicago Hope purchased the rights to the tune “32 degrees” from Too Damn Cold . An international CD release, The Mentos Freshmaker Tour , included the title cut, “Too Damn Cold,” in the spring of 1998.
Josh toured nationally all of 1999 and in October of that year, he entered the recording studio again with Jim Gaines and produced Woman , his fourth CD. This CD was released and well received in the spring of 2000. Josh continued to tour the East Coast from New York to Florida through 2001 with his band. In June 2002, he married and he and his wife decided to move to Los Angeles. Josh was ready for something new and wanted to be around a variety of musicians. He also began being a sideman.
Within a year of moving to L.A., he was retained by Virgin recording artist Ricky Fante. He played nationally and internationally with Ricky for the next two years.
In May 2006, Josh recorded his fifth CD, Deep Roots . A more traditional blues CD, his music was once again well received by Blueswax and Blues Revue magazine. Josh continued to play with a variety of artists, such as actress Taryn Manning, Universal hip-hop artist Benny Cassette and Tara Ellis, to name a few. In January 2007, Josh was hired by 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks to be his lead guitarist. They completed two national tours from February-September 2007 with monthly dates and charity events until June 2008 when Taylor started Grease! on Broadway. In July 2008, Josh was hired by Raphael Saadiq. Since that time, Josh has played such high profile gigs with Raphael as backing Mick Jagger at the Grammy Awards in 2011 and the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2011. Josh continues to tour nationally and internationally with Raphael.
Josh released his 6th studio CD, “Inception,” in 2009. This is an all-instrumental CD with a variety of genres that was once again well received by the public and critics alike.
In 2010, Josh was signed to Crosscut Records, a label based out of Germany. Crosscut re-released Josh’s CD, “Deep Roots,” as “I’m Gonna Be Ready.” In October 2012, Josh’s CD, “Don’t Give Up On Me,” was released in Germany.
Josh continues to live in the Los Angeles area with his wife and two children.
Frank Vignola talks about his jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Frank:
Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world's top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Emmanuel, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his "Five Most Admired Guitarists List" for the Wall Street Journal. Vignola's jaw dropping technique explains why the New York Times deemed him "one of the brightest stars of the guitar".
Frank Vignola has become one of the most popular and sought after guitarists on the international music scene. His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 14 countries on three continents - and still growing - performing in some of the worlds most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New Yorks Lincoln Center and the worlds oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.
Vignola has also dedicated the last 25 years of his professional career to teaching jazz guitar starting with his assignment to found a jazz guitar department at Arizona State University in the years 1996/97. In the years following, he wrote over 20 books for Mel Bay Publications. In 2007, Vignola recorded his first course for Truefire.com, "Vamps, Jams and Improv". Since then, he has recorded over 30 courses and together, they have developed an online jazz studio which houses over 1000 unique teaching videos based on subscribers questions and requests. The Frank Vignola "Jazz Studio" channel is also home to the unique "Jazz Song Learning System", a 6 part song learning system. Currently, Vignola dedicates most of his professional time to online teaching many students of all levels.
Blair Dunlop talks about his Songsmith guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Blair:
Blair Dunlop, the award-winning British singer, songwriter and guitarist, has now released 3 albums 2 ep’s and toured widely around the globe. All of this in a short 4-year career is astounding alone but what sets Blair apart from his peers is the lyrical and musical maturity with which he writes. His third album ‘Gilded’ was released in May 2016 on his own label – Gilded Wings – and was widely acclaimed gaining BBC Radio 2 Playlist status for the two single releases (‘The Egoist’ and ‘356’) both of which were remixed by Ed Harcourt. Prior to this Blair released his acclaimed album ‘House Of Jacks’ in mid 2014 which lived up to the promise of his 2012 debut ‘Blight and Blossom’ (the quality of which contributed to his winning the BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award). Blair has now cemented his place as one of Britain’s most exciting talents to come from the folk scene. The Guardian stated that the ‘House Of Jacks’ proves Blair is ‘an increasingly adventurous songwriter’, Uncut reviewed it as ‘thoughtful and exploratory’, The Independent on Sunday described it as ‘fluent, lamentory and accomplished’ while Q Magazine wrote that House of Jacks is ‘an exciting glimpse of where traditional folk might go’.
Ryan Madora discusses her bass guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Ryan:
Ryan has had the privilege of working with some of Nashville's most talented artists and producers, including Robben Ford, Bobby Bones and The Raging Idiots, Pat McLaughlin, Tenille Arts, Kyshona Armstrong, Alicia Michilli, Nicole Boggs, Fred Mollin, Lamont Dozier, Daphne Willis, and many others.
She is currently touring with guitar virtuoso Robben Ford in support of his new record, Purple House. In addition to local gigs and sessions, she is an avid educator and has taught at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, Gerald Veasleys Bass Boot Camp, and Musicians Institute: Guitar Craft Academy.
Thanks to good fortune, exciting phone calls, and many hours of practice, she has backed up artists such as Garth Brooks, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Marren Morris, and Hanson. Ryan has served as Musical Director for the annual Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots Million Dollar Show at The Ryman to benefit St. Judes and has made appearances on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons of the hit TV show "Nashville."
Ryan is also the author of the book, "Bass Players To Know: Learning From The Greats." When she's not performing or teaching, you can find her at coffee shops writing columns for the online bass magazine, No Treble, and preparing for a second volume for her book!
Ariel Posen discusses his Electric Storyteller guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Ariel:
A lifelong musician, there are few roles Ariel Posen hasn't played.
Although born in Winnipeg, Posen spent much of his childhood on the road, traveling from show to show with his musician parents. He began playing guitar at 9 years old, kicking off a career that eventually found him traveling the globe for his own gigs, including shows as a member of the Juno Award-winning, roots-rock band The Bros. Landreth. Several years later, Posen began working on an album of his own, tracking his new songs in the same studio in which his parents once recorded their albums.
How Long marks Posen's long-awaited solo debut, showcasing not only his chops as an instrumentalist but his talents as a diverse songwriter, too. The record casts a wide net, moving from rootsy blues to R&B to melodic rock & roll. A co-writer and producer for artists of all genres, Posen shows the full range of his talents on these 10 tracks, nodding to his influences — including The Beatles and many more — along the way. How Long is not a guitar record, although there's certainly plenty of guitar to be heard here. Instead, it's a song record, filled with hooks, autobiographical lyrics, and Posen's compelling voice.
"The guitar is the tool to get the music out," he says. "Always serve the song first. Otherwise, you're just playing an instrument.”
Mark Whitfield discusses his Soul of Jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Mark:
Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music in the spring of 1987. Shortly thereafter, he returned to his to his native New York to embark on a career as a jazz guitarist that afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with legendary artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Carmen McRae, Gladys Knight, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Smith, Clark Terry, Shirley Horn, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Joe Williams, Stanley Turrentine and his greatest teacher and mentor George Benson.
In 1990 the New York Times dubbed Whitfield "The Best Young Guitarist in the Business". Later that year, Warner Bros. released his debut album "The Marksman". The success of his debut release led to a recording career that has produced a total of 14 solo recordings and a myriad of collaborative efforts with some of the most important artists in recent years; Sting, Steven Tyler, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, John Mayer, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Diana Krall, Christian McBride, Chris Botti, Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton.
Rev. Robert Jones discusses his Blues Traditions guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Rev. Jones:
Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is a native Detroiter and an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor, and power of American Roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.
For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches, and civil rights organizations. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Acclaimed photographer James Fraher writes about Robert: “Perhaps the world’s most highly educated blues musician, an ordained minister, a longtime DJ, and a living encyclopedia of blues history, the Reverend Robert Jones is comfortable among juke joint loud talkers, fancy-hatted church ladies, and PhDs alike."
Joe Robinson discusses his electric and fingerstyle guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Joe:
Joe Robinson, at 28 years of age, has earned a reputation as one of the worlds greatest guitar players and a brilliant singer/songwriter.
Born and raised in the Australian bush, Joe has lived in Nashville, Tennessee for the last decade and has performed or recorded with a long list of celebrated music icons including Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Keb Mo, Les Paul, The Wailers, Styx, John Jorgenson, Lee Roy Parnell, and friend and mentor, Tommy Emmanuel, CGP.
Joe won the second season of Australias Got Talent, aged 16, and has since developed a worldwide touring career, performing over 2,000 concerts across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, China and his native Australia.
Considered one of the preeminent fingerstyle guitarists in the world today, performing complex arrangements that feature the bass line, chords, and melody all played simultaneously. Joe carries forward the legacy of legendary guitarists Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Lenny Breau, and Tommy Emmanuel.
Joe has released four solo albums to great acclaim and his latest release Undertones (2019) is a celebrated 12-song collection, available now. Premier Guitar magazine observes Undertones proves hes far more than a flashy prodigyRobinson has developed into an artist with a fully formed vision of who he is and where he wants to go. In an album review, Acoustic Guitar magazine noted the virtuosos latest is dense with brilliant momentsRobinsons guitar playing is what really does the talking.
Joe was voted Best New Talent in the Guitar Player Readers Poll and his talents were further recognized by Guitar Player magazine as part of a cover story entitled Youthquake 2017: Ten Mind-Blowing Young Guitarists. In the article, Guitar Player observes Robinson is equally mind-blowing as an acoustic fingerpicker and electric soloisthis YouTube videos display an astounding combination of taste, speed, cagey phrasing, and a clear, articulate, and sparking tone.
In addition to Joes TrueFire courses, his educational platform, Joes12.com is a 12-week course that covers topics including practicing, songwriting, arranging, performing, touring, your why mission and features guest mentors including Tommy Emmanuel, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, John Jorgenson, Rodney Crowell, Fred Gretsch and author/neuroscientist Daniel Levitin.
Scott Sharrard discusses his Southern Roots guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Scott: Scott Sharrard is best known as lead guitarist and bandleader to the late Gregg Allman. But his personal artistic journey – which includes singing, songwriting, producing and arranging – began long before he first teamed up with the rock icon.
It’s a mission that resumes with “Saving Grace,” Sharrard’s fifth [or sixth?] album -- and his first since Allman’s death.
“Gregg had a pure passion and heart,” Sharrard says of his friend, “especially when it came to being a musician. That authenticity and dedication is a daily inspiration, and I will always carry that with me onstage and in the studio.”
“Saving Grace,” with the blues at its core, bears a distinctly southern spirit, seamlessly assimilating the sounds of American roots music that Sharrard has long embraced. Sessions took place in Memphis and at the historic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Half the album employs the Hi Rhythm Section, the other The Swampers of Muscle Shoals.
“These guys are legends and heroes of ours who have played on so many life-changing records,” Sharrard says. “This record was steeped in the best the South has to offer. We cut the rhythm section and lead vocals all live on the floor, direct to tape. Old school. We let the songs and the band speak. We also had some of the best barbecue and soul food you could ever imagine, and a lot of laughs and good times with our heroes. How can you lose?”
‘All those cats schooled me…’
Sharrard’s travels to the heart of the American South began in his native Milwaukee. He was born December 28, 1976 – the day his hero Freddie King died – and was a club fixture in Brewtown long before he could legally take a drink.
“Milwaukee at that time was an oasis for a whole group of musical masters,” Sharrard recalls. “Mel Rhyne, Buddy Miles, Hubert Sumlin, Luther Allison, Clyde Stubblefield… They were our local bar bands! All those cats schooled me in different ways, backstage, on gigs and at jams.”
Sharrard was 15 when his father took him to a local blues joint called the Up and Under Pub. There he sat in with singer/guitarist (and local one-named legend) Stokes, who would become his mentor. Another was powerhouse “Chitlin’ Circuit” singer and guitarist Willie Higgins.
Sharrard soon graduated to occasional dates in Chicago, with tutelage coming via jams alongside two fabled Muddy Waters sidemen, drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and pianist Pinetop Perkins.
Big Apple, not Big Easy
Then came a chance 1996 move to New York City. The 20-year-old Sharrard, eager to bolt Milwaukee, had his mind on New Orleans. But his friend Sean Dixon, with whom he had a band called The Chesterfields, had found a rent-controlled apartment in the East Village.
“That settled it,” Sharrard remembers with a laugh. “I became a New York City resident for the first time. My next-door neighbor was Allen Ginsberg, who was already one of my literary heroes at that time. I used to eat at Mee’s Chinese restaurant sitting across from Allen. It was our corner restaurant with a cheap dinner special. He’d always order the ginger fish and write! … It was like a dream, really. All those giant buildings spreading into infinity. It was so overwhelming.”
Sharrard had been in the Big Apple but a year when he met iconic Atlantic Records executive Ahmet Ertegun, who mentored The Chesterfields and gave the young guitar-slinger some sage advice.
“Ahmet told me that you must do it all – and well – if you want to survive as a musician,” Sharrard remembers. “He told me to get it all together: writing, singing, producing, playing, arranging. He convinced me to work twice as hard because around 2000 he saw the end of the music business as we knew it. He felt no one was around to support artists like back in the heyday of the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies.”
The Chesterfields cut three albums and toured nationally before Sharrard began to chart his own course. A series of releases followed, including “Dawnbreaker” (2005), “Analog/Monolog” (2008) and “Ante Up” (2009).
Ertegun wasn’t the only legend with Sharrard on his radar back then: The young guitarist also forged a relationship with Levon Helm – performing with The Band drummer about a dozen times, including his final gig just before his death in April of 2012.
Sharrard remains close with Helm’s daughter, Amy, and a host of other artists on the Woodstock scene.
Preparation meets opportunity
It was through Amy’s then-husband, multi-instrumentalist Jay Collins – already a member of Allman’s band – that Sharrard embarked on the collaboration of a lifetime. In the fall of 2008, Sharrard began a nearly decade-long run with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.
“I grew up on the music of the Allman Brothers,” says Sharrard. “I consider first hearing them to be the ‘Big Bang’ moment for me as a pre-teen. I’ve always been chasing what I like to call ‘Real Rock and Roll,’ a blend of blues, jazz, soul, country and folk – with the central goal being to create an original sound of your own. In that respect, working with Gregg just solidified everything I’ve believed since I was a kid.”
Sharrard joined the Gregg Allman Band as a touring guitarist and later became Musical Director.
The fruitful partnership ended with the 69-year-old Allman’s death on May 27, 2017. But not before Allman covered Sharrard’s “Love Like Kerosene” on 2015’s “Gregg Allman Live: Back to Macon, GA,” and again on Allman’s eighth and final solo album, the posthumous, GRAMMY-nominated “Southern Blood” (Rounder Records, 2017).
Another “Southern Blood” track, the unforgettable farewell “My Only True Friend” – co-written by Sharrard and Allman – earned a GRAMMY nomination for Americana Song of the Year.
Sharrard’s deep respect for Allman factored heavily into the 2018 release date for “Saving Grace.” Tracking was completed in December of 2016. But Sharrard – knowing Allman’s health was failing and that “Southern Blood” would be his last hurrah – chose to delay its unveiling.
He’s now begun a new chapter with an album he consciously wanted to summarize the last 20 years of his work – and one that showcases the totality of his artistry: as guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, arranger and bandleader.
In short, he says, it’s rock n’ roll rooted in everything else.
“I basically have a rock ’n’ roll band,” Sharrard explains. “When I was growing up, I loved bands like Little Feat, Led Zeppelin and the Allmans. They would explore so many styles and experiment. That’s something I have always tried to embrace, and that’s how I want to present my music today. This is what I tried to do with Gregg. Now I’m continuing that as a solo artist.”
Scott has recently joined the legendary band Little Feat as a guitarist/vocalist. He will be releasing his 6th solo album in Spring 2020.
Adam Levy discusses his jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Adam: To call Adam Levy a "well-traveled musician" would be a hell of an understatement. During a six-year stint touring as a member of Norah Jones' Handsome Band, Levy went round the world several times and maxed out the pages of his passportand then a second onewith country stamps and visas. He first played with Jones at the very beginning of the singer's career and went on to be the featured electric guitarist on her wildly successful first three albums and DVDs. Levy held the enviable gig through 2007, ultimately leaving to follow his own path as a performing songwriter.
Levy released two CDs under his own name while in Jones' band, and has continued to release new recordings annually since thensome featuring his lyrical songs, some wholly instrumental. His best-known is 'The Heart Collector,' praised by No Depression online as "a great album overflowing with warm and soulful songs that enchant the ears and captivate the heart." Other recent CDs include 'Town & Country,' 'Blueberry Blonde,' and 'Live from Sun Studio'the latter tracked, of course, at the legendary Memphis mecca where Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley cut their first acetates.
Jones is not the only top-shelf artist whose music Levy has been party to. He can be heard on Tracy Chapman's New Beginning (that's Levy's laid-back blues solo on "Give Me One Reason"), Amos Lee's eponymous Blue Note debut (featured on the single, "Arms of a Woman"), Lisa Loeb's 'Lullaby Girl,' Vulfpeck's 'The Beautiful Game,' Allen Toussaint's 'American Tunes,' and Meshell Ndegeocello's 'Ventriloquism.'
Levy is also well-known as a writer and journalist, with articles appearing regularly in the pages of Fretboard Journal and Acoustic Guitar magazines. And he has earned a reputation as an esteemed educator. He is the author of Jazz Guitar Sight-Reading (book) and Play the Right Stuff (book & DVD), and has led many workshops and masterclasses all across the U.-and internationally.
Andy Wood discusses his "ShapeShifter" guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Andy: ANDY WOOD is recognized as part of the forefront of this generation’s top influential guitarists.
Currently touring as a solo guitarist and mandolinist along with working on a host of additional musical projects, Andy is also performing live with his own band promoting CAUGHT BETWEEN THE TRUTH AND A LIE, the double album which showcases his vast musical influences and abilities.
Andy has toured professionally with a wide range of acts, including most recently Gary Allan, LOCASH, Rascal Flatts, Scott Stapp, and Sebastian Bach. Looking for an outlet for styles other than hard rock, Andy also released his debut solo album A DISCONCERTING AMALGAM. This instrumental record covers a broad range of genres including fusion, rock, metal, and acoustic bluegrass. Andy Wood is known for blurring the lines of preconceived genres.
Andy spent most of his childhood playing and competing in bluegrass festivals. Touring the bluegrass circuit with his cousin and grandfather provided Andy with the necessary exposure that helped refine and sharpen his skills. Andy and his cousin held various state championship titles.
At the young age of sixteen, Andy finished second in the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MANDOLIN CONTEST in Winfield, Kansas. All of this was accomplished before Andy discovered the world of electric guitar at the age of eighteen.
Fast-forward a few years. Andy’s curiosity and appreciation for music drew him into the world of electric guitars. The new instrument was familiar due to his experience with acoustic instruments, but at the same time, allowed him to manipulate his sound in ways never before possible. He began studying the styles of Nashville session players such as Brent Mason and Albert Lee.
It was not long after Andy had immersed himself in new styles such as jazz, swing, fusion, and rock. Andy began to study other guitar greats such as The Dixie Dregs, Eric Johnson, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai. The young guitarist began incorporating their influences into his own style.
At the age of 22, Andy was drawn back to competition in the form of GUITARMAGGEDON, a guitar contest sponsored by Guitar Center. Andy was a face in the crowd of 3,400 other contestants, but he made his presence known by being crowned champion of this prestigious tournament.
Not long after winning Guitarmaggedon, Andy became a founding member of the rock group DOWN FROM UP. They have toured with Seven Dust, Drowning Pool and 10 Years.
As Andy climbs to greater and greater heights, his technical proficiency and tasteful chops makes Mr. Wood a force to be reckoned with, and a name you will not forget. If you find yourself “Caught Between The Truth and a Lie,” you’ll need all the “Charisma” you can get your hands on!
Mimi Fox discusses her jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Mimi: Internationally renowned guitarist, composer and 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.
Jason Loughlin discusses his surf guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Jason: Jason Loughlin's creative guitar playing has supported artists such as Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Amos Lee, Sam Outlaw, Brandi Carlile, Rachael Yamagata, The Secret Sisters, Valerie June, Keb Mo, Jennifer Nettles, Brent Cobb, Shannon McNally, Jack Ingram, Marshall Crenshaw, Dale Watson, Jim Heath, Nellie McKay, Lesley Gore, The Sweetback Sisters, James Burton and Mike Viola. In 2011, Jason released his debut album Peach Crate which was met with critical acclaim.
"We hear an instrumentalist of great range, taste and joy."-Downbeat Magazine
Uncannily well-constructed launching pads for great picking. A great guitar album that could easily sit alongside those of his inspirations.-Vintage Guitar Magazine
Currently, Jason lives in Brooklyn, NY where he performs with his bands The String Gliders and Aquarium Solarium, teaches and produces records.
Peter Mazza discusses his harmonic jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Peter: Peter Mazza is an exciting jazz guitarist recognized for his creative and virtuoso interpretations of jazz standards as well as his passionate and thoughtful compositions. Blending clean and fluent lines with colorful chord voicings and driving pulse, he creates imaginative ensemble arrangements as well as lush solo guitar pieces.
Born and raised in New York City, he attended La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts, then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and a Masters from The Juilliard School (his Masters on a full scholarship). He studied under guitarists- Allen Hanlon, Fred Fried, Jack Wilkins, Rodney Jones, Dennis Koster.
His performing career began while still in school when he earned the leader’s role at a four-night-a week jam session at Augie's Jazz Bar, now called Smoke. He played there with Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Joel Frahm, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, Uri Cane, Christian McBride, Larry Grenadier, Dwayne Burno, Greg Hutchinson, Jeff Ballard and many others.
Peter went on to gain acceptance to the prestigious Thelonius Monk Jazz Competition, where he was ranked semifinalist.
He has performed guitar duos in NYC with Jonathan Kreisberg, Mike Moreno, Freddie Bryant, Pete Bernstein, Paul Bollenback, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jack Wilkins, Gene Bertoncini, Barry Greene and many more.
His groups have been featured at jazz venues such as Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, The Knitting Factory and the Cornelia Street Café and as part of special events held at the United Nations, Rainbow Room, Rialto Room, The Allen Room, The River Club, The Yacht Club, Tribeca Grill, Le Bernadin, Brigewater's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's.
12 years ago, Peter began a Sunday night trio residency at The Bar Next Door at La Lanterna that is still vital today. His trio has featured Hendrik Meurkens, Will Vinson, John Ellis, Donny McCaslin, Jon Irabagon, Patrick Cornelius, Jacam Manricks, Etienne Charles, Itai Kriss, Matt Penman, Matt Clohesy, Hans Glawischnig, Marco Panascia, Ben Williams, Haggai Cohen-Milo, Brian Charette, Ari Hoenig, Bruce Cox and many more.
Over the course of his steady-Sunday-night, Peter has favored the use of 2 different instrumentations that have complimented intimate size of the BND and the club’s exclusive trio format. Those trios boldly explore texture and rhythm without the presence of drums. They include a guitar with bass and horn group, then a guitar with keys and bass group. His current trio with Misha Tsiganov on piano and Thomson Kneeland on Bass just recorded a debut release called “Circles and Lines" on Peter’s own Urban Flower Records.
After successfully launching his residency-gig, early on Peter helped implement a 7-night-a-week schedule of jazz music at the Bar Next Door at La Lanterna that has featured an outstanding and diverse array of guitar and saxophone-led trios, from some of New York’s most seasoned musicians, to some of its most exciting new talent. In an effort to continue to expand the club’s offerings as its Musical Director, 3 years ago he designed and implemented an Emerging Artist Series that has featured the best college-aged musicians playing early sets that occur on 4 nights of every week.
Peter has been invited to perform and guest speak at New York University, The Manhattan School of Music and at the Peabody Institute. In his presentations he discusses how he initiated jazz nights at various restaurants and bars throughout the city and how that effort culminated in the conversion of the BND from a restaurant with jazz into a notable full-on listening venue. He advises students on creative and professional ways to assimilate into the New York Jazz Club scene, particularly into the Emerging Artist Series.
Peter has taught jazz guitar for over 20 years. He held long affiliations with The American Institute of Guitar/International Studio of Music, The National Guitar Workshop and The New School while retaining his active private studio. He has been featured in the pages of Just Jazz Guitar and Jazz Inside magazines where he has discussed his approach to arranging, writing and practicing.
His solo guitar video of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on You Tube posses over 120,000 views.
His first CD was in 2007, called Through My Eyes on the Japanese label Late Set Records. The disc presented 8 original compositions and 2 original arrangements. While the pieces drew from jazz, classical, rock, funk and ambient music, the evocative and personal nature of the music fused them. The release was supported with 2 tours of Japan.
Peter’s most current CD - “Circles and Lines" is scheduled for release in October of 2014. He has a solo guitar recording “Blues for the Ineffable" is scheduled for release in 2015.
Though Peter is well seasoned with his own clear and distinctive style, he remains one of the jazz guitar world’s best-kept secrets.
Redd Volkaert discusses his electric guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Redd: Born in Canada, Redd Volkaert began guitar at age ten. After many club gigs and traveling around Canada, he moved to the U.S. He spent time in California and Nashville, but eventually found his home in Austin, Texas.
Redd is best known to country audiences as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers since 1997. He launched his solo career with the album Telewacker in the late 90’s and is known as one of the great masters of the Telecaster.
Corey Congilio discusses his bar room blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Corey Congilio: Since picking up the guitar at age thirteen, Corey Congilio has been steadily forming a solid musical foundation built upon honesty, integrity and respect for his art form. Born and raised in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Corey was exposed to music from his father, mother and guitar playing uncles. This exposure to music of all types at an early age, helped to lay a foundation of passion, versatility and appreciation of what music is, where it comes from, and what it should be.
Realizing at an early age that music and the guitar would be his life’s focus, Corey moved to Pittsburgh, PA to attend the Art Institute Of Pittsburgh. There, Corey studied audio engineering but, didn’t get into music production officially until a few years after graduation. In the late 1990’s Pittsburgh had a vibrant music scene rich with blues, R&B, and original Rock. Corey shot up through the ranks by hanging out with the city’s best players who helped in honing his skills and overall musical maturity.
In 2005, Corey produced his first EP for a local country artist and his love of the studio began to blossom. Corey became an in demand session player in Pittsburgh and began to produce projects for singer-songwriters. His projects ran the gamut of styles that showed off his ability on instruments other than the guitar.
Over a 10-year period as an instructor, Corey has taught hundreds of students ranging in age, from six to eighty years old. A decade’s worth of guitar instruction helped to connect Corey to the world’s leader in online guitar instruction, TrueFire. Corey released his first official TrueFire course entitled, 50 Texas Blues Licks You Must Know, in 2011 and his fate as a worldwide guitar instructor was sealed. Since the launch of 50 Texas Blues, Corey continues to release top selling courses of all ability ranges through TrueFire.
His passion for teaching and presenting lends itself to the world of musical instrument demonstration as well. Since 2014, Corey has been an artist clinician for the most iconic acoustic guitar maker in the world, C.F.Martin Guitar & Co.
Corey moved to Nashville in 2013 and has quickly become a part of the town’s rich music community. Since moving to Nashville, he continues to broaden his musical horizons by performing with artists of all genres and participating in multiple recording sessions for songwriters and television.
Corey’s latest EP “Well Suited” was released in 2016 and he is currently writing and recording more music for a future project.
Brooks Robertson discusses his finger picking guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Brooks Robertson: Brooks Robertson just doesn't need much more than two thumbs, eight fingers and six strings on a wooden box to carry his listeners away.
Hailed by prominent exponents of his instrument like Nokie Edwards, Thom Bresh, John Jorgenson and Mason Williams, the young fingerstyle guitarist embodies the creative vision of a postmodern world: It's the music that counts. Brooks utilizes his superb technical abilities to play bass, rhythm and melody simultaneously and surpass the borders of conventional genres. He merges hauntingly beautiful compositions, country rhythms and jazzy harmonies with funky licks into his very own art form – sometimes delivered with a punch, sometimes with a smile.
Brooks was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1989. Seeing Buster B. Jones perform at a festival near his home town became a life-changing experience for the kid from the sticks. Just eleven years old, he was immediately inclined to pick up the guitar. Soon, the world renowned fingerstyle virtuoso and instructor dedicated his spare time to introducing his new fan into the secrets of the fretboard, and after six months of lessons the natural talent performed his first show with his mentor.
When Buster B. Jones took him under his wings, Brooks began playing high-profile gigs such as the Nokie Edwards Festival, the NAMM Show in Anaheim, the Montreal Jazz Festival or the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield among others. By the time he was a teenager he had become the youngest endorsee of Godin Guitars and traveled to several states and foreign countries to perform.
Brooks went on to play on Garrison Keillor's National Public Radio classic "A Prairie Home Companion" in 2004, where he won first place in a talent competition for 12 to 20 year old participants. In recent years, while still appearing regularly at prestigious events like the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society (CAAS) Convention in Nashville, Brooks focussed on perfecting his craft, soaking up new tunes and styles and techniques as well as blending them into his own groovy and soulful original music. He entered the "Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition", which drew participants from more than 40 countries all over the world. Brooks was invited to perform in the finals at the Broad Stage in Los Angeles in March 2010. A star-studded jury, including Steve Lukather and Lee Ritenour, eventually chose him as winner of the country category and second place winner overall.
Although he is deeply rooted in the powerful tradition of the genre, founded by the likes of Merle Travis, Jerry Reed, Thom Bresh and Buster B. Jones, Brooks also draws inspiration from the elegant mastery of the legendary Chet Atkins and other phenomenal players. His own compositions and arrangements have even been compared to fingerstyle jazz champions Lenny Breau and Earl Klugh. Now, as energy and maturity come together, this young man is ready to step out of his mentors' shadows and electrify the world with the sheer acoustic beauty his fingers create, when touching a set of strings.
"I was completely knocked out with the acoustic guitar virtuosity of Brooks Robertson! Brooks has a very original touch and sound plus monster chops. He's always making great music with his guitar. I'm sure Brooks will be sharing his music with the entire world and have an incredible career." Lee Ritenour (Grammy award winning guitarist )
"He is slicker than a cat on a greased pole." Nokie Edwards (The Ventures, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
"Brooks Robertson plays like the house is on fire." Thom Bresh (legendary thumbpicker)
"Brooks Robertson is well-equipped to carry on the legacy of Buster B Jones' powerful and funky guitar style. Any player would be very proud to have such an accomplished guitarist as a protégé. Brooks' personal playing and composing style is equally compelling, as audiences around the world are finding out. The solo guitar's future is in good hands with players like Brooks out there!" John Jorgenson (Elton John, Desert Rose Band, Hellecasters)
"All guitar players are like Frankensteins. Their music is made out of bits and pieces of other players. In Brooks' case, he's a son of a Frankenchops, the well known monster picker Buster B. Jones. Buster and Brooks are both so scary ... the legend continues." Mason Williams ("Mr. Classical Gas")
"Brooks Robertson is a superb and exciting guitarist. I love his playing!" Pat Bergeson (Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Lyle Lovett, Madeleine Peyroux)
"Brooks Robertson has one of the very best techniques in fingerstyle guitar. You can hear the influences of Buster B. Jones, Jerry Reed, and all the great fingerpickers past ... and he's writing some fabulous new material. An amazing guitar player who's showing the rest of us how it's done! Nobody whops Brooks Robertson!" Richard Smith (fingerstyle virtuoso)
"Brooks Robertson's playing is wonderful, rhythmically precise, harmonically complex and melodically compelling. How he controls all three simultaneously, blending them into something musically engaging, is remarkable. He's a gem." Neil Andersson (Pearl Django)
Fareed Haque discusses his jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Fareed Haque: Guitar virtuoso and master educator Fareed Haque has worked with Sting, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Holland, Joe Henderson, Joe Zawinul, Ramsey Lewis, Nigel Kennedy, Bob James, David Sanborn, many symphony orchestras and dozens of other well-known artists. He's performed all of the major guitar concertos and has had numerous modern works dedicated to him. Fareed currently holds an associate professorship in jazz and classical guitar studies at Northern Illinois University, tours extensively with his jam super-group, Garaj Mahal and has released nine recordings as a leader in various configurations.
Redd Volkaert discusses his country guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Redd Volkaert: Born in Canada, Redd Volkaert began guitar at age ten. After many club gigs and traveling around Canada, he moved to the U.S. He spent time in California and Nashville, but eventually found his home in Austin, Texas.
Redd is best known to country audiences as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers since 1997. He launched his solo career with the album Telewacker in the late 90’s and is known as one of the great masters of the Telecaster.
Matt Schofield discusses his blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Matt Schofield: Though he holds a British passport and is an inductee of the British Blues Hall of Fame, Matt Schofield has been making his mark globally as one of the top players in the new class of six string wunderkinds.
The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, In Schofield, the UK has produced the best Blues guitarist from any country in decades head and shoulders above the herd, while Guitar & Bass Magazine rated him in the top ten British blues guitarists of all time ranking him with icons Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Born in the industrial city of Manchester and raised amongst the rolling hills and locked in time Cotswolds, Schofield began playing guitar at the age of 12.
My dad relocated to America, but before he left he gave me a BB King video. I watched it before school every day; it was three or four tracks from a concert. Later, when I was in California with my father, he showed me BB King with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan on video.
It was like; Ive got to do this. Theres something about the way the three of them were jamming. B.B. really was majestic. As an 11-or 12-year-old watching him, I was mesmerized but didnt think there was any way I could ever do that. It was too special. But when I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan playing with him, I thought maybe I could. Stevie made it seem accessible to people. I taught myself, working my way through my Dads great blues record collection. I did my first gig age 13, and Ive been doing it ever since.
At age 18 he left the countryside and moved to London. There, as a sideman, he was able to hone his skills as backing a great variety of experienced and well known artists of the British Blues scene, visiting American artists, as well start touring internationally. The introspective, well read (lover of science, history and philosophy) and passionate Schofield said, this enabled me to stay close to my roots while learning my trade and exploring a variety of musical frontiers.
By age 25 I was starting to explore my own band projects. Although my formative guitar influences are the largely the old school blues players, I never wanted my own music to be constrained by a rigid formula, or even genre. I just want to play Matt Schofield music. Classic Jazz, funk, soul and rock and all the music I love have all found their way into it. The process of writing and singing has become increasingly important to me, and I feel its those other aspects of creativity that helped define my own voice on the guitar. Its always been important to find a context for the guitar to be part of, so that its not just guitar solos for their own sake.
I remain a music lover first and foremost. The recognition Ive received from both fans and peers is humbling and inspiring, and those pinch me moments where I found myself trading licks with heroes like Robben Ford and Buddy Guy are still the biggest thrill.
Now after five studio albums and a solid 10 years of touring with my own band, I have definite broader concepts I want to explore. Remaining open to where the music might take me while maintaining the excitement that improvising and collaborating with talented musicians allow, is key to me. My inspiration and goals came from many places: My influences old and new, including musicians I have wanted to collaborate with for years. Things I still feel I hadn't fully realized on previous studio records, and a need to keep pushing myself. It all meets at the place where Im heading now. Im always aiming to go as far as possible to capturing the same connection with the listener that I aim to make at a live show or on record. Thats the goal. Capturing that special moment."
Matt will release his newest album, a fifteenth anniversary recording with his original organ trio line-up, in 2019.
Peter Mazza is an exciting jazz guitarist recognized for his creative and virtuoso interpretations of jazz standards as well as his passionate and thoughtful compositions. Blending clean and fluent lines with colorful chord voicings and driving pulse, he creates imaginative ensemble arrangements as well as lush solo guitar pieces.
Born and raised in New York City, he attended La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts, then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Music from the Manhattan School of Music and a Masters from The Juilliard School (his Masters on a full scholarship). He studied under guitarists- Allen Hanlon, Fred Fried, Jack Wilkins, Rodney Jones, Dennis Koster.
His performing career began while still in school when he earned the leader’s role at a four-night-a week jam session at Augie's Jazz Bar, now called Smoke. He played there with Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Joel Frahm, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, Uri Cane, Christian McBride, Larry Grenadier, Dwayne Burno, Greg Hutchinson, Jeff Ballard and many others.
Peter went on to gain acceptance to the prestigious Thelonius Monk Jazz Competition, where he was ranked semifinalist.
He has performed guitar duos in NYC with Jonathan Kreisberg, Mike Moreno, Freddie Bryant, Pete Bernstein, Paul Bollenback, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jack Wilkins, Gene Bertoncini, Barry Greene and many more.
His groups have been featured at jazz venues such as Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, The Knitting Factory and the Cornelia Street Café and as part of special events held at the United Nations, Rainbow Room, Rialto Room, The Allen Room, The River Club, The Yacht Club, Tribeca Grill, Le Bernadin, Brigewater's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's.
12 years ago, Peter began a Sunday night trio residency at The Bar Next Door at La Lanterna that is still vital today. His trio has featured Hendrik Meurkens, Will Vinson, John Ellis, Donny McCaslin, Jon Irabagon, Patrick Cornelius, Jacam Manricks, Etienne Charles, Itai Kriss, Matt Penman, Matt Clohesy, Hans Glawischnig, Marco Panascia, Ben Williams, Haggai Cohen-Milo, Brian Charette, Ari Hoenig, Bruce Cox and many more.
Over the course of his steady-Sunday-night, Peter has favored the use of 2 different instrumentations that have complimented intimate size of the BND and the club’s exclusive trio format. Those trios boldly explore texture and rhythm without the presence of drums. They include a guitar with bass and horn group, then a guitar with keys and bass group. His current trio with Misha Tsiganov on piano and Thomson Kneeland on Bass just recorded a debut release called “Circles and Lines" on Peter’s own Urban Flower Records.
After successfully launching his residency-gig, early on Peter helped implement a 7-night-a-week schedule of jazz music at the Bar Next Door at La Lanterna that has featured an outstanding and diverse array of guitar and saxophone-led trios, from some of New York’s most seasoned musicians, to some of its most exciting new talent. In an effort to continue to expand the club’s offerings as its Musical Director, 3 years ago he designed and implemented an Emerging Artist Series that has featured the best college-aged musicians playing early sets that occur on 4 nights of every week.
Peter has been invited to perform and guest speak at New York University, The Manhattan School of Music and at the Peabody Institute. In his presentations he discusses how he initiated jazz nights at various restaurants and bars throughout the city and how that effort culminated in the conversion of the BND from a restaurant with jazz into a notable full-on listening venue. He advises students on creative and professional ways to assimilate into the New York Jazz Club scene, particularly into the Emerging Artist Series.
Peter has taught jazz guitar for over 20 years. He held long affiliations with The American Institute of Guitar/International Studio of Music, The National Guitar Workshop and The New School while retaining his active private studio. He has been featured in the pages of Just Jazz Guitar and Jazz Inside magazines where he has discussed his approach to arranging, writing and practicing.
His solo guitar video of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on You Tube posses over 120,000 views.
His first CD was in 2007, called Through My Eyes on the Japanese label Late Set Records. The disc presented 8 original compositions and 2 original arrangements. While the pieces drew from jazz, classical, rock, funk and ambient music, the evocative and personal nature of the music fused them. The release was supported with 2 tours of Japan.
Peter’s most current CD - “Circles and Lines" is scheduled for release in October of 2014. He has a solo guitar recording “Blues for the Ineffable" is scheduled for release in 2015.
Though Peter is well seasoned with his own clear and distinctive style, he remains one of the jazz guitar world’s best-kept secrets
Andy Timmons discusses his latest guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Andy Timmons: As guitarist for pop-metal band Danger Danger, he toured the world opening for Kiss and Alice Cooper, sold over a million records worldwide, and had two #1 videos on MTV, plus amassing a discography that includes 7 solo releases that range from blazing guitar instrumentals, to blues, and even a Beatles/Elvis Costello-inspired collection of pop tunes.
As a session player, he's been highly featured on CDs by drumming legend Simon Phillips, a live CD with Olivia Newton-John (Andy has been her music director/guitarist for several U.S. tours), two internationally acclaimed CDs by Kip Winger, recording sessions for Paula Abdul, Paul Stanley, and countless radio and television jingles. He has also played alongside many of his heroes such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani (as a regular guest on their G3 tours in Dallas), Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Mike Stern, Ace Frehley, Ted Nugent, and Pierre Bensusan, as well as some of his fave '60's singing stars such as the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, and Gordon Waller (of Peter and Gordon fame!)
Chris Buono discusses his sight-reading guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Chris Buono: Chris Buono makes music with a guitar and lots of pedals. As a leader Chris heads the genre-bending organ trio cB3 featuring Ben Stivers and Tobias Ralph. Chris is the founder and co-writer for the progressive math funk project RedRightReturn that includes Tippan Phasuk, Justin Stanton, Evan Marien and Alex Silvergold. Both cB3 and RedRightReturn are releasing debut albums in 2019. Chris also plays with cult legends, James Chance & The Contortions.
As a sideman and/or guest soloist Chris Buono has performed and/or recorded with Dweezil Zappa, Snarky Puppy, Bumblefoot, Karsh Kale, Graham Haynes, David Fiuczynski, Oz Noy, Keith Carlock, Rodney Holmes, Steve Jenkins, Tony Grey, Dave Martone, Sophia Ramos, Dopapod, Consider the Source and many more.
As an educator Chris has taught guitarists from all over the world through Berklee College of Music, TrueFire, Guitar Player, Guitar One, Just Jazz Guitar, Hal Leonard, Alfred, Course Technology & Guitarinstrictor.com among others. Chris Buono is responsible for 39 TrueFire courses including the celebrated Guitar Gym series, eight instructional books on guitar and music technology and nearly 50 guitar magazine articles.
Chris Buono uses guitars, pedals, accessories and software made by the wonderful people at Vigier Guitars, Downes Guitars, Taylor Guitars, Mesa/Boogie, Fractal Audio Systems, DAddario, DiMarzio, Fusion Bags, SKB, Pigtronix, Source Audio, Amptweaker, TWA, Lehle, Graph Tech, Gruv Gear, Ableton, Arobas Music and Neck Diagrams.
Rob Garland discusses his guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Rob Garland: Rob Garland graduated from Christ Church College in the U.-with a Bachelors degree in Music/Radio Film & Television. After moving to the U.-in 1999 he studied with jazz great Jimmy Bruno.
Growing up in England Rob worked in a diverse array of bands, performed on the London college circuit and later played hundreds of gigs at festivals and clubs in the U.-with his group, Rob Garland & The Blue Monks. The band attained airplay on international radio and T.-stations.
In 2018 Rob joined the faculty at Musicians Institute, Hollywood, CA as a guitar instructor.
After being featured in numerous guitar magazines, Robs first instructional book was published by Cherry Lane in 2007 which led to him working for TrueFire where he has released full length instructional courses on topics such as CAGED chords, the pentatonic/major scale, songwriting and chord tones.
Rob teaches private lessons via the TrueFire platform, runs an artist channel (Babylon), writes articles for RIFF Journal, hosts live YouTube sessions and creates instructional courses for TrueFire. He also teaches via Skype and at his studio in Los Angeles, C-He currently plays with his fusion power trio (Rob Garlands Eclectic Tri-and jazz band (Catatonic). He has performed sessions at Los Angeles studios such as Revolver and The Village Recorder and co-writes music for Bad Robot. He continues to write, record and release his original music ranging in genre from jazz/rock instrumental to acoustic vocal folk.
Musicians Rob has worked with include Jimmy Haslip (The Yellowjackets), Andy Sanesi (Scott Henderson), Tony Newton (Gary Moore), Mick Stevens (Brand X) and Gus Thornton (Albert King).
He is endorsed by Bogner, Xotic, D'Addario, Hell Picks, Moody Straps and is influenced by "everyone from Joni Mitchell to Frank Zappa."
Visit him at http://www.robgarland.net
Willy Porter discusses his singer-songwriter guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Willy Porter: Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 11 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter’s songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle– at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter’s voice blends and fuses with his fret work.
A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late ‘80’s while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.
Porter’s breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song “Angry Words” quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).
In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the “Willy Porter Signature” acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter’s most enduring tunes (“Breathe,” “Paper Airplane,” “Watercolor”), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements.
In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival’s Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter’s brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel’s “Digging in the Dirt.” Porter’s follow-up release, Human Kindness (2015) incorporated all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great selection of songs bearing the influence of soul, rock, blues/Americana, showcasing Porter’s growth as a writer, musician, and producer.
After touring extensively together for more than two years, Porter and Nickerson released a full-length disc of original co-writes: Bonfire to Ash (2016). Produced by Grammy winning producer Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Jonatha Brooke) and featuring Bassist Zev Katz and Drummer/Producer Ben Wittman, Bonfire to Ash is a record that charts the experiences bridging the intimate with the universal. Porter and Nickerson borrow from their strong stage chemistry to render the same kind of musical conversation that unfolds in performance within a studio setting. This dialogic style broadens to consider the connections and values forged in the communities we call home (“Living Proof”) and in the responsibility we have to the planet that gives itself to house us (“Plant A Garden”). Bonfire to Ash compiles candid snapshots of the human journey, exposing ideas such as hope, regret, love, loss, and connection that remain immutable against time, history, or place.
In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $100,000 for this organization to date. He is also an Ambassador for Guitars for Vets, a Milwaukee-based International organization that works to improve the lives of veterans by providing them with guitars and music lessons.
Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.
Jeff McErlain discusses his blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Jeff McErlain: Jeff McErlain is a nyc based guitarist, instructor, and producer. Jeff has performed with Robben Ford, David Grissom, Matt Schofield, Ric Fierabracci, Keith Carlock and others. He is a top selling TrueFire instructor with over 20 instructional courses, an online classroom, and students around the world. He has contributed to Premier Guitar and Guitar Player Magazines. He has taught at the National Guitar Workshop, Crown Guitar Festival, Bath International Guitar Festival, Ruby Mountain Guitar Festival, and partners with Robben Ford in his Traveling Guitar Dojo every year. He was the curator of his Roots and Blues series at Brooklyns National Sawdust bringing in CeDell Davis, Robben Ford, David Grissom, and composer Mikel Rouse. Jeff is currently recording a record with Robben Ford.
Jeff has been obsessed with the instrument for as long as he can remember. Having and older brother and sister, his first guitar heroes were Brian May and David Gilmour. Jeff quickly discovered Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, and other heavy band and found his stride. That era was the heyday of electric guitar and was an extremely exciting period for the instrument.
After high-school Jeff joined NY metal band Hades opening for Anthrax, and King Diamond. After unceremoniously getting the boot for smiling too much on stage, Jeff enrolled at the Berklee College of Music and hit his stride and is still friends with many of the musicians he met there.
Shortly after Berklee Jeff moved to NYC and studied with Mike Stern and Wayne Krantz for a short time. He joined NY rap/rock/funk/fusion band Liquid Hips and started touring Europe. At the same time Jeff was developing his own trio with a steady gig at NYs legendary 55 Bar. He added a singer and formed blues rock band Flytrap and became a staple in nyc.
Jeff recorded his first solo Cd Im Tired featuring Ric Fierabracci, Kip Reed, Hari Ganglberger, and Walter Fischbacher.
Jeff discovered he enjoyed teaching as much as he did playing when he was hired by the National Guitar Workshop, as their youngest teacher. He also found it to be a more steady income than many of his touring buddies. At the NGW Jeff got to jam with many of his heroes and formed relationships that last to this day. Jeff embraced technology early by teaching online when Skype was launched. He also joined the TrueFire roster when the company was in its early phases and has become one of their most popular and best selling instructors.
A lover of gear Jeff endorses Two-Rock Amplifiers, Michael Tuttle Guitars, Collings Guitars, DAdarrio strings, Universal Audio, and ThroBak pickups.
Jeffs website is jeffmcerlain.com
Kid Andersen discusses his Blues Refinery guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Kid Andersen: Chris “Kid” Andersen was born in Telemark, Norway in 1980. A blues fan since childhood, Andersen fell in love with the music of Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Junior Watson, and the Kings (B.B., Albert and Freddie). By the time he was 18, he was backing all the American blues stars who came through Norway, including Homesick James, Nappy Brown and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. He moved to California at age 21, eventually earning himself a green card as an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability.”
Andersen released four solo albums before joining blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite’s band in 2004, a gig that lasted until he joined Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. Kid Andersen is known as the guitarist for Rick Estrin & The Nightcats with 3 BMA Nominations for Guitarist of the Year. The virtuoso also is the man behind Greaseland Studios, THE hub for authentic Blues Music in the Bay Area. Kid is bringing some of his favorite collaborators to Biscuits and Blues.
Kirk Fletcher discusses his blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Kirk Fletcher: Kirk Fletcher has a reputation as a bonafide can’t-miss performer. His soulful playing and singing never fails to elicit chills, and his unique approach to Rhythm & Blues music is both refreshingly modern and completely authentic.
Widely considered one of the best blues guitarists in the world, he has commanded the respect and acclaim of critics, peers and fans across the globe. He is a four-time Blues Music Award and a 2015 British Blues Award nominee and has played with a variety of popular artists, including Joe Bonamassa and a three-year role as lead guitarist of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
He released three studio albums and a live album. His new CD will be released in October 2018.
EARLY YEARS
Kirk first picked up a guitar at age eight, playing alongside his older brother Walter in their father’s church.
One day with his older brother, Kirk visited a small L.A. guitar shop, Music Works, which ultimately became his second home after meeting Jeff Rivera, Robben Ford’s guitar tech. “We started hanging out and I would help load gear, change strings and just be a fly on the wall to some of the most amazing music I’ve ever heard,” Kirk remembers.
KIRK’S BLUES
It was in the next few years that Kirk’s full introduction to traditional blues occurred. He started seeking out other musicians who shared this same understanding – enter Al Blake, lead singer and harp player for the Hollywood Fats Band. After hosting dinner every Sunday, Al would offer Kirk early 20th Century blues records as dessert. He also helped establish connections to other famous West Coast blues artists like Junior Watson and Richard “Lynwood Slim” Duran. So followed Kirk’s first gigs as a blues guitarist and eventually the recording of his first album I’m Here & I’m Gone for the JSP label out of England.
Al Blake would also introduce Kirk to Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Wilson brought Fletcher further into the blues family from California to Texas and then out touring the world. One highlight during this time was at Antone’s Night Club 25th Anniversary Week in Austin, Texas, which gave Kirk the opportunity to perform with his blues heroes Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton and Hubert Sumlin. Wilson also tapped Kirk to play on his Grammy-nominated Smokin’ Joint live album. Shortly thereafter a call to collaborate came from blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, confirming that Kirk was becoming one of the most in-demand blues guitarists on the scene.
HIS TURN
So began three years on the road with the Thunderbirds. Kirk contributed to the Thunderbirds’ Paint It On album and time spent with many famous blues artists along the way, including a brief stint with the late Doyle Bramhall Sr. and a few guest appearances playing for Cindi Lauper, Michelle Branch and a world tour with Italian mega-star Eros Ramazzotti. Kirk more recently has been part of two projects with close friend Joe Bonamassa Muddy Wolf at Redrocks and the Grammy nominated Live at the Greek Theatre.
Sean McGowan discusses his jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Sean McGowan: Sean McGowan is a fingerstyle jazz guitarist who combines many diverse musical influences with unconventional techniques to create a broad palette of textures within his compositions and arrangements for solo guitar. His first recording, "River Coffee" won the Best Independent Release of the Year Award (2002) from Acoustic Guitar magazine and music from the recording has been featured on BBC’s “Great Guitars" radio program, Maine Public Radio, and has been published in Japan’s Acoustic Guitar magazine and Mel Bay’s Master Anthology of Fingerstyle Guitar, Vol. 3 (2005). His recordings Indigo (2008) and Sphere: the Music of Thelonious Monk (2011) offer compelling portraits of classic jazz standards performed on solo electric archtop guitar. Sphere was named one of Acoustic Guitar magazine’s “Essential Albums of 2011". As a soloist, Sean has performed at several festivals including the Novi Sad International Jazz Festival in Serbia, the Healdsburg Guitar Festival in Napa Valley, Copper Mountain Guitar Town, the Newport Guitar Festival, and the Classic American Guitar Show in New York. He has also collaborated with several dance and improv companies, as well as with jazz and acoustic musicians throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Sean is an avid arts educator and currently serves as an assistant professor of music and the Guitar Program Director at the University of Colorado Denver. He earned a DMA in Guitar Performance from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and has conducted jazz guitar workshops at Berklee College, Bowdoin College, USC, University of Maine, University of Oregon, McNally Smith College, String Letter Music School in San Anselmo, and for the Seattle Jazz Guitar Society and Cheyenne Guitar Society. He has also presented and performed at the Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans, the International Symposium for the Performing Arts Medicine Association in Aspen, CO, and numerous College Music Society national and regional conferences.
Sean is a strong advocate for injury prevention and health education for musicians, and his workshops incorporate a holistic approach to playing. He is also a contributing editor and educational advisor for Acoustic Guitar magazine. His latest book/DVD instructional project is Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Essentials (String Letter/Hal Leonard).
Reverend Robert Jones discusses his latest blues guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Reverend Robert Jones: Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is a native Detroiter and an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor, and power of American Roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.
For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches, and civil rights organizations. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Acclaimed photographer James Fraher writes about Robert: “Perhaps the world’s most highly educated blues musician, an ordained minister, a longtime DJ, and a living encyclopedia of blues history, the Reverend Robert Jones is comfortable among juke joint loud talkers, fancy-hatted church ladies, and PhDs alike."
Alex Skolnick discusses his latest guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Alex Skolnick: Alex Skolnick is both an original member of Bay Area thrashers Testament (which he joined at age sixteen) and a respected New York improviser of multiple styles.
Emerging as one of the original melodic thrash guitarists (alongside Marty Friedman), Alex later moved to New York and earned a BfA in Jazz from The New School, studying with such prestigious artists as George Garzone, Cecil McBee and Reggie Workman.
Now a longtime resident of Brooklyn New York, he has gone on to release several critically acclaimed albums with the Alex Skolnick Trio, described as thus by jazz journalist Bill Milkowski: “Skolnick runs the guitaristic gamut from lush chord melodies to Wes Montgomery-style octaves to screaming Sonny Sharrock-esque skronking” (Downbeat Jan 2017).
Henry Johnson discusses his latest jazz guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Henry Johnson: The Chicago-born guitarist began playing at age twelve. While spending some formative time in Memphis, he started playing gospel music at age thirteen. By age fourteen, Johnson was playing in R&B groups. Although Johnson's parents brought him up hearing the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Joe Williams, and other artists of that era, it was not until 1967 that Johnson was formally introduced to jazz by hearing guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1969, Johnson and his family then moved back to Chicago where he developed a reputation on the south side as a good local jazz guitarist. In 1976, he went on the road with jazz organist Jack McDuff and was called to work with vocalist, Donny Hathaway in 1977.
In 1979, Johnson began playing with jazz pianist, Ramsey Lewis. And in 1985, jazz legend, Joe Williams added Johnson to his regular group. Johnson's musical roots run deep into gospel, blues, and jazz. His strongest and earliest influences were Kenny Burrell, George Benson, and most significantly, Wes Montgomery. While influenced by these great guitarists, Johnson also cites the music of Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, big bands, and jazz orchestras as integral forces which shaped his sound and style.
“You're The One”, his recording debut for MCA/Impulse! achieved #1 status on both the Radio & Records NAC chart, and Contemporary Jazz chart for two months – a rare occurrence for a first recording. This recording also won a five star rating in Downbeat magazine, and was nominated for a Grammy. Jazz Times reviewer Diane Patrick called “You're The One” “A thoughtful piece of work which may well become a jazz guitar classic.”
Johnson's follow-up recordings, “Future Excursions” and “Never Too Much” also reached the top of the charts. New Beginnings was Johnson's debut recording for the Heads Up International jazz label. Johnson's music has been a favorite at radio stations world wide since the release of his very first CD, “You're the One” on MCA/Impulse! and the appeal of his music continued with the release of his second recording for Heads Up International, titled “Missing You.”
In addition to his solo recording projects, Johnson has found time to record with the likes of Ramsey Lewis, vocalists, Joe Williams and Vanessa Ruben, and saxophonist Richie Cole among many others. He has performed with Nancy Wilson, Marlena Shaw, Angela Bofil, Dizzy Gillespie, the Boston Pops, Sonny Stitt, Freddie Hubbard, Grover Washington Jr., Stanley Turrentine, Dr. Billy Taylor, and organist Jimmy Smith, James Moody, David “Fathead” Newman, Terry Gibbs, Bobby Watson, Nicholas Payton, and many other great jazz artists
Robben Ford discusses his latest guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Robben Ford: Named one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century" by Musician magazine and recipient of Guitar Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Legend award, Robben Ford's innovative and soulful musicality triggered a revolution in electric blues guitar styling.
A five-time Grammy nominee, bandleader and prolific composer, Robben has collaborated with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, L.A. Express with Tom Scott, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Claus Ogerman, Michael McDonald, Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Greg Allman, John Scofield and many others.
Carl Verheyen discusses his latest guitar lessons available on TrueFire, performs, and answers questions. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Carl Verheyen: In his 40-plus years of playing the instrument, Carl Verheyen has created a wildly successful, multi-faceted career. He is a critically-acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator with 12 CDs and two live DVDs released worldwide. Carl is commonly regarded as a guitar virtuoso and tone master capable of playing any style of music with remarkable mastery and conviction. He has been one of LA's elite "first call" session players for the past 25 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks and television shows. Carl has graced the pages of countless industry publications and been the subject of numerous articles chronicling his rise to the forefront of the modern day guitar scene. Carl has won numerous polls and musical honors in the United States, Germany, France, Italy and the UK.
On the educational front, Carl has produced two instructional videos called Intervallic Rock Guitar and Forward Motion as well as various on-line lessons. He also has a book/CD detailing his unique "intervallic" style called Improvising Without Scales. Another book entitled Studio City is a compilation of all the columns Carl wrote for Guitar Magazine between 1996 and 1999. He has written a monthly column for Chitarre, Italy's #1 guitar publication as well as Guitar World and Guitar Jam Daily, a website devoted to serious guitarists. He currently writes a monthly column for Guitar Player, contributes to other guitar publications, and blogs regularly for GuitarPlayer.com and his own site. Carl also lectures and teaches at clinics regularly when not on the road.
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with bebop guitarist extraordinaire, Sheryl Bailey, to discuss her latest jazz guitar courses. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
The Downbeat Critics Poll voted Sheryl a Rising Star (2013-2016) and One of the new greats of her chosen instrument Phillip Booth, Downbeat Magazine
As a leader, she has toured the US, Canada, Finland, Austria, Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and the UK with her many projects: The Sheryl Bailey 3, The Sheryl Bailey 4, The Electric Ladyland Project, Acoustic Muse, and Plucky Strum. She has 10 critically acclaimed releases as a leader. Her latest is Plucky Strum with bass master Harvie S via Whaling City Sound.
She has toured and recorded with Richard Bona, Anat Cohen, David Krakauers Ancestral Groove, Abraham Inc., John Zorn, Irene Cara, Lea Delaria, George Garzone, Jack Wilkins, Shingo Okudaira, Steve Slagle, Harvie S, Ken Peplowski, Kim Plainfield, and Gary Thomas.
As an educator, she has been Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music since 2000, is faculty at The Collective School of Music in NYC, and has hosted master classes and workshops worldwide. Her Mel Bay publication, Moveable Shapes, is a top seller in their Jazz Curriculum Series. Her latest adventure is The Bebop Dojo, an interactive, online jazz academy developed for the Guitar Sherpa program at Truefire.com. Her Bebop Dojo Essentials course and her 50 Bebop Licks Everyone Should Know are also top TrueFire titles.
Sheryl plays her Signature McCurdy Mercury Model, Acoustic Image Amplifiers, Stone Bridge Acoustic Guitars and Earthquaker Devices
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with blues guitarist extraordinaire, Josh Smith, to discuss his guitar masterclass course, Blue Highways. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Stu Hamm: Stu Hamm 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.
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with blues guitarist extraordinaire, Josh Smith, to discuss his guitar masterclass course, Blue Highways. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Josh Smith: Josh Smith was born October 7, 1979 in Middletown, Connecticut. Before he was 1, his family relocated to Florida, eventually settling in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. At age 3, he received his first guitar and at 6, he started taking guitar lessons.
Josh was exposed to the blues at an early age. He listened to a variety of artists, such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Albert King and T-Bone Walker. He also started going to concerts, including the Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
By 12, Josh was playing at established professional blues jams in South Florida, such as Musicians Exchange Café in Fort Lauderdale and Club M in Hollywood, FL.
When Josh was 13, the Rhino Cats, house band at Club M, asked him to be the lead guitarist. Musicians Exchange owner Don Cohen was so taken aback by the talent of this young musician that he offered to help manage and develop Josh’s career.
The Café was renowned for bringing in the best national touring blues bands, and Josh was quick to learn how to approach these blues greats, many of whom would invite Josh to sit in with them, thinking it may be a “novelty” to have a 14-year-old kid playing the blues. The novelty quickly wore off and was replaced by musicians stopping, watching and listening as this “kid” wailed out blues licks better than many of the touring guitarists on the circuit. Josh began sitting in with such greats as Jimmy Thackery, Tinsley Ellis, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, Johnny “Clyde” Copeland, Double Trouble, Joanna Connor and Kim Simmonds, among others. Jimmy Thackery said of the 14-year-old, “Josh is three heartbreaks away from being a true blues guitar genius.” At 14, Josh released his first CD, Born Under a Blue Sign , and at 15, he released his second CD, Woodsheddin.
While performing all over South Florida, Josh Smith and the Rhino Cats quickly became one of the most in-demand blues bands in the area. In 1994, while Josh was only 15, they received the Florida Jammy Award for best blues band and were selected as XS Readers Choice Winners in 1995 for best blues band. In 1996, then a senior in high school, Josh was put on the cover of the national magazine High School Senior , which hailed him as an “Up and Coming Guitar Legend.” That same year, Washburn Guitars Int’l recognized Josh’s talent and offered him an endorsement. They flew Josh to Chicago and guitar luthier Grover Jackson built him a custom guitar.
Although Josh was an honor student, after graduation from high school in June 1997, Josh followed his heart and began pursuing what he was best at. His first national tour ensued with his newly formed power trio, Josh Smith and the Frost. Josh was now the band leader and vocalist, so he not only had to continue developing his guitar chops, but had to concentrate on his vocal prowess. In September 1997, Josh enlisted world-renowned producer Jim Gaines, whose credits include Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Luther Allison, Steve Miller and Jimmy Thackery, to produce his third CD, Too Damn Cold.
By 1998, Josh had completed four national tours with his band. In January 1998, Billboard Magazine took note of the rising young talent in a Continental Drift article. In February 1998, Josh was asked to support B.B. King on a number of theatre dates. In March 1998, the TV show Chicago Hope purchased the rights to the tune “32 degrees” from Too Damn Cold . An international CD release, The Mentos Freshmaker Tour , included the title cut, “Too Damn Cold,” in the spring of 1998.
Josh toured nationally all of 1999 and in October of that year, he entered the recording studio again with Jim Gaines and produced Woman , his fourth CD. This CD was released and well received in the spring of 2000. Josh continued to tour the East Coast from New York to Florida through 2001 with his band. In June 2002, he married and he and his wife decided to move to Los Angeles. Josh was ready for something new and wanted to be around a variety of musicians. He also began being a sideman.
Within a year of moving to L.A., he was retained by Virgin recording artist Ricky Fante. He played nationally and internationally with Ricky for the next two years.
In May 2006, Josh recorded his fifth CD, Deep Roots . A more traditional blues CD, his music was once again well received by Blueswax and Blues Revue magazine. Josh continued to play with a variety of artists, such as actress Taryn Manning, Universal hip-hop artist Benny Cassette and Tara Ellis, to name a few. In January 2007, Josh was hired by 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks to be his lead guitarist. They completed two national tours from February-September 2007 with monthly dates and charity events until June 2008 when Taylor started Grease! on Broadway. In July 2008, Josh was hired by Raphael Saadiq. Since that time, Josh has played such high profile gigs with Raphael as backing Mick Jagger at the Grammy Awards in 2011 and the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2011. Josh continues to tour nationally and internationally with Raphael.
Josh released his 6th studio CD, “Inception,” in 2009. This is an all-instrumental CD with a variety of genres that was once again well received by the public and critics alike.
In 2010, Josh was signed to Crosscut Records, a label based out of Germany. Crosscut re-released Josh’s CD, “Deep Roots,” as “I’m Gonna Be Ready.” In October 2012, Josh’s CD, “Don’t Give Up On Me,” was released in Germany.
Josh continues to live in the Los Angeles area with his wife and two children.
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with funk guitarist extraordinaire, Carl Burnett, to discuss his guitar course on the wah-wah pedal and funk guitar. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Carl Burnett: A great guitarist who flourishes without the fuel driven by ego is a rarity, but Carl Burnett is one such player. Carl manages to be on everyone’s A-list without the attitude that generally accompanies that realm. A guitarist with a dizzying list of credits who has played and recorded with the likes of Branford Marsalis, David Sanborn, Robben Ford, Hiroshima and the late George Howard and has appeared on the Tonight Show, David Letterman, and The Grammy Awards.
Carl’s resume reads like a “Who’s Who” in the music industry, but you won’t hear him bragging about it. Burnett's soulful guitar has backed Robben Ford, Branford Marsalis, David Sanborn, Lizz Wright, George Howard and Bill Withers.
Few guitarists can be described as “Zen-like” and “Hendrixian” in the same sentence, but that’s exactly the complexity that defines Carl Burnett. He readily transcends the instrument into a realm of pure worship defining the experience moment to moment, string to string. A musician who can make the leap from a burning jazz/rock solo to an unfettered funk rhythm groove; Burnett’s playing leapfrogs musical styles. Yet Burnett’s true advantage over other players is his ability to listen.
The silences are palpable because he knows how to let his instrument breathe and when to speak. It’s a level of musicianship that one rarely witnesses. As one guitarist says admiringly of Burnett’s work, “Carl’s playing is like a Japanese haiku that can paint a beautiful picture in just a few notes what would take others a hundred to do.”
Burnett pays heartfelt respect to the instrument he relies on but thrives in the moments best defined without limitations. The high point of his musical career was playing in Bradford Marsalis’ band Buckshot LeFonque “because there were no musical boundaries. You’d think that would make it easy, but you really need to know yourself and your instrument.” His drive to know his instrument has resulted in a journey, which has taken him all over the world and sharing the stage with a widely disparate group of musicians.
Carl also continues building on the songwriting and production credits he already hosts by award winning artists including Boney James, Larry Carlton and Patti Austin. You can also hear his music regularly on the TV shows “Extra” and “Celebrity Justice."
Look to this musician to pave the way in his continued quest to learn more from his instrument and the players around him. The divining rod of the guitar will keep pointing him towards his fundamental drive to add “sensibility and groove."
If Carl’s in the house that groove is only just beginning.
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with slide guitarist extraordinaire, Luther Dickinson, to discuss his guitar course on Mississippi Slide guitar. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Luther Dickinson: Luther Dickinson is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the North Mississippi Allstars and the son of record producer Jim Dickinson. He was born in West Tennessee to Mary Lindsay and Jim Dickinson, a Memphis record producer. Dickinson grew up playing concerts and gaining recording experience with his father and brother, Cody. The family moved to the hills of North Mississippi in 1985. Dickinson befriended the musical families of Otha Turner, R. L. Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough. They were the inspiration for Luther and Cody Dickinson to form the North Mississippi Allstars in 1996. The North Mississippi Allstars have been nominated for three Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary Blues category. Dickinson produced two records on Otha Turner, Everybody Hollerin' Goat and From Senegal To Senatobia. Jazz critic Ted Gioia chose Blues & Ballads: A Folksinger's Songbook, Volumes 1 & 2 (New West, 2016) for the eleventh spot on his list of the top 100 albums of the year.
In November 2007 Dickinson joined The Black Crowes. His recording debut with the band was on Warpaint in 2008, and he has since appeared on the 2009 Black Crowes release Before the Frost - Until the Freeze. Dickinson decided not to join The Black Crowes for their 2013 tour. Dickinson currently tours with the North Mississippi Allstars[5] and as a member of the Southern Soul Assembly. In 2014, Gibson issued a signature model for him, the Luther Dickinson ES-335, with the most notable modification being the P-90 pickups replacing the standard humbuckers.
Luther Dickinson and Sisters of the Strawberry Moon’s debut album, Solstice, comes complete with a great soundtrack and an impeccable guest list, one that boasts Amy Helm, Birds of Chicago, Amy LaVere, and Shardé Thomas among others. And like any good host, Dickinson manages to put the spotlight on his friends here, taking a step back from the microphone in order to focus his efforts behind the scenes and flex his considerable muscles as both a producer and a guitarist. The result is an album that stands apart in Dickinson’s extensive catalog, a collection that brings together some of the most captivating female voices in modern American roots music and filters each of their distinctive personalities through a singular vision of artistic community and musical exploration.
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with Ned Luberecki to discuss his upcoming bluegrass banjo course. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live.
About Ned: Ned Luberecki is the banjo player for The Becky Buller Band and also tours with Stephen Mougin (of the Sam Bush Band) as Nedski & Mojo. Ned was formerly the banjoist for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, The Rarely Herd, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, The Gary Ferguson Band, Radio Flyer, Paul Adkins and the Borderline Band and in 2018, Ned was voted Banjo Player of the Year by the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association).
Ned teaches private banjo lessons in Nashville and now over the internet via webcam! Check out the "Lessons" tab above for more info. Ned is a popular banjo instructor at music camps across the country and around the world, having taught at Nashcamp, Munich Banjo Camp, Camp Bluegrass, B.C. Bluegrass Workshop, Midwest Banjo Camp and many more. Click on the "Shows" link above to see Ned's schedule.
Ned is also an on-air personality on Sirius XM Satellite Radios Bluegrass Junction (channel 62). Tune in Sunday Afternoons from 2:00 - 6:00 pm (eastern) for More Banjo Sunday. Ned brings his banjo to the SiriusXM Channel 61 studios and plays live banjo tunes during the show! Stay tuned for the Sunday Banjo Lesson every Sunday at 3:00 pm (eastern) when all the breaks in the hour are devoted to how to play the banjo. Ned also hosts the Newgrass/Progressive Bluegrass show Derailed, Saturday nights 7:00 - 9:00 pm eastern.
In this episode of TrueFire Live, we sit down with singer-songwriter extraordinaire, Ellis Paul, to discuss his upcoming guitar course on Open D Tuning. To learn more and watch the video from this live session, please visit truefire.com/live. You can also pre-order the guitar lessons on our website.
About Ellis Paul: Ellis Paul is a songwriter, teacher, author, and illustrator. Since 1990, he has toured extensively playing festivals, colleges, and clubs on the North American music circuit and in Europe. He has performed over 5,000 shows.Twenty albums of his own music were recorded for both Rounder and Black Wolf Records, his latest is called "The Storyteller's Suitcase" on his own imprint, Rosella records..
His songs have appeared in numerous television shows and blockbuster films (Shallow Hal, Me, Myself, and Irene, Hall Pass). He has written successfully in many genres-- folk, pop, rock, even in cowriting for country stars (Sugarland, Jack Ingram, Lindsay Ell), in addition to writing for film, children's music and even holiday songs. Ellis has been the winner of 15 Boston Music Awards and was given an Honorary PHD for Letters for his writing by the University of Maine. He received the Alumni Arts Award from Boston College. He is member of the Maine Music Hall of Fame. He is a Kerrville New Folk Winner, A Falcon Ridge Folk Festival New Artist Winner,
Over the years, Ellis has mentored and taught the craft of songwriting to hundreds of songwriters through his workshops, retreats and one on one sessions. HIs teaching posters on Performance, Song Creation and Song Editing hang in the writing rooms of over a thousand songwriters and serve as daily inspiration for their work. He also founded The New England Songwriters Retreat in 2015, which is a four day gathering of songwriters and instructors in Chester, CT held over the Labor Day weekend. https://www.newenglandsongwritersretreat.com.
His songs are stories of the human condition and of people at some kind of personal crossroads in their lives. He is an adept arranger on guitar and piano, though mainly known for his crafted lyrics and storytelling. He was raised in Northern Maine and currently resides in Charlottesville, VA.