The Guitar Player's Resource
Guitarist and composer is circulating his nine-song demo CD-R, The Nowhere Men Play The Music Of... Gary R. Peterson, with the express purpose of showcasing his instrumental guitar-based compositions, hoping to attract the attention of other musicians and producers who wish to record the material. Stylistically, the music touches the rock, jazz, blues and country genres, with Peterson's keen pop sense underlying the overall production. Peterson shows a predilection for adding the fourth harmonic 'voice' to basic triads, adding richness to his harmonies. "G-String Strut" is a bluesy vamp (in G of course), while his anthem of summer love, "Romanza d'Espritsville", features the "best use of a Gm6 chord with wang bar at a pivotal moment". Peterson sprinkles descriptions like this throughout his liner notes, the best of which are for "The Zone Ranger", which goes, "A ghost rider in the sky comes to the rescue riding a Stratocaster like a surfboard on a tidal wave into a forest fire." Yeah, baby!
Gary's uncle originally taught him how to play guitar, stressing the four basic chord groups - major, minor, augmented and diminished. He original started on ukulele, worked through a series of cheap guitars, and settled on a 1961 Les Paul. Gary eventually traded that guitar for a Gibson B-25 acoustic during the folk music craze of the 1960s. He has also hand-built more than 65 acoustic guitars (for customers, including Graham Nash). Gary's musical influences are Chet Atkins (and therefore Merle Travis, D'jango Reinhardt and Andres Segovia), the folk-baroque style of John Renbourn and the cosmic unorthodoxy of Jimi Hendrix who broke all the rules. Most recently he has been listening to Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot.
Peterson's hope is to inspire fellow guitarists - as well as other musicians who revere the traditional musical aspects of melody, harmony and rhythm - to interpret his works. Transcripts are available.
Gary R. Peterson
United States