Everyone Loves Guitar

Within a week after joining the Pumpkins, Jeff Schroeder went from playing small clubs to standing in front of 70,000 fans. Jeff opens up about loads of interesting stuff: How he handled financial tough times, his actual practice routine, a renewed spiritual connection to guitar and how this came about… Best decision he's ever made, a difficult decision he had to make, forgiving yourself, giving y...

No matter what - stick around for the end of this to see Tom's "Emmy-winning performance." Tom talks about getting cancer (twice) and his recovery... moving to Nashville and the focus which helped him succeed… lessons learned from Leon Russell & Vince, taking Sonny Landreth's place, being a maverick, playing with Vince Gill & Sting, his latest record, Elevator Man , helping underprivileged kids in...

Born in Austria, Alex Machacek moved to America in 2004. He knew ONE person here and turned this into a very productive career… releasing 6 solo LPs and playing as a sideman for people like John Wetton, Tony Levin, Eddie Jobson, Gary Husband and more. Very cool stories about Alex's parents who were refugees escaping communism, cultural differences between America & Austria... working with Terry Bo...

Nick van Delft is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of the amazing psychedelic blues rock band Zodiac, and guitar player of the year in Germany. Zodiac has released 5 studio & 1 live LP since 2010. Nick opens up about how and why he started Zodiac, some of their biggest hits, why the band broke up (and how they recently got back together), moving and being in 14 different schools as a kid…...

Rex talks about getting into guitar at age 6, meeting Eric Johnson, Dann Huff, Phil Keaggy, Bon Jovi, Jerry Reed, Randy Bachman & Vince Gill… his personal faith and how it's influenced his life, building boundaries for better self-care, realizing the trap of "being liked," as a performer, BBQ in his backyard, granite, and more. VERY honest: Multi-instrumentalist Rex Paul Schnelle is an incredible...

Gus played the biggest stages worldwide, between 2009 - 2017 as a member of Ozzy Osbourne's band, and played on Ozzy's album Scream. He's also the founder of Firewind, releasing 8 LPs and touring around the world with the band, and has also released 3 solo LPs An incredibly grounded person, Gus talks candidly about playing with Ozzy (and a funny Ozzy story), why he prefers living in Greece, why he...

Lead guitarist from Dopapod just released his first solo LP and talks about how it came together. Challenges of writing the music and then having the courage to put it out, biggest lessons learned, NOT having to write a certain way, some controversial subjects in his songs, dealing with self-doubt and personal challenges in his lyrics, and loads of other cool stuff. Extremely talented band member,...

One of the most focused and committed professionals I've met, Joshua has achieved quite a lot in a very short time. At 16, he connected with legendary producer Johnny Sandlin and became his studio "go to" guitarist (great story behind this)... playing his first professional touring gig in front of 15,000 people in Japan… his killer work ethic, the upside and downside of being tough on yourself, de...

Signed by 2 major labels as a band member earlier on, Dudley started his career playing in Seattle and had great success. Unfortunately, band and label problems caused things to not work out. Instead, Dudley picked himself up and started his own blues trio. 7 Solo LPs later, he's successfully toured around the world and currently has the #2 Blues Rock single, "Give Me A Song" Great conversation ab...

Multi-instrumentalist Ross James has been a staple in the Phil Lesh / Terrapin camp since 2012. He's shared the stage with players like Warren Haynes, Phil, Bob Weir, John Scofield, Dave Schools, Stanley Jordan, John Mayer & others Starting at the bottom, opportunities always seemed to find Ross - and he seemed to find them, as well. Playing with Warren Haynes, Nicki Bluhm, Phil Lesh, John Scofiel...

Ace has been the lead guitarist with Faster Pussycat since 2010, plays with LA Guns, and cut his teeth in the LA punk scene with bands like Cheap Sex, Murphy's Law, The Gunfight & US Bombs… as well as Charlie & The Valentine Killers & Shanti Wintergate Ace had some early struggles and worked his ass off, believing in himself enough to make it through homelessness and other struggles. Today, he's a...

For 30 years John's toured, played and recorded with some of the most successful regional, national, and international country acts. He's also one of the 2 people Redd Volkaert will allow to sub for him, at Redd's standing Continental Club gig. John opens up and talks about playing the national anthem at the recent American League Championship game in Houston, moving between Texas and Nashville… p...

Founder, guitarist, main songwriter and lead singer of The Pineapple Thief opens up about loads of cool stuff: Starting The Pineapple Thief & the maturing of the band over the years, mixing friends and music and what happens when it doesn't work, top live gigs TPT has played, best decision he's ever made, loads more cool stuff The Pineapple Thief is one of the most successful and well-respected pr...

A master of improv for over 4 decades, Steve was hanging out with the Grateful Dead, Jorma Kaukonen and other Bay area players back in the day. Since then, he's released 9 solo LPs and was once touted by Jerry Garcia as his "favorite unknown guitar player." Steve opens up about moving back and forth from PA to Northern California, playing with Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen & The Allman Brothers......

19 year-old Latie Elton went from wearing stilettos while working at Jack LaLanne's Spa to becoming Senior Vice President of Music at Dreamworks. She developed the feature film music department from the ground up, co-produced (with Hans Zimmer) songs on an Oscar-winning movie, was co-exective producer of a Diana Ross CD, and served as Artistic Director of Music for 7 DreamWorks animated features I...

Slash's bassist/vocalist since 2010, Todd is also the guitarist/frontman of the legendary Canadian group The Age of Electric & has a successful solo career as well. He's also shared the stage with Alice Cooper, Duff Mckagan, Adam Levine, Fergie, Bill Murray, Sammy Hagar, Sylvain Sylvain & others Todd on being balanced, interacting with the audience, playing with Lemmy, playing at Download Festival...

One of the most successful, currently active session players out of Nashville, in the last few years alone, Brian's recorded with Chris Shiflett, A Star is Born soundtrack, Robben Ford (also toured), Terri Clark, Shooter Jennings, Beth Hart, Keb' Mo', Jamey Johnson. He is also a member of Jonathan Davis' (Korn) solo band Brian and Wes Little just dropped their own solo LP, Crazy People Dance Party...

The youngest of 7 brothers (all musicians), Vail's a first-call LA Session bassist who's toured the world with Kenny G (33 years) & played or toured with Frank Gambale, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Nicks, Keb' Mo', George Benson, Michael Bolton, MC Hammer, Steve Perry, Christopher Cross, Edgar Winter, Carmine Appice and many others Great convo about Vail's musical family which goes back 4 generations, p...

Brent shares the story behind his move to Nashville, and the alternative misery he would face if he didn't move... working with Chet Atkins, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Glen Campbell, Nancy Sinatra… his favorite music to play, 5 things responsible for his success as a studio musician, strangest (and funniest) sessions he's been on, sacrifices he made to succeed, toughest decision he's...

3-time International Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of The Year award winner, David has been playing bluegrass since he was a kid. First, with his father Lamar - who was a member of "Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys," and later as a solo artist who's recorded on 15 LPs. David was a member of Psychograss and is the founder of The Helen Highwater String Band David talks about playing with Cla...

Only 30 years old, JJN's opened for Derek Trucks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Zakk Wylde, UFO, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Walter Trout, Glenn Hughes, Saxon & more. Jared spills the beans on leaving Berklee, moving to LA and entering Musicians Institute, the importance of following through on commitments to yourself… the unexpected way he wound up getting a signature guitar, 3 experiences that changed his life, tou...

First fascinated by hard rock, glam and then punk… Leigh talks about how he got into playing, seeing Rory Gallagher live, how he overcame shyness and insecurity… taking care of his mother who had ailing health issues, for quite some time. Becoming the guitar player of one of the bands he used to see in concert, as a kid… integrity and what it really means, positive and negative influences that hel...

Reggie started playing at 11 and gigging professionally shortly after. He has toured or recorded with Seal, Eros Ramazzotti, Babyface, Queen Latifah, Billy Childs, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Bette Midler, George Duke, Whitney Houston, Stanley Clarke, David Lynch, John Mellencamp, Warren Zevon, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner, Tiziano Ferro, Boyz II Men, Johnny Hallyday, Freeflight, and many other...

For over 25 years, vocalist, producer, engineer, songwriter and world-class guitarist Ron Thal has been playing music and touring all over the world. He's played with Asia (currently lead singer and guitarist), Sons of Apollo, Art of Anarchy, Guns N' Roses, and has released 10 solo LP's fronting his own band. He's also an Adjunct Professor @ SUNY Purchase College, and is involved in a number of ch...

Brazilian born Artur Menezes is one of the most talented up-and-coming blues players on the scene. Interviewed a week before he was set to play Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival in Dallas, Artur talks about: Moving from his hometown of Fortaleza to Sao Paolo… and then moving to the states & the challenges in learning a new language and adapting to a new culture Where his work ethic and pride of o...