Ken Volpe (Co-founder Guitar Jam Daily) eats, sleeps and breathes the guitar - just ask his wife and friends! He started playing at the tender age of 10 and his passion for the instrument has never left him. Ken’s crazy work week includes recording and producing music, doing session work, composing music, and practicing his axe off. Currently, he also plays in a 7-piece Funk/R & B band as well as being part of the local Contemporary Gospel music scene. Ken enjoys spending time with his wife, Sommer and 2 Papillons, Mackie and Bella. His primary responsibilities for GJD include lessons, artist interviews, assorted reviews, and eating Mexican food with Nick Friese while they discuss the future of GJD.
John McGlasson (Industry Insider) is a life-long guitarist, producer, and founder of o.i.e.Records,Ltd., a musician-oriented independent record label based in Central Illinois. Fronting the band Sons of Science, he's working on material for his new album, Thrust, to be released in mid '07, with some serious players TBA. John loves to write about and discuss the music industry in any capacity, and hopes to change the way music is distributed to the Global Consumer. His dedication to originality and artistic purity in the business has elevated o.i.e.Records to global status within less then 3 years, and attracted some major artists to the label, such as Rod Morgenstein, Dave LaRue, John Blakeley, Ron Nagle, and soon many more! Stay tuned!
Ronny North (Adventures In Guitar) plays his own signature brand of instrumental guitar rock and is fast becoming a So Cal guitar hero. He has appeared in several national and international music publications and has been featured in ad campaigns and catalogs for his various sponsors. MTV licensed Ronny’s music from his Smeared CD for their "Real World" reality TV program. In January 2006, Ronny released his Going Psyko CD to rave reviews. Ronny has been nominated in 2 categories (Best Instrumental Group and Best Male Guitarist) at the 2006 ALL ACCESS MAGAZINE Music Awards. Ronny has received extensive press, airplay, has sold many CD’s throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and regularly opens up for national acts. Ronny has been a judge for Guitar Center's Guitarmageddon Guitar Competition for the last 3 years. He also has a philanthropic side: he has performed at the Special Olympics Summer Games for the last several years; he has played events for Toys for Tots and the Troops in Iraq; and he has performed at several benefits for musicians in need.
Larry Dobrow (Whammy Bar) When he’s not a-rockin’ or a-rollin’, he’s usually a-nappin’ often with his Tak acoustic or Telecaster nestled on his lap. A veteran of the Northern Jer-Z scene that produced thousands of unsigned hair bands, Dobrow mostly digs melodic players with serious chops (see under: Townshend, Pete). He will fight you if you suggest to him that Lindsey Buckingham is a wimp-rock hack and nod sadly if you tell him that Eddie Van Halen misplaced his six-string mojo back in 1985. When not tapping out the “Whammy Bar” column for Guitar Jam Daily, Dobrow writes for a range of sports, entertainment and marketing publications, including CBS SportsLine, Maxim, Stuff, Advertising Age and MediaPost. He runs marathons, is very short, and likes the color grey. Never call him.
Chip Lovitt (A Fan’s Notes) is a writer-editor with more than thirty years of experience in the book and magazine fields, including a stint as Music Editor for Scholastic, Inc. He is also the author of dozens of books for young readers. In addition to having taught beginning guitar at New Milford's Adult Education program in New Milford, CT for the past five years, Chip recently served as the consultant on The Complete Guitar Course, a 300-page guitar book published by Reader's Digest. He has been playing guitar for more than 40 years and is an avid guitar collector with a weakness for vintage guitars, especially Fender Telecasters and old Martin acoustics.He is also a self-confessed concerta-holic who spent much of his teenage years at New York's Fillmore East and has attended nearly a thousand music concerts over the last forty years.
Keith Augeri (Drum Throne) began very early, first accordion, then trumpet, before a stint with braces forced a move to another instrument: drums. He has been playing for 33 years, over 20 of them professionally. His career in the Boston area began with a jazz/rock trio (Jay Laurino trio) which toured Boston’s North Shore area & surrounding Tri-State area in the 1990’s Keith still plays in the Boston area, currently in a Tower Of Power tribute band, Manchuka, as well as various recording projects, & lives in Newbury, MA, with my wife, Michele
Jim Basara (Guitar Tech) Jim started playing guitar in the 5th grade at church after discovering an older guitar under his big brother’s bed. A few years later, he discovered rock-n-roll and electrified himself with a Silvertone guitar and amp. After doing all of the usual garage band and local bar band stuff, thru high school and into college, he found that he had more talent with computers than with a guitar (after all, it couldn’t have been the instruction, since he grew up in a neighboring town to Paul Gilbert and shared several instructors). Still, guitars continued to be an important part of his life. Even while making a successful career in the software industry, Jim made time for playing, sometimes dragging guitars half-way around the world on a business trip so that he wouldn’t have to go a couple weeks without playing. Jim has several guitars that have been in more countries than most U.S. citizens. He also enjoyed tinkering with guitars – tearing them apart, putting them back together, modifying them, etc. After his last software company, he decided to figure out how to make a living doing something he was passionate about. Jim formalized his guitar tech skills by studying with the master of playability, Miles Jones, at Fretworks (www.fretwork.com) in Calgary Canada, and is currently launching a guitar-related business. As a kid, Jim dreamed of making a career in the music industry, and now he’s making a go of it in a completely different way than he had ever imagined. You never know when and how your dreams will come true.
Mike Roberts (Fingerstylin’), a San Francisco-based guitarist and composer, Mike balances a private teaching studio with full-time graduate work in composition at the San Francisco Conservatory. His works for solo guitar include the Cervantes Suite and Tao #40, and the guitar has occupied a central role in many of his other works, most notably his opera Lotus Blooming in a Sea of Fire and theater pieces Cuentos de Eva Luna and Tooth and Nail. An avid electric guitarist as well as classical and acoustic fingerstylist, Mike wrote and performed with New England progressive soul band Stand Up Eight (http://www.standupeight.net) from 1996 to 2004, producing two CDs which garnered numerous honors in Jam Music Magazine’s Reader’s Poll. He is currently developing a new progressive soul project in the Bay Area. When not playing music, Mike enjoys debating politics with his father and hanging out with his wicked awesome wife, Mindy. You can hear his music at http://www.hotmike.com
Nick Friese (Founder of Guitar Jam) is a life long player, who actually can’t remember a time when he didn’t have a guitar by his side, can be found playing in his band, or jamming with his three kids, writing stories for GJD, mapping out the future of Guitar Jam while eating mexican food with his long time Guitar Jam cohort Ken Volpe. He’s a guy who thinks that Guitar Jam and broadband have been the most important developments of the 21st century and have potential to bring about world peace or a least a cure for bad tone.
Matt Rae - Country Pickin’: Matt has held the second guitarist seat in the Arlen Roth band for the last six years while at the same time keeping busy with the recording of his own trio’s work on the CD’s “Twang” and more recently “Tele-Pathic”. In 2005 Matt received the honor of being selected out of over 3,000 submissions to Guitar Player Magazine to be a top 10 finalist in the “Guitar Hero 2005” competition with featured a live performance and celebrity judging at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Matt has also been chosen as an endorsee from Peavey Musical Instrument Co. also a great honor. Matt has shared stages with such guitar luminaries as: Debbie Davies, Johnny A and Forest Lee Jr. He has recorded and shared the stage with Commander
Cody, Levon Helm and Redd Volkaert
