Interested in guitar lessons?
If so, contact me.
Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced
The areas I cover include:
- Music Theory, Chord Formation and
Progressions
- Applying Rhythm Techniques to
Songs
- Motif's, Scales and
Riffs
- Lead Guitar Principles and
Examples
- Acoustic and Electric Guitar Styles and
Principles
- Advanced Finger-Picking, Instrumental and Solo
Styles
Download Basic Music Theory Pages in Adobe pdf format
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Music Pictures
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pictures are coming soon...
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Saxon Pub
Austin, TX
1993
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Toulouse
Austin, TX
1983
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The Scotsman
with Marty Linville
Oslo, Norway
1993
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Rosie McGee's
Copenhagen, Denmark
1995
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With the King
Keith Asbury
Chuy's - Austin, TX
1992
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With Becky Shepherd
Austin, TX
1989
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The Broken Spoke
Austin, TX
Lil Bit o' Country 1986
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Princess of Scandanavia
Gothenburg, Sweden
2001
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With
Greg Forest
and Marty Linville
Kerrville, TX
2003
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With James Exell
McJoys Pub
Copenhagen, Denmark
2001
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Michael James Band
Austin, TX
1979
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Tulle's Rock Cafe
Greenland
1996
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With Sean Seigel
Toulouse
Austin, TX
1983
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Summer in Nyhavn
Copenhagen, Denmark
1997
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Winter in
Greenland
1996
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Music
Biography
For more on my life see my Biography Page. As far as music
goes, I began playing guitar in 1963, motivated by
my love of music and, of course, a testosterone-charged
teenager's dreams of sex, fame and fortune. Like most
beginning guitarists, I constantly listened to records and stole
riffs from my heroes at the time: Freddie King, Scotty Moore,
Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, the Stones, and several
jazz guitarists. Within a year I was playing in dives and bars
that I was too young to even legally enter, often with Jerry Lynn
Williams, the songwriter extraordinaire.
When I finished high school I wanted to play music full-time,
but Uncle Sam was doing Vietnam at the time and I was a prime
candidate for soldierhood, which was not quite what I had in
mind. I was against US involvement, so I went for a
college deferment and plowed through five years at Texas Tech in
Lubbock, Texas.
While there, I played lead guitar in several
less-than-Earth-shattering rock and folk bands, participated in
antiwar activities and student politics, and relished in the
psychedelia, madness and magic of the 60's. Somehow
I escaped with a BS in Electrical Engineering. What a colorful
and intense decade! I suppose I'll always be a 60's child
at heart.
After serving two years as a Conscientious Objector at the Austin
State School, I was faced with a decision. Get a job as an
engineer, probably in the defense industry, which offered most of
the engineering jobs at the time… or… Sex, Drugs
and Music? Well, that was a no-brainer. Accordingly, I zipped off
to western Canada, Northern Europe and Mexico, playing music,
seeing some of the world and meeting many unique and interesting
characters. Fascinating place, indeed, this planet is! And round,
just like they told us. In 1973 I moved back to Austin and began
studying Filmmaking at the University of Texas, but quit to make
a living through music. Soon I was again traveling almost
non-stop.
You gotta be crazy, love music and cherish even the hardest of
times to be on the road playing for a living. I'm guilty on
all counts, proud of every moment I've spent in the trenches
and grateful to the Universe for providing me the
opportunity to live such a bizarre lifestyle. Plus, it sure beats a real job. Many times during my
first few years as a professional musician the cash flow got
rather slim. Still, there was always a gig around the corner,
often in some throw-together band for the night, so I never ended
up tossed out on the street by irate landlords or deposed of by
women because I was light years from financial security. To the
contrary, I always made my bills, had a lot of fun and lived for
experience. And I got it, plus some.
Thanks to music, I've traveled throughout most of the US and
Northern Europe. I have fond memories of the many years I've
spent packed in a van with other equally wayward musicians,
crashing in all sorts of weird places and playing for all kinds
of folks in venues that spanned the spectrum from packed concerts
to half-empty clubs with tone-deaf drunks who'd rather fight
than dance or try to get laid. Along the way I experienced more
than my share of insanity, and in the process one can't help
but learn a lot about life and people. I certainly have
no complaints.
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Life as a working musician is quite different
from life as a megastar musician, I'm sure. I lived the
former, not the latter. A working musician on the road must also
be a part-time mechanic, psychologist, agent, lawyer, roadie and
promoter. Being stranded and making temporary engine repairs with
duct tape and coat hangers - I've been there many times. Preventing
arguments between musicians from turning into fistfights due to
too many months on the road together - I've done my share of that.
Having equipment stolen, being scammed by club owners, getting
double-booked, arriving at City A when we should be arriving at
City B three hundred miles away - I've been through all those as well.
Arriving penniless at a club only to find it became a parking lot
the prior week… and the agent forgot to notify us band
members. I've been there too. I've seen drugs and alcohol cripple
some great players, then enlighten them to seek
recovery. Yes,
I've had my share of homesick blues, on-the-road insanity and
long distance relationships, but it's also been a remarkably
rewarding trip so far, and I'm just getting a second
wind.
Throughout the years I've performed as a lead guitarist,
keyboard player, singer and songwriter in every format from
soloist (guitar and piano) to large bands and have covered every
popular style: Rock, blues, country, jazz, folk and original. I
was always one of those guys who musically jumped around a lot,
lead guitar one night, piano bar the next, folk duo the following
night. As a band member during the late 70's and early
80's, I opened for Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, David Allen
Coe, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Gordon, The Geezinslaw
Brothers, Gary Stewart and many other major artists. During the late
80's I began to work more as a soloist and
singer-songwriter.
In 1993 I went to Copenhagen and Oslo to play for a few months
and several agents offered me a lot of gigs. Hmmm…
interesting. I love Europe and Europeans, so I moved to
Copenhagen and for the rest of the decade I performed as a
soloist in clubs, at concerts and on cruise ships throughout
northern Europe. During those years I played six or seven nights
week for over four hours, and sometimes two gigs a day. As I
result, I developed an intricate and unique style of
playing solo
acoustic guitar arrangements.
What a blast Europe is! These folks have been around a while and
they've learned a great deal about tolerance and how to care
for their people. They also love to drink and they have a
completely different concept of 'space' than Americans
are used to. The large clubs had such magnificent sound systems
that one full strum of an E chord on my acoustic guitar would
vibrate an entire city block. In some of the small clubs - packed to
the gills, but with no stage - I often had to barricade myself
behind a wall of barstools to prevent overzealous fans or clumsy
dancers from crashing into the microphone stand and sending my
teeth down my throat. An evening with a solo musician in some of
these places was a participatory sport. Fortunately, my fortress
usually held up, and even more fortunately, owners of most of
these smaller clubs began building stages as the popularity of
solo acts grew in Europe during the 90's.
Europeans know how to have fun. They are very appreciative
audiences and they love American music. I feel blessed to have
been a southern boy raised on roots music, and I was honored by
the acceptance I received everywhere I performed. While living in
Copenhagen, I met and played with musicians from all over the
world and our common language of music bound us. Danish was another
matter. It is one of the most difficult of the world's
languages and everyone to whom I spoke Danish answered me in
English, which they speak almost flawlessly. I was fortunate to
spend the 90's in Europe, a time of love and respect for
Americans.
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Cruise ships were a real trip - one endless
party on the water, hampered only by periods of raging seas. One
evening during a gig a gorilla of a man from Iceland grabbed a
tip jar and began hustling exorbitant tips for me from everyone
who walked by or even glanced toward the packed club, let alone
the patrons in attendance. He was extremely pushy, so I was
embarrassed, but soon everyone was tossing bills toward him from
all corners of the room. By the end of the evening the Icelandic
Gorilla had netted me over $1200 in tips. For me, that was a
record. And everyone had a blast playing Tip The Musician. Their
game certainly made my night as well.
In 1966 I played in Greenland during February and March at the
Rock Café in Nuuk, the capital. One night's snowfall
would necessitate a long snow-shoveling expedition just get out
of the house where I was staying and make it to the club fifty
yards away. The Greenlanders were also avid drinkers, and during
any given night's performance at least a few inebriated
patrons would seriously misjudge their ability to navigate,
causing them to tumble down the stairs between the stage area and
the lower bar. No problem. They would just get up, get a fresh
drink and not even remember their accelerated decent.
If they didn't get up, a doorman would drag them
outside and send them sliding down the frozen street,
bouncing off mounds of ice and barely missing cars.
It was live comedy and I had a first row seat.
One night during the International Nuuk Snow Festival the
temperature went a few degrees above freezing for a few hours.
The next morning ice sculptors who had come from all over world
were frantically reattaching limbs that had fallen off their huge
creations during the night. They finished the task just in time
for the judges in the ice carving competition to make their
decisions. Yes, Greenland was indeed another interesting place to
see. And what a great view of the Aurora Borealis!
In 2000 I moved back to Austin and have been playing in the area
ever since, mostly as a solo singer/guitarist, but I still play
in Scandinavia occasionally. On September 11, 2001 I was about to
perform my last set on the Princess of Scandinavia when a Swedish
friend in the audience informed me about the attack on the World
Trade Center. I rushed to the Crew Room and like many
people across the
world, I watched CNN as the second plane hit. No last set for me.
My heart was torn as I returned to Copenhagen that night, but the
outpouring of European sympathy after the incident was
enlightening. For several evenings thousands of
Danish citizens filled the town square in Copenhagen, lit
candles, prayed and gave their hearts to all people affected by
the terrorist act. Similar events transpired across
Europe. Yes, I do love Europeans. We can learn a lot
from them.
Having done my share of traveling, I enjoy being in one place now
and I spend much of my time writing. I still perform at clubs and
private functions, but usually stay within a range of a few
hundred miles. I also work as an actor and have been in films since
2002 as both a cast and a crew member. See my
Film Resume. I hope you enjoyed the ride and
thanks
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Music Links
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Contact Information:
Gary L. Wimmer
7209 Whispering Oaks Dr.
Austin, TX 78745 USA
512 707-0836
512 299-2805 cell
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