George Pepper

From Bach to Satriani
Born in Newfoundland of US citizen parents, George’s musical training began in grade school with the violin and trombone. But it was hearing the Mason Williams chestnut ‘Classical Gas’ in the late 60’s that inspired George to beg his parents for a guitar and embark on a life-long passion. Following high school and countless garage bands influenced by the rock icons of the 60's and 70's, George enrolled at Guitar Institute of the Southwest [later Southwest Guitar Conservatory] where he was blessed to study with jazz guitar legends Jackie King, Herb Ellis and Pat Martino. An appreciation of jazz study led to the prestigious Berklee College of Music where he continued to compose straight ahead jazz for the guitar by day and by night rock hard!

Armed with a bachelors degree in music, George moved to New York City and immediately commenced a year-long tour of Europe as a roadie with punk rocker, Johnny Thunders. He returned to NYC where he pursued the forefront of guitar technology; becoming one of the first to embrace the Synclavier for guitar (along with Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin). The natural progression of synthetic effect led him to B-Rock and Drum Suit inventor Brock Seiler. As guitarist for B-Rock, George was able to stretch the limits of new-found sound technology, and the group - known for it's innovations - landed a few spots on MTV’s “The Week in Rock”.

Oddly enough, it was during his time with B-Rock that George found himself drawn back into his early childhood classical studies, counterpoint and classical composition and, in between rock gigs, he began composing classical pieces for solo guitar. The work was so compelling that he returned to school for a Master of Music degree at Texas State University, and following that degree sought a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of North Texas. Completion of that degree would have earned him the distinctive title of 'Dr. Pepper' but he took a break from the music business to replenish his bank account while some of his newly emerging musical concepts jelled.

Fast forward to 2000 - the call of performance and composition once again took hold and with his diverse musical background, a passion for sound effects technology, and a love of the nylon-stringed acoustic guitar, George once again devoted himself to exploring the range of possibilities using technology, but this time combining electric guitar technology with nylon strings. Compositions focusing on those classical roots resulted in the 2000 release of ‘Fossils’, a study in counterpoint and colorful harmony. Since that release George has been working steadily as a performance artist in both Texas and Arizona, exposing his audiences to new sounds with classic roots and steadily building an appreciation for his unique, contemporary classical sound.

In addition to over forty original compositions, George's repertoire includes his arrangements of such classics as Bach's Bourree in E Minor, Minuet in G, an arrangement of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and many others. But its his arrangements of more contemporary crowd pleasers: Joe Satriani's ‘Tears in the Rain’ and ‘A Day at the Beach’, Eric Johnson's ‘Desert Song’, Eddie Van Halen's ‘Spanish Fly’, ‘Eu So Quero Um Xodo’ by Dominguinhos, Chet Atkins' Yankee Doodle Dixie’, Led Zeppelin's ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Classical Gas’ by Mason Williams and many others that have his audiences asking for more. His own original contemporary pieces, such as ‘Heavy Nylon’ and ‘Fighter Pilots’ (from the upcoming CD ‘Heavy Nylon’) add to his diverse set which has remained popular in both intimate small functions as well as larger venues.

George has re-recorded the Y2K “Fossils” release using a Godin Multiac Grand Concert Synth Access guitar, a Lexicon MPX-G2 Guitar Effects Processor, a Lexicon Signature 284 All Tube Class "A" Stereo Recording Amplifier, a Digidesign M-Box, and a Mac running v7.1 of ProTools LE. This sound captures his over twenty years of musical evolution using state of the art technology with the guitar.

The follow-up CD of classical compositions, “Artifacts”, will be released in the next year or so, as well as “Heavy Nylon”, a CD which will feature original contemporary compositions as well as arrangements of some of George’s unique interpretations of rock favorites.