The Guitar Player's Resource
Canadian guitarist Andrew Roudny believes in songs. Accordingly, his debut instrumental, EP-length CD, Zero Words Or Less, drips with melody, highly energetic playing, and off-the-hook soloing. Clearly a man who practices what he preaches, Roudny is tired of the standard chops-heavy and forgettable albums he's found in the instrumental rock arena, so he's released an album of engaging, recognizable tunes. He's recruited some of Toronto's finest musicians to back his fleet-fingered guitar, and the result is a guitar-oriented feast of mischief and mayhem. Roudny may be on to something here, the next step would be to expand the concept to a full album's worth of material, and, dare I say it, a career's worth of album releases - then we'll see if the world of instrumental rock can catch up.
Busting onto the rock scene in the late '90s with stunning musicianship and classic songwriting, Andrew has carved a unique path thanks to his relentless drive and vigorous ability. His accomplishments include scoring the soundtrack for independent film "Held Secular", placing Top Five in the internationally televised North American Rock Guitar Competition as a featured performer, and rocking Canada with the original quintet Black Hour. Andrew's guitar and compositional philosophies permeate everything he does, as he remembers, "The only guitar record I can get through from beginning to end is Steve Vai's "Passion and Warfare". It has themes; it harkens back to the listener's familiarity with strong melodies. Melody is the whole purpose of a good song. With instrumental rock, the wankery has been done to death. It's fine if you can jam out, but why would someone want to hear a whole album of that? I play guitar and I can't even listen to that. I'd rather hear great songs."
Roudny is currently maintaining an active live performance schedule, as well as seeking out promotional opportunities on the Internet and beyond.
Dragon's Castle Productions
Canada
Web site: www.andrewroudny.com