Guitar
I believe that the best way to learn music is through real-world application. I teach students music in the genres and eras that they love, and use their favorite music as a vehicle to develop music fundamentals such as rhythm, theory, and technique.
A unique challenge of teaching guitar is the instrument's versatility. Unlike other instruments, the guitar can play an important role in almost any style of music and each of these styles calls for specific knowledge and technical ability. I work with my students to develop individualized goals and set about finding the path of least resistance to reaching said goals. I teach in a wide variety of styles including but not limited to: Pop, Rock, Alternative, Hard Rock, Folk, Blues, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Metal, Country, Bluegrass, and Classical. Although I am comfortable and versed in all these styles I would have to say that I specialize mainly in Blues, Jazz, Rock, and Fingerstyle Guitar stylings.
In my time teaching guitar I have worked with students of all ages from 6 to late 70’s and all skill levels from complete beginners to professional players. As a teacher I believe in patience and kindness, I am not the kind of teacher who will expect my students to be practicing 2 hours a day. My goal is to incorporate music into your life, help nurture your interest, and hopefully help make music a friend you can turn to when you need a break from the trials and tribulations of day to day life. I think that music can be a skill that a person can carry with them for the rest of their life, and I want to help make that happen for others!
As a student himself, Evan shares about his journey learning to play guitar:
I have been playing guitar since I was about 9 years old. In the intervening years I have studied with many different players and worked in many different styles. My musical journey began learning classic rock and pop guitar with Harlow Shannon. From there I studied Metal guitar with James Laurman and blues guitar with Guitar Center King of the Blues finalist Alex Johnson. At this point, around 16, I took a deep dive into learning jazz guitar. I began studying with Jazz guitarist Alex Anest and studying improvisation with Jazz pianist Mick Dobday. In addition to all this private instruction, I also participated in ensemble lessons with Ann Arbor Jazz trumpet player Paul Finkbiener, Jazz Fusion bassist Darell Campbell Jr., Detroit Jazz trombone player Vincent Chandler, among others.
This intensive jazz study was in preparation to begin my studies in jazz guitar at the University of Michigan. In my time at U of M, I studied privately for 4 years with internationally renowned jazz guitarist and Thelonious Monk Competition Finalist, Miles Okazaki. Working with Miles, significantly impacted my playing and remains a large part of my approach to guitar to this day. I also worked with Detroit Jazz legend, bassist Bob Hurst, former Jazz Messenger Benny Green, Educator and Jazz pianist Ellen Rowe, Jazz Saxophonist Andrew Bishop, Free Improvisation trumpet player Mark Kirschenmann, and former Count Basie Orchestra trombone player Dennis Wilson. All of this study culminated with my graduation from the University of Michigan with Honors and a Bachelor's degree in Jazz guitar in 2018.
Shortly after graduating, I studied with Eastern Michigan Classical guitar professor Johnathan Edwards, further rounding out my musical education.
Evan’s guitar performance background:
I first began performing in 2007. My first “gigs” were playing and singing Bob Dylan covers at coffee shops in my hometown of Saline, Michigan. From this innocuous start I have branched out, performing in multiple genres, across North America. After starting with mostly acoustic music I eventually branched out and played in several classic rock cover bands in middle and high school. These rock shows eventually lead to my first paying gigs, playing festivals and weddings around Southeast Michigan. Around high school I began exploring jazz and joined youth ensembles around Southeast Michigan including the AASPA Jazz Combo Ensemble, and DSO Jazz Program. With these groups I played in showcases around Ann Arbor and Detroit. Connections from these groups eventually led to more paying work freelancing in the Detroit area. It was around this time that I made my first appearance at the Detroit Jazz Festival as a member of the Jazzweek at Wayne All Star Band in 2014.
In the fall of 2014 I began my studies at the University of Michigan, which ushered in a whole new group of playing opportunities. I played in small ensemble jazz combos coached by Detroit Jazz bassist Marion Hayden. In addition to this I played with the University of Michigan Jazz Lab Ensemble coached by Dennis Wilson and the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble coached by Ellen Rowe. With the Jazz Lab Ensemble I performed with famed Jazz drummer Ali Jackson, and with the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble I played my biggest gig ever, a U of M Football halftime show (in front of over 100’000 people!!) in 2017, toured the East Coast in the summer of 2018, as well as making my second appearance at the Detroit Jazz Festival later that year performing with world renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter. Outside of my jazz ensemble work in school I also played in a Baroque small ensemble led by Professor Joseph Gascho.
Outside of school I played on various freelance projects and in several ensembles. I performed in about a dozen musical theater productions in the pit orchestra during school, which helped hone my sight reading skills and ability to play in numerous different styles. Notable ensembles include: the Ann Arbor Guitar Trio, Glitter Glam, and Fallow Land. with Experimental group Glitter Glam I played and composed music that would become part of an album called Yee, released in 2018. With the Ann Arbor Guitar Trio I performed around the Midwest, opened for the California Guitar Trio, and recorded and released an album of original arrangements of the works of mainly local composers called Tides in 2018.
With Fallow Land I have done some of my favorite professional creative work. In our 5 years as a band we toured the midwest and east coast twice, played shows opening for national and international acts Cursive, Longwave, The Sea and Cake, Emma Ruth Rundle, and Delta Sleep (twice!), and recorded two albums. The first album, an ep called Pinscher, was produced by Michigan Singer Songwriter Chris Bathgate at High Bias Recording in Detroit in 2016 and self released in 2017. The second, a full length LP called Slow Down, Rockstar was recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle with Producer Matt Bayles (Minus the Bear, Mastodon, Botch, Pearl Jam, Foxing, and others) in the summer of 2018 and released on Spartan Records in 2019.
Another favorite project was playing guitar on Max Cornell’s most recent EP, Same Old Blue which came out in January 2021.
In 2019 I began writing songs seriously for the first time. As the pandemic hit in 2020 I used my newfound free time to really dig into what I value in a song and what I wanted to say as a solo artist. Eventually after spending time honing my writing and building my confidence I reached out to longtime friend and collaborator Whit Fineberg (Fallow Land) to see if he would want to help me make a solo record. We started workshopping the songs in May 2021, recorded them between late September and early November of that year and I released my first record under my own name Don’t Cry in May 2022! Since then I have been honored to share my songs at Third Place Musicfest, Open Folk Asheville, and with the live video performance series Seed&Stone.
Current Projects include doing freelance live and session guitar work with other asheville artists (Yahzay, Little Champion, Of the Stars), working on a collaborative EP with fellow songwriters Austin Sebek and Sun Brother (Coming out in 2025!), as well as recording new music under my own name!
