Great performance by Tess Dunn and Rory Freeman at the Museum of Art and History in downtown Santa Cruz. This evening of guitar performances was part of the The Santa Cruz County Art of Guitar Exhibit and Festival. This guitar exhibit runs through March 15 at the R. Blitzer Gallery here in Santa Cruz and features the work of 20 prominent luthiers. http://www.purrgirl.com/aog/
Here are a bunch of shots of my newest guitar, taken by local photographer R.R. Jones, www.rrjones.com. This is a seven-string fan fret with 3 bass strings and the four inner strings of the guitar. The tuning from treble to bass is: D, Bflat, F, C, F, C, G.
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The bridge pieces are designed by Rick Toone, http://www.ricktoone.com/, they are Stainless and Aluminum. The top and back are Brazilian Rosewood, the body is Swamp Ash. The neck is Mahogany and the fingerboard is Ebony. The guitar pick up is made by Jason Lollar, http://www.lollarguitars.com/, and the bass pick up by Bartolini, http://www.bartolini.net/. Lastly, these killer knobs are knurled and custom made of Brazilian Rosewood by David King, http://www.dknob.com/.
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I also got assistance from two up and coming guitar makers in town, Stephen Strahm and Jason Lindsey, I want to thank everyone very much!
- German Spruce Top
- Brazilian Rosewood Back and Sides
It's been awhile since I've made a 12-string guitar or a guitar with serious inlay; a customer requested both for this set of guitars! Each of these Model R cutaways have inlay crafted by Larry Robinson http://robinsoninlays.com/, German Spruce tops and some killer Brazilian Rosewood back and sides.
Thanks to a growing fanbase, the 27-year-old has been getting his fair share of airtime on the Fox show this year.
No matter how you feel about season 12’s contestants, themes, song choices or judges, most viewers -- and certainly those of us in the press corps -- can agree on one thing: that American Idol guitarist is something else.
Taking the leads for Ray Chew’s band is Brady Cohan, a seasoned player who first picked up the guitar at age 12. Now 27, the native of Los Altos, Calif., up north in Silicon Valley, studied music at USC and graduated in 2007 with the aim of “becoming a better musician,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. Being in a band wasn’t a top priority for the dashing musician. Rather, he saw himself more behind the scenes.
“My ultimate goal is to score films,” he says. “As much as I love touring and playing all around the world, it's nice to stay in one place.”
Among the artists who Brady has traveled with: Natalie Cole, Cee-Lo Green, Keyshia Cole and Queen Latifah, until a friend told him about an opportunity to audition for American Idol.
What’s it like to try out for the singing competition as a member of the band? Not unlike the tens of thousands of hopefuls, Cohan says it felt like a “very unnatural kind of situation -- all you can really do is play and be yourself, but it is a little nerve-wracking.”
He was handed the great American songbook, which included the song “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith, nailed it, and in season 11, became a regular player. This year, he’s gotten even more airtime, no doubt because of a growing mostly female fanbase. Not that he has much time to enjoy it. The band’s Idol schedule is nearly as grueling as the finalists and includes not only rehearsals, but studio sessions that can sometimes feel like “recording an album a night,” basically,” adds Cohan. “It’s crazy … and a sprint to the finish, that’s for sure.”
Since Cohan has performed with his share of seasoned artists, how do the Idol hopefuls compare? “They don't sound like amateurs anymore,” he defends. “Angie [Miller] sang a great rendition of ‘Cry Me A River,’ Candice [Glover] and Amber [Holcomb] have that soul thing, but the stuff that rocks a little bit harder, that’s fun.”
Indeed, accompanying a bluesy singer like Kree Harrison is certainly in his wheelhouse, and in a way, both performers seem to boost each other.
Still, Cohan admits, even he gets nervous. “My guitar could go out of tune, I could forget a part … it’s a lot of pressure playing in front however many millions of people,” he says. “And it’s live so you can't redo or mess it up.”
You can also end up making semi-embarrassing expressions which, Cohan admits, he’s struggling with. And he’s not alone: John Mayer, another stellar player, has the same problem with “constipation face” (our description, not his).
Cohan’s own personal idols: Paul Jackson, Jr., who had the lead guitar gig before heading over to The Tonight Show with ex-Idol music director Rickey Minor. “And the people who got me excited about music in the first place -- Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King.”
The fact that Cohan, by virtue of his talent (and, let’s face it, his looks) has built his own fanbase is “a pleasantly nice surprise,” he says. “This show is not about us and coming into it, you're well aware of that, so people taking notice is really nice. Of course, I miss playing my own music but I’m having a blast.”
Check out some of Brady Cohan's original music on his official site and follow him on Twitter at @bradysgstring.
Twitter: @shirleyhalperin
Brady Cohan, guitarist with American Idol's House Band performs Pink's "Perfect" with Kree Harrison on May 8th http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b7BgkJDcLB8#!
Raul Midón Summer Concert Dates
Guitar #200!! Model OO- German Spruce Top, Abalone Rosette and Top Border, Brazilian Rosewood sides
- Model OO Brazilian Rosewood
