Festival of Guitar - Artists
Two days of exclusive live ONLINE workshops with some of the guitar world's great players and industry leaders. The festival is in partnership with our friends at BOSS and Tonepedia, so click on their logos for links.
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Check out our artists below:
Rob HarrisRob is a serious professional, having recorded and toured with The Pasadenas, Gary Numan, Mark Owen, Alphaville eventually joining the band Jamiroquai as a member in 1999 which continues to this day. |
Rob has played and co-written on the albums Funk Odyssey, Dynamite, Rock Dust Light Star and has most recently played on the band’s 2017 release Automaton and embarking on a global tour with the band in the April of the same year.His credits also include: Beverly Knight, Kylie Minogue, Anastasia, Lighthouse Family, Don Airey (Deep Purple), Katy Perry, JP Cooper, Era, Gabriella Aplin, Will Young, Julian Perretta, Duke Dumont, Paloma Faith, Robbie Williams, Lego Batman (Soundtrack), Louisa Johnson and The Ministry of Sound’s Stripped Album, Kanye West, to name but a few.
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Ariel PosenAriel 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.
'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.
"The guitar is the tool to get the music out," he says. "Always serve the song first. Otherwise, you're just playing an instrument.” |
Josh SmithBlues rock guitar virtuoso, singer-songwriter and producer, Josh Smith, is hailed the world over as a master guitarist with raw talent and power to spare. Blending his signature mix of blues, rock and jazz into dynamic original songs, Smith is known for his incendiary live performances, whether at the Grammy Awards or the Kennedy Center Honors with Mick Jagger, Raphael Saadiq and others.
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“Anyone who has witnessed one of Josh Smith’s live performances comes away in awe of the man’s ability to fuse jazz, blues, and country into one neat package—with a technical ability that has to be seen to be believed.”
Music Radar |
Kirk FletcherKirk 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.
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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 five-time Blues Music Award and a 2015 British Blues Award nominee and has played with a variety of popular artists, including Joe Bonamassa and was the lead guitarist of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
He released four studio albums and a live album. His new record “My Blues Pathway” was released in September 2020 |
Simon McBrideHis guitar skills (“Among the best blues-rock players anywhere in the world” GUITARIST) have made him a go-to guitarist on the British Blues-rock scene, admired among professionals, followed by enthusiasts, and endorsed by some of the biggest brands on the guitar scene. He is a long time endorsee of PRS Guitars and a personal pick of Paul Reed Smith.
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Former Young Guitarist of The Year and now fully-fledged blues-rock virtuoso, Irishman McBride Is at the start of what many industry pundits are predicting will be a glittering career. He has toured with Joe Satriani and opened in the
UK and Ireland for Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, and US slide maestro and Grammy nominee Derek Trucks. |
Sam BellSam Bell is a session guitarist and solo artist from the UK, specialising in a variety of styles from rock, blues, soul, fusion, and funk. He's shared the stage with artists such as Paul Gilbert, Plini, Lloyd Wade, Jakub Zyteki, Chris Buck and Tom Quayle.
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When not on the road, Sam writes lesson columns for Guitar Interactive Magazine, Premier Guitar Magazine and films DVD guitar lesson material for one of the world's leading guitar tuition websites, Lick Library.
Sam also spends time lecturing at WaterBear College of Music, teaching the guitar technique course that he helped put together. This has led him to teaching at Guitar Breaks, alongside highly acclaimed guitarists Peter Honoré and Chris Buck. |
Chris BuckIn 2020 Chris found himself voted Best Blues Guitatist by the readers of Guitarist Magazine in the wake of Buck & Evans critically-acclaimed first record, Write a Better Day. “It’s folly to attach numbers to music but it’s incredibly flattering to see that people enjoy what you do!” laughs Chris.
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Despite associations with Yamaha, Fender and Ernie Ball, a successful weekly YouTube series soon to exceed 10 million views, guitar greats being quick to express their appreciation of Chris's playing - ("this guy's a fu*king awesome guitar player!" - Slash), Chris insists that he doesn't crave the spotlight.
“From that first moment I played in front of a crowd, I never wanted to be the ‘virtuoso guitar guy" says Chris. "All of my favourite musicians were very much part of a band; that sense of interaction and spontaneity is incomparable. Making music with your mates; there's no better feeling…" |
Mike GoodmanMike is one of the UK’s most experienced exponents of the guitar. He has toured live, written music for soundtracks, is an MD for artists, recorded numerous sessions, is a highly experienced tutor and has endorsed and demonstrated for over 25 years. Mike continues to be heavily in demand as a live guitarist and educator.
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Mike has worked and performed with countless high profile artists and producers including: Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran), Living In A Box, Kenny Thomas, Denny Laine Page Official (Paul McCartney & Wings), Liv Dawson, Kitayah (Quincy Jones, George Michael), Wiley, Robert Burch (Original Rudeboys), Nate James, Thomas Jules (Rudimental) and Cass Fox (solo artist and Faithless).
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Steve AllsworthSteve cut his teeth at 23, writing the regular rock guitar column for Total Guitar magazine and going on to also write for Guitar Techniques magazine (a highlight being the infamy of interviewing the late, great Dimebag Darrell and having a Washburn electric guitar thrown at his head after a drunken night at the Kerrang awards).
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Steve has toured with the likes of Ronan Keating, Lily Allen and Mica Paris whilst also putting in regular sideman stints on TV, radio and sessions with Westlife, LeAnn Rimes, Alicia Keys, Nayo and collaborating with Kitayah (Andy Gangadeen).
Steve became head of guitar at BIMM Brighton in 2004 and later head of live performance at BIMM London in 2014. Apart from obsessing about everything guitar, Steve makes a mean homemade chilli sauce. |
Ben CastleBen Castle has been a full-time professional guitarist for the last 17 years. Working mostly in theatre, he has toured the UK and internationally on productions including Fame, Grease, The Rocky Horror Show, premiere UK tours of both Legally Blonde and Wicked, and spent two years as Guitar 1 on the international tour of Mamma Mia.
Now based primarily in London, he continues to work on shows in the West End and was proud to be the originating lead guitarist for the new production of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – the Musical during runs at the London Coliseum and the Dominion Theatre. He also performs regularly all over the world as a deputy ‘Brian May’ with top tribute band Killer Queen. |
When he’s not performing Ben also records and teaches private lessons from his studio in South London, specialising in Rock/Metal techniques and practical skills such as sight reading and sound production.
Social media links: Website: bencastleguitar.com Instagram: @bencastleguitar Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/seshboy |
Stu BrewerHaving been in the music industry for almost 20 years, Stu’s career has taken him around the world as a touring guitarist and closer to home as a music educator.
He’s is one half of the electronic rock duo Keepers Brew, guitarist in pop band Dlugokecki and an in-demand session player, having completed his first session at aged 16. Specialising in the fretless guitar, electronic and experimental world music, Stu fuses creativity with theoretical knowledge in his clinics and solo shows. |
As a product demonstrator and Vigier guitars endorsee Stu has performed demo’s within the musical instrument industry both online and at shows such as the NAMM show in Anaheim, USA.
Stu is a certified Logic Pro trainer, award winning songwriter and partner at Mutant Lab studios. A certified gear head, Stu has owned almost every guitar pedal and clever piece of technology imaginable. From vintage effects to modern digital modellers, he is an oracle on rig design, pedalboard construction and bridging the gap between analog and digital. In Partnership with WaterBear College of Music |
