Yngwie Malmsteen at Club Nokia

Last Saturday, the band and I opened for Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen. I grew up listening to Yngwie, starting with my brother's Malmsteen albums "Marching Out" and "Trilogy" - both classics. Saturday, October 29th was the 2nd time I have opened for Malmsteen. The first time was about 7 years ago at the Key Club in West Hollywood, with George Lynch also on the bill. That show was sold out, 700 ppl.

This past Saturday's gig was at the new-ish Club NOKIA in down town LA's entertainment block dubbed "LA Live". The club is pretty amazing, holds 2300, and has a million dollar sound system. This sound system was helmed by uber-sound man about town, Rob Gainey, author of the fantastic pro audio bible "Rockin' Your Stage Sound".

Upon our designated 5 o'clock load in, we arrived to find Yngwie still sound checking... to some Black Sabbath tunes and a couple of his own. The stage/sound check was closed to anyone but the band. No worries our plush dressing room had a large flat screen TV where we could watch the closed circuit camera catching the sound check unfold. Yngwie's stage set up was a little lop sided, as he brought 9 full Marshall stacks... all on his side of the stage. The rest of the band was relegated to a few feet of stage left.

Anyhow, by 6:20pm we were able to set up and sound check till about 7:05... Rob dialing in the front of house, and us getting our monitors right. Club Nokia's crew and staff were all very kind and accommodating. Meanwhile the wife and some friends were getting Sushi before having to hold down fort at the merch table.

The band, Philip Bynoe (bass), Charlie Waymire (drums), and Maureen Baker (keys), and I had a 30 minute set. We rehearsed a very tight set, cramming as much as possible into the half hour we were allotted. Hitting the stage at 9pm, we put on a good show. The audience was responsive with a pit full of general admission ticket holders pressed up to the stage. In what seemed like just a couple minutes, our set was done.

Soon after clearing the stage of our gear, metal god, Tim "Ripper" Owens came by to introduce himself to the band and paid us a few compliments. He seems like a good, down to earth guy! I walked out front to help with the merchandise table and meet the fans. It was great to meet so many new guitar fans, as well as a number of familiar faces. The next 2 hours were spent listening to Yngwie tear it up in front of a rabid audience. Waiting till the end of the night proved to be a good idea, as we ended up meeting with more fans on their way out and selling more merch - always a good thing.

I'd like to thank the club, JR, Michelle, and Eric for all their help! Till next time!

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Summer Guitar and Bass Workshop

I had the pleasure of teaching and performing at the 25th annual Summer Guitar and Bass Workshop at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA on July 24-29.

This is the 6th or 7th time I have taught there, and was excited to see fellow Alumni (I graduated in '97) as well as all the familiar staff and instructors, including my old guitar teacher, Mark Koch, adjunct professor Ken Karsh, music technology chair, Bill Purse, and all the others.

The weather wasn't as bad as planned, but the humidity did get bad towards the end of my week.

Besides performing, meeting and interacting with all the great students, highlights of the week for me, were hanging out with guitarist and special guest Rob Marcello (Danger Danger) and sitting in on "Handyman" Joe Negri's jazz guitar classes. He truly is a Pittsburgh treasure, and sounded as great as ever. So much, I picked up his recent CD, I highly recommend it.

My trip to Pittsburgh was sponsored by SIT Strings. I would like to thank them once again for their support. If you are not already familiar with this excellent brand of guitar strings, check them out at www.SITStrings.com

For more information about Adrian Galysh, including video guitar lessons, concert dates, clinics, merch and music, visit: 

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Guitarist, former candidate for State Senate, and now... Author?

I have been writing a guitar instructional book, called, "Progressive Warm-ups and Exercises". It presents both beginning and advanced guitarists with a progressive series of strength, dexterity, finger independence, and left & right hand coordination exercises that can be used before any practice, recording, or performance session.

Unlike other exercise books that tend to overwhelm the reader, and may repeat scale material found in many other publications, these warm-ups, developed, collected, and used by me in my 18 years of teaching, deliver a concise routine, with no filler, and gives the reader maximum results in minimum time. Whether the guitarist has just 2 minutes or 30 minutes, these 25 progressive exercises will give them the improved strength and coordination they require.

Cost: $15.00 + $2.68 (postage) = $17.68

Click here to purchase with Paypal:

For more information about Adrian Galysh, including video guitar lessons, concert dates, clinics, merch and music, visit: 

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It was bound to happen.

Two weeks ago, I played in San Diego, opened for Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet. The venue was large, and a good amount of people filled the 1400 seater. I have had pretty good luck, gigging at venues with decent management and staff for over 15 years. The bad news about this gig? The owner decided, contrary to the contract he signed and agreed to uphold, that I, nor my band would get water, food, towels, a guest list, nor the total money/payment we agreed to. After a frustrating long drive, no lunch, and a late dinner (after finding out we wouldn't be fed, and grabbing a couple slices of pizza across the street), we did end up having a GREAT performance.

Essentially, I KNEW that I was in a bad mood, distracted, and frustrated with the venue. I made a commitment right before playing the first note of the set, to make my performance a memorable one. There were many moments, one in each tune, where some musical inspiration and the occasional transcendence occurred. The energy was great on stage and off. I guess the audience felt the same way, because after the performance, I was greeted with compliments and praise by audience member after audience member... after which I sold a lot of merchandise (CDs & T Shirts)... from what I gather, more than Alcatrazz sold. I felt vindicated as the club's sound man showered a ton of compliments on the band and I. Very flattering. The moral of the story, was that every performance should one where the band and I play like we have "something to prove". Focusing on putting on an inspired performance translated to the audience and ultimately to merch sales and a healthy addition to my mailing list.

Woops, also, having a great supportive band made up of friends always helps - thanks Maureen Baker, Charlie Waymire, and Mike Talanca!

For more information about Adrian Galysh, including video guitar lessons, concert dates, clinics, merch and music, visit: 

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Two Handed Tapping - Pentatonic lick with bending

I recorded a couple new videos demoing some two hand tapping guitar licks.

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Uli Jon Roth week in review.

Well, last week was a busy, whirl-wind experience. San Diego's Brick By Brick had a great responsive audience, but seemed to serve as the band's rehearsal/warmup show. After the 2-hour show, Uli and the band met with the audience, who were very glad to see us. Some driving up from Mexico, and some brought old Scorpions albums to autograph as well as a couple guitars floating around for Uli's signature as well. This was my first time in San Diego - I've never been! The band stayed at a hotel near the Old Town "Gas-lamp District". Ate dinner at Casa Guadalajara with the band - great food and margaritas.

Thursday night was in Ventura at the Majestic Ventura Theatre. This is a large venue, an old theatre, similar to LA's Wiltern in size. This night featured a triple bill of my solo band, then Alcatrazz, and then Uli Jon Roth. Huge dressing rooms, back stage food and drinks - a taste of the rock star life.... all too brief. By tonight, I had finally gotten my act together, as I was having trouble learning the unison harmony solo part in "We'll Burn The Sky". While the stage sound was strange, the show went well - though the band would still love to have a set list. Big stage, big lights... always fun.

Uli likes to "free flow" every night. Calling out tunes as he goes, so sometimes it feels like a game of follow the leader. Keeps us on our toes!

The best thing about his gig is getting to play along side my favorite guitarist, favorite singer, favorite drummer, and new comrade, Bjorn Englen.

Alcatrazz put on a top-notch performance, and I have never heard Graham Bonnet sound better. Howie Simon, Tim Luce, and Glen Sobel were great, very tight.

Friday night, brought us to the Blue Cafe in Huntington Beach, CA. At first entry, the club seemed small compared to the previous night, no dressing room, towels, etc... BUT, this night proved to be our best. My band opened for Uli hitting the stage at 10pm. We played great. Having Kevin Chown back on bass felt good. He and the rest of the band, Maureen Baker on keys, and Glen Sobel on drums, really delivered. The audience grew throughout the night and was REALLY excited to be there. By the time Uli and the rest of us got on stage after 11pm, the audience was pressed up to the stage. Tonight, the band was really in sync. The intimate stage and size of the club had such a great energy, and the band could really hear each other well up there. Hands-down the best performance of the week, the 2.15 hour set was loud, hot, and sweaty, and the audience couldn't get enough. We finished up at 1:30am , met with the audience, sold some merch then headed home... My wife and I got back to the house around 3am - just in time to get 5 hours of sleep before having to teach guitar the next morning.

For more information about Adrian Galysh, including video guitar lessons, concert dates, clinics, merch and music, visit: 

www.AdrianGalysh.com

www.facebook.com/adrian.galysh

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