Jack Wilson

Bio

International Fingerstyle Guitar champion Jack Wilson will take you on an expedition of instrumental acoustic and electric guitar music. Treating each finger and his thumb on his right hand like a band member, he effortlessly turns the guitar into a band, cranking out rock, R&B, country, jazz, blues and classical music. Expect to see a stand filled with guitars on stage; each patiently waiting their turn to give a textural contribution for this six string manipulator.

Have you ever heard a cowbell sound being coaxed out of a guitar? That is exactly what you will hear on the opening track from Jack's CD Fidgety Digits covering the song "Low Rider" by the group War. This feat even stumped the judges and other contestants when competing in guitar competitions. Not only does he recreate the cowbell, he weaves his way through the complex counterpoint between the bass line, vocal melody, and flute break, all while keeping a backbeat on 2 and 4. His CD includes covers from Steely Dan, Johnny Cash, The Beatles and Billy Joel, some of which are performed as faithful recreations and others reinvented. There are also four original compositions and a couple of theme songs. His new release will continue in the same vein. It will include his show stopper arrangement of "Black Magic Woman," by Santana, complete with the organ intro, bass line, vocal melody, guitar solo and percussion breaks.

His kitchen sink approach to music can be attributed to a variety of sources from listening to his mother's R&B collection, learning country and bluegrass standards from his guitar playing grandfather, playing in hard rock and heavy metal bands in high school, and as a jazz and classical guitar major in college. So driven to play music, he once played guitar one handed temporarily because of a broken right hand. When the cast came off, he flipped the guitar around and played left handed for a couple of months to get the dexterity back in his right hand. This type of perseverance has paid off with 8 guitar contest wins and a bass contest win. Though being recognized for his skill as a guitar player, it has not slowed down Jack's passion to push his musicianship even further to enhance his color palette for his "sonic kaleidoscope."

Recent performances of note