ARTISTS

These are contemporary music artists that are featured on Harp Guitar Music releases.  

We look forward to including solo albums by some of these artists in our Harp Guitar Music roster as well.

Muriel Anderson

"Muriel Anderson...has justifiably gained a reputation as one of the world's best, and most versatile, guitar instrumentalists." - Chicago Tribune

There are comparatively few female guitarists in the world, and even fewer women harp guitarists - so Muriel is a rarity indeed.  A virtuoso 6-string player of the Chet Atkins school, she has also taken to playing the harp guitar for a portion of her nearly-365-days-a-year performances.  She is increasingly making great strides as a songwriter as well.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING MURIEL

Stephen Bennett

"The harp guitar can be magic in the right player’s hands, and Stephen Bennett is that player" – Mel Bay Prod.

Stephen is one of our absolute favorite harp guitarists; in fact, one of our favorite musicians, period.  As one of the finest composers of our generation - whether it be on 6-string acoustic, bottleneck or his main instrument, the Dyer-style harp guitar - his music will make you smile, laugh and cry.  He tours the world as a soloist, and is a frequent participant in several major guitar festivals.  Oh, and he won National Championships in both flat- and finger-style guitar. He’d win harp guitar also if they had the category!

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING STEPHEN

Larry Berwald

"Another talented area guitarist is Larry B. His 'Reflect On' CD is packed with melodies and deft resonator guitar, harp guitar and straight ahead six-string licks... Berwald has obviously been influenced by area guitar hero Stephen Bennett." - Sam McDonald, Daily Press

Besides acoustic 6-string and slide guitar, Larry plays a modern Dyer harp guitar replica, creating intricate arrangements and new compositions that deftly showcase the full range of the instrument.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING LARRY

John Doan

 "John's music is simply beautiful. No, it is more than that, it is heavenly!" - Burl Ives

Emmy-nominated composer and arranger John Doan is one of the best-known harp guitarists in the world, playing a modern 20-string instrument that has become a new standard in the harp guitar lexicon.  In fact, he has already spawned a whole new generation of 20+-string harp guitar followers, but there is only one John Doan!

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING JOHN

Bill Dutcher

"Bill Dutcher is able to play all techniques with ease, including a sublime touch of his own as well, in gentle, solid, traditional, and uplifting compositions."  - Bridge Guitar Reviews

Bill is a full-time master 6-string acoustic guitar fingerstyle player and singer.  It’s always nice when a player and composer of his abilities discovers the harp guitar, and Bill is creating more and more music on his modern Dyer-style instrument.

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William Eaton

"Eaton makes a world chamber sound that’s evocative and melodic, merging intuitive interplay and a rare timbral richness." - Billboard Magazine

William Eaton is world renowned as a builder of unique one-of-a-kind harp guitars which he plays in a variety of atmospheric settings, most notably with Native American flute player R. Carlos Nakai.

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Iwan Hasan

"Iwan Hasan's 21-string harp guitar sounds truly wonderful." - Brandon Wu, Ground and Sky

Iwan, who lives in Indonesia, plays a harp guitar similar to his former teacher’s - John Doan.  Using it in the context of his progressive fusion ensemble music, he is truly taking the harp guitar where none have ventured before. 

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING IWAN

Stacy Hobbs

"He's writing new music for the old harp guitar that is breathing new life into that long neglected instrument.  Do give him a listen!" - John Renbourn

Crowd-pleasing favorite Hobbs is often referred to as “Steamroller Stacy” for his amazing, complex and tireless fingerpicking style across all 12 Dyer harp guitar strings at once.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING STACY

James Kline

"James Kline demonstrated sheer technical mastery in the service of the music, rather than as an end in itself...playing with absolute clarity and with a most apt sense of phrasing." -The Irish Times, Dublin

James Kline of France keeps musically evolving, as do his harp guitars.  He is a consummate classical guitarist who plays a custom “arch-guitar,” which beautifully combines the tonalities of the lute and guitar.  More recently, James had treble harp strings added to his nylon-strung instrument along with an all-steel string version of this same harp guitar.  James uses his instruments for all sorts of repertoire – classical, folk and original – within solo, instrumental, vocal, and ensemble settings.  He has CDs in both our contemporary and historical sections.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING JAMES

Dan LaVoie

"Dan's soaring execution will drop the jaws of unsuspecting acoustic music fans..." - Bob Makin, The Courier News

Harp Guitar with chops and attitude.  Don’t let his Brooklyn tough-guy  appearance fool you – Dan is a pussycat, and his music runs the gambit from percussive to edgy to ambient to beautiful.  He sings as well, and exclusively plays a Dyer-style harp guitar.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING DAN

Andy McKee

"In my humble opinion, Andy is the most innovative and exciting fingerstyle guitarist to emerge in years. He is the most textural player of the instrument since Michael Hedges, and he creates sonic architecture worthy of the great modern composers for any instrument." - Don Ross

One of the younger harp guitarists playing today, Andy is already one of the finest.  He is a National championship fingerstyle player with flawless technique, and he brings those same skills to the Dyer-style harp guitar.  These skills have resulted in Andy being signed to Candyrat Records.  More important than his chops, his original compositions and arrangements show a depth and maturity equal to any.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING ANDY

Tom Shinness

"Shinness seems to wrap up the guitar pioneering genius of Michael Hedges and Pat Metheny's signature jazz hybrid in a warm fusion of new age, contemporary jazz and acoustic folk." - CD Baby

Tom’s exquisite musicianship must be seen to be believed.  A professional multi-instrumentalist, his gorgeous and unique compositions recorded on an amplified vintage Gibson harp guitar are superb renderings of his muse.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING TOM

The first group plays contemporary music.

Phil deGruy

“Phil's approach to the guitar sounds like John Coltrane meets Mel Brooks at a party for Salvador Dali.” - Steve Vai

Phil plays the Guitarp, a custom 7-string fan-fret electric guitar with an extending bank of 10 treble strings.  Though he is a disciple of jazz great Lenny Breau, his instrumental solos are like no other music you've ever heard.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING PHIL

Joe - on 6-string and harp guitar (and occasional vocals) - performs in a duo with champion hammered dulcimer player David Moran, playing an eclectic mix of originals, traditional, pop, funk, jazz, Latin and other styles.  

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING JOE

Jeff Titus

The harp guitar work of the late, great Michael Hedges, and Alex de Grassi’s sympitar playing, gave Jeff the idea to approach luthier Fred Carlson about making a harp sympitar.  The unique 24-string “Oracle” (6 guitar, 6 sub-bass, and 12 sympathetic strings), dedicated to Hedges’ memory, allows Jeff to explore musical ground unavailable to any harp guitarist to come before him.

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"His performances - precise and properly styled - contain successful phrasings and hints of virtuosity." - SeiCorde

Dennis - an expert in the history of the lute and early guitar - is a top notch classical guitarist and lutenist who performs on many original and reproduction period instruments, including the historic 1856 Scherzer-style guitar with 4 sub-bass strings. 

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING DENNIS

Best known as a world-class "flatpicker," Beppe also has a passion for the revival of Italian music from the early 20th century, especially that of his native Genoa.  Playing in a duo with mandolinist Carlo Aonzo, Beppe performs on a 14-string harp guitar based on one used by the great Italian harp guitar virtuoso Pasquale Taraffo.

See also Pasquale Taraffo under Vintage Harp Guitar CDs.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING BEPPE

John Schneiderman

"Obviously what we're dealing with here is extreme virtuosity." - KPFK

John is a true virtuoso player of all forms of lute, and is also playing a 7-string guitar (similar to Coste's "floating 7th bass string" instrument) with additional period harp guitar commissions on the way.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING JOHN

The Vienna Thalia Quartet is one of the foremost representatives of classical Viennese folk-music today.  The group is comprised of two violins, clarinet and Schrammelgitarre, the configuration of the original "Schrammelmusik" quartet. The four musicians - all graduates of the Viennese Music Academy - masterfully apply their high degree of professionalism to their repertoire of polkas, marches, waltzes, as well as dances by Strauss, Schubert and the Schrammel brothers.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING VIENNA THALIA

"Baroque lutes have a lot of strings, and old guitars have a lot of problems. Zaczek has surmounted them with ease, and her fine performance of these romantic works can only help the rehabilitation of guitar music from the romantic era." – Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar Magazine

Brigitte - a professor of classical guitar at the Universitat fur Musik in Vienna - today focuses her attention on the interpretation of guitar music of the 19th century.  Among her fine collection of period instruments she plays several that we may label as harp guitars - having one, two or four sub-bass strings.  Already a well-known practitioner of "Early Romantic" guitar, she is fast becoming the most prolific recorded performer of Early Romantic harp guitar.

SEE ALL PRODUCTS FEATURING BRIGITTE