Classical Guitar Insider

Guitarist Ana Maria Rosdao talks to me about Puerto Rico, Segovia, judgmental pedants, and Segovia.

The best duo out of Italy since the Mario Brothers, Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli drop by the apartment. 

Head of the Yale University guitar department, Curator for the Art of the Guitar concert series at 92nd St. Y, and Vice President of the United States of America Ben Verdery gives us the dirt on John Williams, Chuck Berry and Keith Richards.

Australia is missing an angel; Simon Powis drops by and we discuss why we like people that make mistakes, dancers, and how he is receiving his Doctorate of Music Arts from Yale this month. Let’s get him an ice cream cake!

Big Bad Jerry Willard takes time out from transcribing Bach and making Guitar-Doctors at SUNY Stony Brook to teach me about ancient instruments and how to control my anger. 

I interview award winning guitarist and U.S. Artistic Ambassador to Africa, Dr. Lily Afshar. 

Adam Tully is currently conducting interviews and documenting the current state of the Tango in Argentina and the U.S for his upcoming podcast. He created his own guitar program at NYU, and has a beard. He has a sunny disposition and is available for Bat/Bar mitzvahs and corporate events. But so am I, so call me first. 

Columbia University Professor Marco Cappelli and his daughter come to my house where we talk about Harry Potter, Oscar Ghiglia, and the color blue. 

 I interview someone else who's spent the last 20 years dealing with bad people. How are we going to process this anger? By taking it out on our family of course! My freind Christopher Gotzen-Berg comes on the show. 

Badi Assad drops by and slaps me in my face, grabs my chin and says "don't tell me what to do!” slaps me again and then tells us about her journey from classical guitarist to Brazilian pop princess. 

The Cuban born guitarist escapes Castro, works his way from a factory floor to Yale and becomes one of the most powerful musicians in our industry. Also I complain about my birthday and Best Buy.

I sit down with the guy who has our old press kits, Presenter/Composer/Guitarist Frank Wallace. Oh and stop sending him your head shots from 12 years ago. You know who you are (I didn't know Doug James was 28!).

I talk to fellow struggling NYC guitarist Mike Gisinan about his new project combining Japanese and European Chamber instruments and making less money than a hotdog vendor. 

I do like men my own age! New Music and old men on episode 22 (year olds suck). 

I hate people that post about their half marathons, people that post pictures of their kids instead of themselves, and men my own age, except for University of Baltimore/Peabody at John's Hopkins guitar professor Zane Forshee. Him I like. Oh, and I hate 22 year olds.  

I sit down with the real most interesting man in the world, Guitar Foundation of America winner Kevin Gallagher. 

The 27 year old manager of some of the biggest young names in our industry (Caballero, Goryachev, Villagas, Palmer) throws his superior intellect at me and makes me Karate chop the door after he leaves. Just kidding. He’s awesome.   

Luthier Gary Lee explains why guitars cost so much when they are not made by machines and teams of imported slave laborers in the middle of Pensylvania.

It's ZAIRA MUNDO ZAIRA MUNDO!!! Crazy fun conversation with who the New York Times calls "arresting and colorful" and who we call "The Tornado." Zaira Meneses opens up about Mexico, her blossoming career and being married to Eliot Fisk.

Morton Gould ASCAP composer, and old college friend mine, Dr. Anthony Joseph Lanman talks about how awesome it is to spend nearly two decades composing award winning music that is performed by dozens of ensembles in as many countries and then be totally broke.