Andy McKee

Andy McKee is among the world’s finest acoustic guitarists. His youthful energy and attention to song structure and melodic content elevates him above the rest. He entertains both the eye and the ear as he magically transforms the steel string guitar into a full orchestra via his use of altered tunings, tapping, partial capos, percussive hits and a signature two-handed technique.

McKee’s crossover success has helped him to achieve millions upon millions of YouTube viewers, underscoring his emergence as one of today’s most unique and influential artists. His song, “Drifiting” became one of the first YouTube viral videos with almost 60 million views. He has been featured as a cover story in both Acoustic Guitar Magazine in the US and the UK, and is also the figurehead of the unique Guitar Masters tours. He also curates his own annual guitar camp called Musicarium. McKee’s tour dates have taken him through Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, including tours with legendary acts including Prince, Dream Theater, and Tommy Emmanuel.

Stanley Jordan

It is a real honor to have Stanley join us at Musicarium. His career speaks for itself, but I must say it is such a pleasure to have a pioneer of the techniques many of us use join us this year!

In a career that took flight in 1985 with commercial and critical acclaim, guitar virtuoso Stanley Jordan has consistently displayed a chameleonic musical persona of openness, imagination, versatility and maverick daring. Be it bold reinventions of classical masterpieces or soulful explorations through pop-rock hits, to blazing straight ahead jazz forays and ultramodern improvisational works—solo or with a group—Jordan can always be counted on to take listeners on breathless journeys into the unexpected.

Key to Jordan’s fast-track acclaim was his mastery of a special technique on the guitar’s fretboard. Instead of conventional strumming and picking, Jordan’s innovative “touch technique” is an advanced form of two-handed tapping. While a handful of other players were using similar techniques, Stanley’s fluid, multi-layered textures and sheer virtuosity raised the bar for excellence. But his technique, though impressive, is always a means to a musical end. His music is imbued with a warmth and sensitivity that has captured the imagination of listeners worldwide. A classically trained pianist before playing guitar, Jordan wanted greater freedom in voicing chords on his guitar, so he applied piano principles to do so. Jordan’s touch technique allows the guitarist to play melody and chords simultaneously with an unprecedented level of independence. It also allows Jordan to play simultaneously on two different guitars, or even on guitar and piano. He says that “I think of it as a single instrument, but one with a wide range of tonal colors—that’s why I do it.”

To date Jordan has performed in over 60 countries on 6 continents. He has performed at many festivals, including the Kool Jazz Festival, the Concord Jazz Festival, and the Montreaux International Jazz Festival. During the 1980s he collaborated with a diverse array of artists, including performances with Art Blakey and Richie Cole and recordings with Stanley Clarke and Kenny Rogers. The track with Rogers, “Morning Desire”, became America’s #1 country song in 1986. Later Jordan became a frequent guest with Les Paul during Paul’s legendary Monday nights at Iridium in New York. Today Jordan performs frequently as a soloist and with his band, as well as collaborating with other guitarists such as Kevin Eubanks, Sharon Isbin and Muriel Anderson. He’s also a frequent guest with jam bands such as the Dave Matthews Band, the String Cheese Incident, Phil Lesh, Moe and Umphrey’s McGee.

Jordan has received four Grammy nominations. His most recent album “Friends” was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Los Angeles Times jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote, “Genius is a word often tossed around in musical circles, but it has been rightfully applied to Stanley Jordan.”
Stanley Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began his music career at age six studying piano, then shifting his focus to guitar at age eleven. He then began playing in rock and soul bands. In 1976, while still in high school, Jordan performed with Quincy Jones and tied for first place as a soloist at the Reno International Jazz Festival. In 1981 he earned a BA in music from Princeton University, where he studied theory and composition with composer Milton Babbitt and computer music with composer Paul Lansky. While still at Princeton, Jordan performed with Benny Carter and Dizzy Gillespie.

Jordan came to prominence with the release of his 1985 album Magic Touch, a revolutionary project that placed him at the forefront of re-launching legendary Blue Note Records into a contemporary entity in jazz and beyond, as also established the then-twenty-something Jordan as among the most distinctive and refreshing new voices of the electric guitar. Jordan had begun applying his unique technique to his already exemplary traditional playing ten years prior to the Magic Touch album. Though Jordan showcased the technique in a variety of musical styles from swing to rock, it was smooth jazz radio support for his singular versions of “The Lady in My Life” (first recorded by Michael Jackson) and the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” that sent Magic Touch to the top of Billboard’s jazz chart for a stunning and record-breaking 51 weeks. The album became a gold-seller (over 500,000 sold in the U.S. alone) – outstanding for any jazz or instrumental CD.

Subsequent albums found Jordan ushering his audience into deeper levels of his artistry and stretching his music beyond stylistic boundaries. These projects included a solo guitar album titled Standards Volume 1 (1986) where Stanley made the bold statement that songs by the likes of Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix deserved recognition as standards just as much as older chestnuts like Hoagy Charmichael’s “Georgia On My Mind.” He followed that with the dance-pop album Flying Home (1988) and the especially edgy Cornucopia (1990), which spanned the gamut from straight-ahead jazz recorded live to multi-dimensional originals recorded in the studio. Still later in 1994 after a move to Arista Records (then helmed by pop music maverick Clive Davis), he recorded the bracingly eclectic Bolero album, featuring covers of Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Drifting,” his original “Plato’s Blues” and the CD’s centerpiece, a 17-minute arrangement of Ravel’s “Bolero”, which flowed seamlessly between rock, African, Latin, “groove” and “industrial” sections. During this era, Jordan also made history by creating the seminal “startup” sound for the first generation of Power Macintosh computers.

In 2002, Stanley released the album Dreams of Peace with the Italian band Novecento. It was remixed and re-released in the USA in 2004 on Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label. Independently, he recorded two CDs: Ragas (a collaboration with musicians from India featuring Jay Kishor on sitar) and Relaxing Music for Difficult Situations Volume 1, an audio extension of his interest in music therapy. In 2007 Jordan signed with Mack Avenue Records and released State of Nature in 2008 and Friends in 2011. For Friends, he invited musical guests including guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Mike Stern, Russell Malone and Charlie Hunter; violinist Regina Carter; saxophonists Kenny Garrett and Ronnie Laws; trumpeter Nicholas Payton; bassists Christian McBride and Charnett Moffett; and drummer Kenwood Dennard. The results proved truly outstanding on numbers ranging from a Bela Bartok piece to a Katy Perry pop smash, a heady original blues and three jazz classics spanning swing, cool, samba and modern.

Jordan has been known to TV and film audiences as well. In 1987 he made a cameo appearance in the Blake Edwards movie Blind Date, starring Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger. In the tribute film, Les Paul: He Changed the Music Jordan performed with a guitar supergroup including Les Paul himself, Eddie Van Halen, BB King, Steve Miller, David Gilmour, and Brian Setzer. In 1995 Jordan created the score for the short film One Red Rose, starring Hill Harper and Victoria Rowell, directed by Charlie Jordan. In 1996 he created the score for an ABC afternoon TV special Daddy’s Girl, directed by Diane Wynter. Since the mid 80s he has performed on numerous television shows, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The David Letterman Show and the Grammy Awards. One notable appearance was a duet on the Tonight Show with the late rock superstar Robert Palmer.

Stanley is committed to music as an artistic, spiritual, and even health-promoting endeavor. He has been immersed for more than a decade in music therapy, towards which he is now working for a master’s degree at Arizona State University. His involvement with music therapy leads him to do outreach in schools, hospitals and other venues wherever he tours. He is an artist-spokesperson for the American Music Therapy Association, and he has done numerous lectures and demonstrations on the healing applications of music.

Jordan has maintained an extensive and consistent international touring schedule. In between tour stops he is now at work on his next highly anticipated album from Mack Avenue Records, for release next year.

Jordan is currently a resident of Sedona, Arizona. He has one daughter, Julia. Julia Jordan is a singer/songwriter living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania who sometimes collaborates with her dad.

Muriel Anderson

Muriel is a very versatile and skilled fingerstyle guitarist. She has released dozens of instructional books and videos and she will be a great teacher for the students to learn from in 2023.

Guitarist, harp guitarist, and composer Muriel Anderson embraces music from all over the world with grace, joy, and gentle humor.
Her CD, Nightlight Daylight, was chosen as one of the top 10 CDs of the decade by Guitar Player Magazine, and her “Heartstrings” recording accompanied the astronauts on the space shuttle. Her recent release, “Acoustic Chef,” is a CD of music from around the world with a cookbook of recipes and stories to go with each tune.

Muriel is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. She has performed/recorded with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Victor Wooten, Tommy Emmanuel and many others on her show, Muriel Anderson’s ALL STAR GUITAR NIGHT®. Her current projects and upcoming live-streams can be found at murielanderson.com

Mike Dawes

Mike Dawes will lend his fiery skills to Musicarium again in 2023. I know the students will have some fun picking his brain!

Mike Dawes is an English guitarist known for composing, arranging, and performing multiple parts simultaneously on a single guitar. He is hailed as one of the world’s most creative modern fingerstyle guitarists with a repertoire spanning solo viral videos and popular arrangements, alongside mainstream chart success performing with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues.

Dawes was named ‘Best Acoustic Guitarist in the World’ two years in a row by Total Guitar Magazine/MusicRadar reader polls and simply needs to be seen to be believed. His ability to combine the melody, bass, harmony and percussion all seamlessly together with just one guitar leaves audiences absolutely stunned, both with original music and popular covers.

Dawes recently released an EP, Accomplice Series Vol. 3, with Tommy Emmanuel one of the greatest fingerstyle guitarist of all time. Recently, Dawes also released his first live album, Shows and Distancing: Live in the USA. The album features fan favorites such as “Boogie Shred” and “The Impossible” as well as the brand new “William Shatner’s Paints” in its live debut. It also features many of Dawes’ arrangements with unique versions of “One” by Metallica, John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing In A Burning Room”, and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”.

Dawes says “The energy captured on Shows and Distancing is impossible to replicate away from the stage, which is something I miss dearly in these strange times. I didn’t want to release a live record without capturing the live energy of the room, especially at a time where all we have is recorded music. For that reason, I’ve included the crazy audience moments – the clap alongs, the laughs, the singing, the banter, and all the devices I try to employ to reach the reluctant drag along at the back of the room! Shows and Distancing is about togetherness.” He continues, “I hope that the moments captured on this record keep the appetites of live music fans satisfied. I feel that so many people are missing their live music fix right now and it feels like the perfect time to release a live record, even if as nothing more than a thank you to the fans for some wonderful shared memories across the USA, and across the world.”

Shows and Distancing was recorded in 2019 throughout the United States, with few extras from the past. The first show was captured just off Central Park in New York City, whilst the second show turned out to be the last concert of the US tour before quarantine. The album also features some rare highlights such as Dawes’ duet with Danish guitarist Quist on ‘One’, cut at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. Added extras include previously unreleased songs from Mike’s first ever headline concert in the USA.

Dawes’ previous solo album, ERA, spawned a viral hit with his arrangement of ‘One’ that has over 4.5 million YouTube views and over 100 million more views on various social media sites. His debut record, What Just Happened?, features a large number of additional video hits with over 12 million YouTube views for two popular versions of ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’. He is featured on multiple Justin Hayward live releases including Spirits…Live, which debuted at #2 on the US Billboard Chart. Dawes also has a strong reputation as an educator, acting as a columnist for Guitar World and Acoustic Guitar magazines as well as teaching multiple guitar workshops all over the world, creating apps, publishing degree level literature, mentoring on TV shows and more.

In addition to touring with Justin Hayward, Dawes has toured with fingerstyle guitarists such as Andy McKee and the legendary Tommy Emmanuel. He has also been a prominent part of several ‘International Guitar Night’ tours throughout North America, most recently hosting the record breaking 20th Anniversary tour in early 2020.

Jon Gomm

I’ve been friends with Jon Gomm for many years now and I’ve always admired his highly sophisticated guitar compositions. I have no doubt the students will enjoy this rare occasion to learn from him in the U.S.A.

Jon Gomm is a singer-songwriter and acoustic solo performer based in Yorkshire, UK, known for his once-seen-never-forgotten virtuoso guitar style. This involves slapping, tapping and retuning as he plays, producing a huge, multi-layered sound filled with bass, drums and near-orchestral depth and complexity, all from a single guitar.

His songs are often deeply emotive, whether with or without his soft, affecting voice. And his live performances are intimate and powerful, but always punctured by his natural North Of England wit and self-deprecation.

Jon is also a passionate advocate for mental health and neuro-diversity.

When he was 2 years old, Jon demanded a guitar for Christmas from his parents. They gave him a ukulele instead, but after he summarily smashed it to pieces in frustration, they got him a guitar and found him a teacher. Growing up in Blackpool, UK, Jon’s dad – a journalist and music critic for the local newspaper – would take him to gigs, and often bands on tour would stay at their home. The young Jon was lucky enough to meet and pick the brains of such luminaries as Jack Bruce (Cream), Walter Trout and BB King.

Jon turned down a place at Oxford University to instead attend The Guitar Institute in London, then Leeds Conservatoire. Leeds became his adopted home, and the city museum requested one of Jon’s guitars for its permanent collection in 2021.

From there, he began self-releasing music and touring, and while still a fiercely independent artist, he defied the odds to sell thousands of albums and tour countries across Europe, North and South America, Australia, Asia and Africa.

His breakthrough came in 2012, when he released his first ever single, Passionflower, along with a video of him performing the song, which went viral, totalling well over 20 million views across platforms. Suddenly being catapulted from cult obscurity to mainstream acceptance has been a strange experience for someone so devoted to his craft, and Jon is an unlikely guitar hero who remains very much true to his roots in the UK acoustic circuit.

Jon has released 4 studio albums, his latest being The Faintest Idea on Kscope records. Guitarist magazine (UK) said: “While The Faintest Idea is first and foremost a songwriting masterclass – with Gomm exploring the beauty and pain of life’s travails – it hasn’t stopped him casually ripping up accepted truths of acoustic technique along the way, with a slew of sounds-like-six-hands guitar parts.”

It included the singles Cocoon and Deep Sea Fishes.

In 2020 Jon was voted “Best Acoustic Guitarist In The World” in the largest online poll of its type, conducted by MusicRadar and its sister publications including Total Guitar and Guitar World.

Ibanez guitars launched the JGM10 and JGM5 Jon Gomm Signature Model guitars in 2021. He’s the 3rd guitarist ever to design a signature acoustic with Ibanez, the previous two being Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Jon continues to interact regularly with his loyal “Gommunity” of fans online, and is currently writing new music and playing concerts.

Calum Graham

Calum is a very pure artist, his character comes through in his music. I think that’s what we all want to achieve when we play.

Trevor Gordon Hall

Trevor is one of my favorite composers for the solo acoustic guitar. Every note he plays has purpose, nothing excessive, nothing wasted. A real artist!

Gretchen Menn

Gretchen is really talented! After seeing her win the No Limits Challenge from Martin Guitars and Guitar World, with her original music, I knew she would be a great addition to the camp.

Gretchen Menn once flew jets to support her six-string habit. She holds a BA in music from Smith College where she studied classical guitar under the tutelage of Phillip de Fremery. Her musical interests and inclinations span centuries and genres: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Ravel, Django Reinhardt, Jimmy Page, Steve Morse, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck…

Her first solo album, Hale Souls (2011) is an offering of original, instrumental works. Her second release, Abandon All Hope (2016) blends modern and classical instruments in intricate, cinematic compositions that evoke a musical journey through Dante’s underworld. She is currently working on a third solo album.

She is the guitarist and a founding member of Zepparella, the acclaimed Led Zeppelin powerhouse, and has performed as a solo artist throughout the U.S. and in guitar festivals in Switzerland and Germany.

Gretchen is also passionate about sharing her love of music through education. She teaches masterclasses and clinics, contributes lessons for Premier Guitar and Acoustic Guitar Magazines, has a instructional course available on JamPlay.com, produces free YouTube lessons on the music of Led Zeppelin for The Zepparella Learning Channel, and recently had a book published by Stringletter Media, How Music Works.

Plini

Plini is one of my favorite electric guitarists in recent years. His playing is skillful and melodious, he can shred but he can also speak with the guitar in a beautiful way.

PLINI is an independent solo artist from Sydney, Australia. He composes, plays guitar, records, produces and manages his unique brand of instrumental progressive rock all from a home studio.

His critically-acclaimed debut album “HANDMADE CITIES” was voted #5 in Guitar World Magazine’s “20 best guitar albums of the decade,” and described by STEVE VAI as “one of the finest, forward thinking, melodic, rhythmically and harmonically deep, evolution of rock/metal instrumental guitar records I have ever heard.” Routinely mentioned in “best guitarist” lists, PLINI was named #4 in the “Top 10 best prog guitarists in the world today” by Music Radar in early 2020. His latest album “IMPULSE VOICES” was recorded and released in late 2020 during the uncertainty of the pandemic and received a multitude of rave reviews, and has already been streamed millions of times.

Over the last few years, PLINI has toured the world supporting bands like ANIMALS AS LEADERS, PERIPHERY, TESSERACT and INTERVALS, as well as playing festivals and headlining his own tours all over North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and India. In 2018, PLINI was the first instrumental act ever to play the legendary Download Festival in the UK.

Post-pandemic, PLINI sprang back into action, with back-to-back sold out headline tours of Australia, India and Scandinavia, festival appearances in Australia, UK, Germany and Portugal, and performing in some of Australia’s finest theatres supporting NORTHLANE. 2023 will see PLINI and his impeccable live collective embark on their biggest headline tours yet, of Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe and North America.

PLINI was also a special guest instructor at “Vai Academy” in 2019, alongside STEVE VAI, JOE SATRIANI and DEVIN TOWNSEND, and despite being entirely self-taught, he has been invited to give masterclasses at some of the most prestigious contemporary music colleges in the world, including Berklee College of Music, Musician’s Institute (USA), BIMM (UK), and JMC Academy (Australia).

PLINI has a signature guitar with Strandberg Guitars, signature guitar amp software with Neural DSP, and endorsement deals with Yahama Music, Dunlop, D’Addario and Fractal Audio.