Stephen Williams (Acoustic, Electric, and Music Theory)

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Stephen was born and raised in Columbia, SC and has been teaching guitar professionally since 2000. He moved to Greenville during the summer of 2007 and opened Greenville Guitar Academy in November of that year. His teaching style is very student oriented, and he places emphasis on creativity and initiative in both playing and writing music. More than anything else, Stephen wants his students to have as much fun playing the guitar as he does. He requires this same philosophy from all of the staff teachers at Greenville Guitar Academy.

Stephen studied music at the University of South Carolina and guitar under jazz guitarist Robert Newton (Grover Washington Jr.). He gigged around Columbia with various groups for the better part of a decade and was a frequent guest performer with King Hippo. Most recently, Stephen entered the studio with The Fossil Record and laid down the lead guitar tracks for their first album “Living in Reverse.” His musical tastes include blues, classical, country, folk, jazz, hip-hop, and especially rock. He has shared the stage with musicians like drummer John Blackwell (Prince, Patti Labelle, Justin Timberlake), Patrick Davis (solo artist), and guitarist/keyboardist Les Hall (Crossfade, Trey Anastasio). While playing with his former band The Fossil Record, Columbia's Free Times observed "...the secret weapon is guitarist Stephen Williams, whose fiery solos give the whole deal a scintillating glow." M. Miller

Adam Knight (Acoustic, Classical, Electric, and Music Theory)

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Adam Knight began playing the guitar at age 13. By his senior year of high school, he was playing clubs in and around Atlanta, Georgia with his band, Salt. In 1996, he formed the band KGB, which gained notoriety in Atlanta for its creative blend of hip-hop, funk, and jazz. While with KGB, Adam shared the stage with such major label acts as Incubus and Maceo Parker.

Adam’s growing interest in jazz and improvisation led him to Boston for a summer session at Berklee College of Music and later to Georgia State University where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in jazz performance. While attending Georgia State, Adam was hired as the guitar player for the Nick Savage Band, with whom he played at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, the Montreaux Atlanta Music Festival, the Atlanta Aids Walk and the DeKalb Council of Arts Jazz Festival. In 2003, Adam formed The Subject, a nu jazz and funk band for which he was the primary songwriter and guitarist. With The Subject, Adam played regularly at many of the major jazz clubs in Atlanta. During this same time, Adam performed in diverse settings, from the Georgia State Big Band, where he shared the stage with Kenny Garrett and Gary Motley, to small jazz ensembles for weddings and private parties.

To augment his skills further, Adam enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he received a Master of Music degree in jazz performance in May 2006. At the New England Conservatory, Adam had the opportunity to study with such performers as Dave Holland, Ben Monder, Jerry Bergonzi and Cecil McBee. He was also able to strengthen his skills as a composer and arranger through study with Ken Schaphorst and others.

Since his return to the South in 2006, Adam has been teaching at the collegiate level as well as in his private studio. He is currently teaching Guitar and other music courses at The University of South Carolina Upstate and Spartanburg Community College. In addition to being a jazz musician and educator, Adam is an active member of the rock band GOLDEN. GOLDEN has performed at venues and festivals all across the Southeast including the 2006 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and the 2007 Texas Rock Fest.

Michael L. Vick (Acoustic, Classical, Electric, and Music Theory)

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Michael Vick aka Michael Atonal Vick was born in Fairfax, Virginia and recently relocated to the upstate from Charleston, South Carolina. Michael has been teaching and performing music for over 20 years. Michael's teaching style is one that encompasses all aspects of music from technique and theory to composition and performance. Michael is adept at teaching all styles of music for the guitar and bass and also gives workshops at schools on the artistic benefits of cultural tuning systems and fretless guitars. Since moving to the upstate, Michael has taught summer music courses at Furman University and private lessons in his studio. With music instruction, Michael's goal is to educate as well as to entertain.

Michael's formal music study began when he was fifteen years old. While in high school, he was invited to study classical guitar and music theory at the College of Charleston under Michael Poulos and in Master Classes with Frederick Hand. Around this time, he was also invited to study with Christopher Berg at USC delving deeper into advanced guitar and compositional techniques. He later received a full scholarship to attend the College of Charleston. Over the years that followed, Michael worked under Carroll Brown at Oceansong Records as a recording engineer, and later moved to Atlanta, Georgia and became a freelance engineer and studio musician. While living in Atlanta, he also worked for the Ginn Music Group as an engineer, studio musician and archive database specialist.

As an artist, Michael has performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Wayang Modern Theater, the Footlight Players, the Pat Curtis Jazz Trio, the C Of C Classical Guitar Quartet and the American Festival Of Microtonal Music Orchestra, and he has performed at the Spoleto Festival, Hotlanta's Acid Jazz ­­Festival, the NYC Fretless Guitar Festival and the National Slide Guitar Festival. He founded and made recordings with The Michael Vick Trip, Wit's End, Bass Fight, MusicaMunadana.TV and Vead. For his extensive work with fretless guitars, Vick has been featured in major guitar publications around the world and has released over 12 CDs. Recently, he can be heard on the CD compilations World's Fretless Guitarists : Village Of The Unfretted, GtrOblq : The Unraveling Begins, Artists For Charity : Guitarists 4 The Kids and Unplugged & Unfretted : A Collection Of The World's Acoustic Fretless Guitarists. Michael is sponsored by Godin Guitars and UnFretted.com. For more information try www.TheMichaelVickTrip.com

"Pick up a copy of his CD if your ready to have your mind blown.......music in favor of the esoteric." Guitar9
"I feel we're at a turning point where the fretless guitar is shedding its novelty status and becoming a viable instrument in its own right." MAV in Guitar Player magazine

Check out Michael’s tv appearance from Your Carolina here.

Jef Chandler (Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Songwriting)

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Jef Chandler is a native of Greenville, South Carolina and a graduate of Furman University. He has been writing songs, playing in bands and performing live since he first picked up the guitar at the age of 12. In that time he has had the privilege of opening up for such acts as the Austin Lounge Lizards, Fred Eaglesmith, Scott Miller, Tish Hinojosa, Jump Little Children, Billy Pilgrim, and many more.

From 1995 until 1998 Jef played with the popular acoustic band from Greenville called Big Brown Bowl. In 1999 Jef released his debut solo album Talking Out the Fire. The songs on the album range stylistically from crunchy rock anthems to bluegrass to country. Many of the tunes have received airplay on radio programs throughout Europe and in the United States. When the album first came out, Mike Miller of The State in Columbia, in his year’s end retrospect for 1999, called the CD one of the underground best releases by a South Carolina artist that year. For the past decade Jef has toured the southeast with a changing roster of talented musicians from the upstate of South Carolina. In October of 2004 Jef released his second solo CD Everything Good is on the Highway. As with his first CD, Everything Good received airplay on independent radio programs in Europe and the US, and the song Empire of Idle Thoughts charted in the top 100 on the indie Country charts in Europe in March of 2005. Currently, Jef Chandler is playing club gigs and festivals in the southeast. His new cd, Account, was released in January 2009.

Jef is an extremely talented songwriter and guitarist, who is not only capable of guitar instruction but can work with aspiring songwriters as well.

Shaun Ritchie (Bass Guitar, Electric and Acoustic Guitars)

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Shaun Ritchie is a Greenville, SC and alum of the Fine Arts Center. After playing in numerous upstate bands, one of which opened for legendary surf guitarist Dick Dale; Shaun decided that the best way forward was through further music education. He studied at the Atlanta Institute of Music under some of the best bass teachers in the world, including Alan OW Barnes, who Shaun considers the best bass teacher he has ever had, and Adam Nitti, bassist for christian rock artist, Steven Curtis Chapman.

After graduating Shaun freelanced in and around the Atlanta area doing studio sessions and teaching private lessons. Eventually he crossed paths with Atlanta based, touring R&B group Maxwell Lummus, who had recently lost their bassist. Shaun stepped in and played to sold-out shows in every major college town in the southeast. In 2004 he took a break from the constant touring and went back to freelancing with Atlanta area bands and teaching private lessons.

In 2006, Shaun decided to move back “home” to Greenville, where he has continued his session playing and teaching. He can be seen with several groups at local venues ranging from the Handlebar, to the Brown Street Club.

Gary D. Bell (Banjo, Bluegrass Guitar)

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After playing bluegrass banjo and guitar for more than 30 years, Gary decided to share his music knowledge with some students. He has taught banjo and guitar at Dreamcatcher Guitars in Roswell, Georgia, and at Ponce De Leon Music in Cummings.

In his own words:

"My goal as a teacher is simple, to insure my students' success as musicians! I offer a straight forward, easy to understand method that teach banjo techniques that enable the student to learn and play one new song each week. My students range in age from eight to 65. I play several different guitars, but my pride and joy is my 1982 Gold Star Banjo! I am passionate about music and have an extensive collection, because I feel collecting and listening to music add to your success as a player. Some students expect immediate gratification. The reality is, it takes time and effort on your part."

Gary will share with you the methods that will have you playing your banjo or guitar today.

Ron Schwartz (Drums, Percussion)

Ron’s teaching program, which spans nearly 45 years as a performer and music educator, is designed to provide all interested students an opportunity to develop their potential for musical understanding and expression through exposure, exploration, experimentation, and enrichment.

Ron’s program includes opportunities for all levels of students from beginners to advanced, and his private student program is considered one of the best in the upstate. His versatility in being able to teach numerous styles, which include rock, blues, jazz, big band jazz, worship, and funk just to name a few, makes the student learning experience a well rounded musical journey.

Ron has had a long and very successful career as both a live performance drummer and an in demand studio musician and producer. He has played everything from explosive “rock and roll” to hard driving “be-bop” jazz. The list of some of his credits include 2 major label record deals with RCA and Capitol Records; touring with music industry icons Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, and Jose Feliciano; recording with David Ragsdale of the legendary groups “Kansas” and “Smashing Pumpkins”; recording with keyboard legend Larry Knectal and drummer Mike Botts both of the Super Group - “Bread”; and performing with Kim Carnes who had the smash hit “Betty Davis Eyes”. Ron has also performed with jazz greats: saxophonist Chris Vadala, trumpeter Jon Faddis, vibraphonist Jon Metzger, and jazz guitarists Larry Koonse, Jamie Findlay, Barry Greene, John Stowell, and Larry Coryell.

Ron has just concluded an eight year stint as an adjunct instructor at Furman University and is looking forward to starting a new adventure in his teaching career at Greenville Guitar Academy.
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