about

Painting the guitar has always been about the Music. My connection to Music. And my love of this amazing instrument.

 

I have always loved the guitar. As a kid, I was obsessed with it, from holding and playing it to just looking at its beauty. It's versatility in sound from one kind of guitar to another, excited and inspired me. Starting out at age 9 with a nylon string classical guitar, I can remember the freedom I felt when I would strum my own rhythms on a steel string acoustic guitar that had a slimmer neck. I always had a guitar in my hands that went with me everywhere. When I got my first electric guitar at age 13, which was a burgundy color sg-copy, I was transported into the world of electric guitar. My first amp was a Peavy 30-watt. 

 

The electric sound I made from my own two hands captivated me. I found my style early on, which was improvisational, spontaneous and melodic. If I wasn't outside riding my bike or playing softball, tennis, etc., I was indoors glued to my record collection. Instant connections were made with guitarists Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix. The way Santana's poetic and percussive notes danced and sustained across the fretboard, deeply resonated with me. And when I heard the feedback-drenched, bold and defiant fiery screams in Hendrix's playing, my inspiration ignited. As my own style began to develop, my musical signature, musical collaboration began in my neighbor's basement. That where jamming took place.

 

In my first band, Damien Axcess, we were two electric guitarists, and a drummer. If we were lucky enough to get one of the few bass players, we had a fuller situation. This setting was my incubator. I was 16 and my parents bought me a beautiful, cream-color, Gibson SG-Custom, my guitar playing had developed even further. The ornate beauty in this guitar -- from the shiny gold hardware and white pickguard and pickup rings to the Mother of Pearl fret and headstock inlays, ebony fretboard, heavy lacquered gloss finish, I was completely immersed. My experimentation with different amps, my trusted MXR distortion pedal, slides and a violin bow, all served to augment the ways my creativity expressed all the while I found playing drums satisfying on a whole other level. The ability to play drums came naturally and felt so completely innate the same way I had felt about playing sports: it was athletic. This thriving laboratory of musical experimentation played-out in my next-door neighbor's basement. In our weekend night black light jams, raw riffs poured from my hands, and our playing was freely associated. This musical collaboration led me to join a bunch of other bands and join up with other guitarists where I was exposed to even other styles of playing and of course, more gear!   

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When I heard the bluesy-rock, and more technical edginess in Jimmy Page's playing, my curiosity level brought me to a different level. By then I had eyes on my future. That is when I learned to play. I began formal lessons by Junior year in high school with the expectation to matriculate into a guitar conservatory, which I did. I ended up transferring into the field of health-sciences, my other passion and went on to become an exercise physiologist and Licensed Physical Therapist. But, before that career path would take hold, I set out to paint my first guitar bodies in my early 20s, a project that would remain on hold until my PT career winded down.

 

Today, I play guitar in my trio, Reservoir Road Band and play out as a solo guitarist. Artists who have deeply influenced my artwork include Kandinsky, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Picasso, Dali, Miro, and others, but most especially, is the art ad design of my mom, Dyan Rosenberg, a painter, furniture designer, home designer/builder who creates in many mediums.

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My athletic brain still leads the way in my approaches to things I do in life. Like I did in my work as a PT and years of competing in triathlons, I give 100% of my passion and energy into the process of painting and designing each guitar. I approach art and playing music with the same discipline and energy I have brought into the arena of human performance. In the end, it's about results through dedication and commitment to the process.