I had fun recording a video of my arrangement of Bach’s “Minuet in D Minor,” which I play in DADGAD tuning. Watch for an audio version of this coming to digital platforms soon!

We had a lot of fun expanding the Teja Gerken & Doug Young Duo into a quartet by inviting our friends Marla Fibish and Bruce Victor (aka Noctambule) to join us. The result is an arrangement that is based on the version found on the DUETS album, with Teja playing baritone guitar and Doug playing a high-tuned mini 12-string, but with the addition of ten-string cittern and mandolin. The project was recorded and produced remotely with social distancing in three different locations.

Teja Gerken and Doug Young’s album Duets is now available on CD and high-quality download via Bandcamp! Here’s an introduction to the album:

To order the album, please visit Bandcamp:

 

Teja Gerken and Doug Young are releasing their long-awaited joint effort, Duets. Fitting into the general description of “acoustic fingerstyle,” Duets is all about the organic, honest sound of two guitars. Inspired by the examples set by instrumental guitar duos ranging from folk-baroque legends John Renbourn and Bert Jansch to the sophistication of the Duo Assad, Gerken and Young seek to create arrangements that are larger than the sum of their parts. The duo also takes advantage of the timbres available through a dazzling array of tunings and by pairing a wide variety of guitars, which include steel-string acoustics, low-tuned baritones, metal-bodied resonators, full-size and miniature 12-strings, nylon-string classicals, and even an electric archtop jazz guitar. 

Teja is pleased to announce an International Fingerstyle Guitar Summit at Berkeley’s Back Room on Friday, January 24th. Click HERE for more info and to purchase tickets!

Hailing from Rome, Italy, Alberto Lombardi has toured extensively in Europe and the US, playing major guitar events including Muriel Anderson’s All Star guitar Night, Peter Finger’s International Guitar Night, the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society Convention, Sarzana Festival, and more. Vintage Guitar magazine included him among Eight Guitarists to Watch in 2018, and he was chosen among the best ten emerging fingerstyle guitarists in the world by Poland’s Guitar Masters. His captivating acoustic performances are comprised of elaborate arrangements of great classics both of the Italian and international tradition, incorporating fingerpicking, flatpicking, some looping and singing, but also original songs and compositions.

Mexican-American guitarist Janet Noguera is one of the most exciting young fingerstylists to emerge in the last few years. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she won the International Lowden Guitars Young Guitarist of the Year competition in 2014, and in 2017, she won the Fretmonkey Records Solo Guitar contest. Janet studied classical guitar performance with Bill Coulter at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and she has also studied with Alex de Grassi, Thomas Leeb, Andy York, and others. Her exciting performances include modern fingerstyle pieces in the style of Andy McKee or Don Ross, as well as originals and classical compositions.

Born in Germany, but a long-time San Francisco Bay Area resident, Teja Gerken is no stranger to fans of contemporary fingerstyle guitar. Weaving together influences of folk, jazz, classical, and world music, he is known for his original compositions, many of which employ alternate tunings, two-handed tapping, percussive effects, and other extended guitar techniques. Teja’s two albums, On My Way and Postcards, have received widespread acclaim, and he has shared the stage with many guitar legends, including Alex de Grassi, John Renbourn, and Andy McKee.

Teja’s fingerstyle guitar duo with Doug Young will make a rare trip to Southern California to perform as part of the Santa Barbara Acoustic concert series. The duo will play at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club on Sunday, October 27th, starting at 7:30PM. SOhO is located at 2121 State Street, and you can call 805-962-7776 to make a reservation. Tickets are $15.

Live performance of Teja’s DADGAD arrangement of Charles Mingus’ classic “Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat” (based on a version by Tony McManus).

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be part of two Fingerstyle Guitar Summit shows featuring myself, Eric Skye and Adam Miller. We’ll be at the Sebastopol Community Center Annex in Sebastopol, California, on Friday, May 10th, and at The Back Room in Berkeley, California on Saturday, May 11th.

Details:

Friday, May 10th, 8PM
Sebastopol Community Center Annex at 425 Morris St. (immediately adjacent to the main community center), Sebastopol, California.
Tickets: $22 Adv, $25 Door
Ticket purchase/reservations: Kevin @ 707-824-1858 or krussellmft@aol.com

Saturday, May 1qth, 8PM
The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley, California
Tickets: $18 Adv, $20 Door. Info www.backroommusic.com, (510) 654-3808

Teja will join Grammy-nominated world music pioneer Jai Uttal, as well as multi-instrumentalists Ben Lenbach and Charley Paul for an afternoon concert at the Dance Palace in Point Reyes Station, California on Sunday, March 31st. 

Info and tickets at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cascade-canyon-school-benefit-concert-featuring-jai-uttal-ben-leinbach-teja-gerken-and-charley-paul-tickets-52634257481

 

Teja will return to Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto to teach an workshop on alternate tunings on Saturday, March 23rd. Here the info:

Whether you’re completely new to playing in alternate tunings or want to expand on the tunings you already use, in this workshop, fingerstyle guitarist and Peghead Nation co-founder Teja Gerken will help you see beyond EADGBE.

Teja will begin by showing musical examples in common tunings such as Drop D, Open D, DADGAD, Open G, etc., and will discuss why you might choose one tuning over another. He will then use his arrangements of the Irish traditional The South Wind (in DADGAD) and the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps (in CGDGCD tuning) to provide a musical context and to get students playing (music in TAB and standard notation will be provided).

Throughout the workshop, Teja will emphasize ways to understand the common territory between various tunings, as well as their relationships to standard tuning, which will help you navigate the rearranged fretboard. Teja will also demonstrate how alternate tunings facilitate contemporary fingerstyle techniques, how they can be useful in the context of playing with others, and how to use them in multiple keys.

Teja Gerken (www.tejagerken.com) has been deeply involved with the contemporary fingerstyle guitar scene for more than 20 years, and his two CDs of solo fingerstyle tunes, On My Way and Postcards have received international acclaim. Teja is a co-founder of the music instruction website Peghead Nation (www.pegheadnation.com), and he has written extensively about guitars and guitarists during his 15 years tenure as an editor for Acoustic Guitar magazine, and as a contributor to Fretboard Journal, Guitar Player, Premier Guitar, and other publications. In addition, he is the author of The Taylor Guitar Book.

https://www.gryphonstrings.com/events