September 30th 2019 - Moving To The City, Wilson Center Guitar Competition, "The Wes Montgomery Project"

New York has been wild

Since moving to New York City on July 2nd with my wonderful girlfriend, Stephanie, and our pug, Phoebe, I have had so many amazing experiences.

First of all, I love living in Brooklyn. There has been so much to explore and many friends I have been able to reconnect with. I have already met many amazing musicians, some of which I have been lucky enough to play with consistently. I am so grateful that I am working where I always wanted to be and that I have wonderful friends and family to surround me.

In addition to working and adjusting to the city, I also competed in the 2019 Wilson Center Guitar Competition in mid-August. I had the honor of meeting many talented and eager musicians close to my age and stage of development. Though I placed in the semi-finals again this year, the competition was a great exercise and challenge to refine my guitar playing. In the coming weeks I intend on releasing what I prepared for the competition for all to hear.

In addition to releasing my competition videos, I am really looking forward to working on “The Wes Montgomery Project.” The album “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery” has been a source of inspiration for as long as I’ve played jazz. I want to transcribe Wes’ melodies and solos off of the album. I believe putting in this work will give me a deeper understanding of his:

1.       Tone;

2.       Articulation; and

3.       Concept

In addition to transcribing these songs for myself, I plan on providing most of these transcriptions for free. That being said, if you are interested in supporting this process I will be setting up a Patreon account.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you soon!

Warmly,

Peter Martin

May 20th 2019 - Graduation, This is Our Environment, Moving to the City

Welcome to my website! As of today, petermartinguitar.com is officially online!

Besides website building, I have had my hands full with my senior recital on April 14th and my graduation from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies on May 4th. I want to thank all of my classmates, family, and friends for their support these past couple years. Additionally, I want to thank all of my professors at Michigan State University, especially Randy Napoleon. Professor Napoleon was invaluable as a teacher and mentor these past four years and I can’t thank him enough for his time.

The future looks bright! While I am preparing for the move to New York I am lucky enough to join Joseph Herbst as a member of the “Joseph Herbst Sextet” for the group’s first tour “This is Our Environment”. Joseph is a young composer/performer whose music is endlessly creative and warmly resonant. We are touring Michigan from June 18th to the 22nd and then immediately recording an album in Ann Arbor.

At the end of June, my girlfriend Stephanie and I will be moving to New York City with our pug puppy, Phoebe. We are excited to be closer to many friends and family, as well as exploring the city as residents for the first time.

Thank you for so much for reading. Stay tuned for future updates and until then, take care!

Warmly,

Peter Martin