Rob Garland
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Dishin' Out The Funk
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St. Louis guitarist Rob Garland loaded two tunes onto a demo CD-R and submitted them to the Undiscovered. Both tracks were written in January of 2007 and were recorded one-man band style on a Boss BR1180CD. The tunes incorporate Garland's various influences, including Larry Carlton, Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery, Jeff Beck, Mike Landau, Steve Lukather, Robben Ford and Jaco Pastorius among others. Both demo tracks are instrumentals, the first, "In The Moment" being the slightly funkier, lighter and jazzier (more George Benson-like) of the two. The second track, "Dark Places" opens with simple handclap percussion, before exploring jazz/fusion and rock territory with an improvised liquid solo that perfectly compliments the funk rhythms. He's got lots more demos on his web page, so stop by if you like what you hear.
Rob was born in Kent, England in 1973 and grew up around music. His earliest memories include listening to his Grandfather play violin and being fascinated by the sound of Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli records. Rob began playing the guitar at age 14. After playing in several bands comprised of school friends, he joined an original funk/pop band, Dead Happy, whose debut CD entitled, "A Field Of Flowers", was released in 1994. They made a subsequent EP two years later. In 1999, Rob recorded his first solo CD, "Sway". Rob later moved to the USA playing for a year with funk/soul band, Mind Over Soul and then formed his own blues/jazz trio, The Blue Monks. The Monks released two original CDs, 2001's self-titled disc and "When It's All Said & Done", released in 2003. In 2006 Rob decided to disband The Blue Monks and concentrate on other projects. He is currently performing with The Oday Project and The Richard Fuller Quartet, as well as playing sessions. After teaching guitar for 10 years, Rob's first instructional book, "Jazz For The Blues Guitarist" will be published soon by Cherry Lane Music.
Garland's main goal is to continue to grow as a musician, as he spends every free moment studying and playing the guitar. He one day hopes to be signed to a label tat will encourage his development as a musician. Garland is also writing new material for an upcoming original CD, and continues to teach guitar.
MP3 Songs
In The Moment
Dark Places
Contact Information
Rob Garland
5528 Chippewa, Apt. 2W
St. Louis, MO 63109
United States
E-mail:
Rob Garland
Web site:
www.robgarlandmusic.com
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Pedro Fernandez
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Muscular Guitar Love
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Determined to heap loads of muscular guitar love onto his audience, Canada's Pedro Fernandez blazes on his CD-R album Beautiful Illusion. An instrumental hard rock guitar offering, the opening track "Feel Good First" has one of the most jarring transitions you'll ever hear, acoustic fingerstyle guitar for about a minute and a half, followed by children's laughter and then - ripping, guitar-oriented hard rock, complete with heavy, multi-tracked guitar layers, furious double picking, pinches and squeals, and even sweep picking on the ride out. Other tracks of the 12 included on the CD-R show off a wide command of styles (with a moderate Satriani type vibe), but in a more conventional sense, relatively speaking. Not just your average noodler, Fernandez puts his talents to good use in this guitar dominated release - check it out if you live and die by the sound of hellzapoppin' axework.
Pedro is a self taught player and plays by ear. He can read music notation but not with ease. Pedro's love affair with the guitar began when he was 14 years old. He recalls really wanting to be able to play "Hot Dog" by Led Zeppelin. Eventually he was able to play that song, and many others, and years later he is focused on writing and recording the music he hears. His compositions so far have been purely instrumental without vocals, but his intention is to begin writing or working with talented vocalists.
As a performer, Pedro has traveled extensively all over North America, playing everywhere from teeny tiny watering holes to 5 star casinos, and from outdoor festivals to arenas. As he comments, "Life on the road can be quite an adventure and you can meet some really, shall we say, interesting people." Over the years he's shared the stage with some notable artists like Charlie Daniels in Blue Ash, Ohio, Amanda Marshall in Tweed, Ontario and even The Village People during their comeback tour at a casino in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Fernandez's immediate career goals are to continue to develop his skills as a producer and recording artist, as well as to try his hand at film scoring, which he will have the opportunity to do later this year.
MP3 Songs
Kong Is Loose
Psycho Monkey
Contact Information
Pedro Fernandez
29 Prueter Street
Kitchener, Ontario N2H 6G5
Canada
E-mail:
Pedro Fernandez
Web site:
www.pedrofernandez.org
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