Rob Bourassa-Guitar Instructor

           

This week I share a talk I had with long time friend Rob Bourassa who is an awesome guitar player/teacher who also happens to have some interesting insights on today's musicians. Take a listen and feel free to leave a comment.Suggest some thoughts on how you might like to see future shows go! 

I started goofing around in school as a kid, because I practiced guitar too much. I started playing banjo and guitar professionally at a very young age, and also started teaching music privately.

 I side stepped college, went on the road as a musician, and the rest is history. I have managed to support my wife and 4 children for over 20 years as a guitarist, which would be in my mind, a miracle akin to the parting of the Red Sea.

 For years, I had a studio in Royal Oak Michigan, which always slowed down in the summer, so I also worked as a staff musician, arranger and director at Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan, (part of The Henry Ford.)

 One of my students moved to Arizona and wanted to continue studying live with a webcam, so he hooked me up with Skype. The next thing I knew, I was teaching from my living room with a cup of coffee, and I decided to give Skype to my students and close down my studio, getting rid of my commute, and all of my overhead.

 I also had started a Youtube page, which became a big draw for online private students, so I dropped my Yellow Pages ad. My business grew quickly, and I had to eventually leave my work at Greenfield Village, and focus upon my online business.

 I am now able to do workshops and travel, teaching my lessons still with my MacBook Pro, and I also create video files for each student for review, and e-mail the file at the end of the lesson.

 I now am back to producing recording projects and instruction videos, and enjoy the extra time to be creative.

 I thank God every day that he put the wheels in motion for all of this, because I would not have known how to.

Specialties

Guitar playing, arranging, music production, recording, commercial songwriting and poetry.

You can join me as I broadcast these interviews every Friday at 10:30 PM EST ---> HERE

                                           

Kaleido - Power Pop Rock Band from Detroit, Michigan

YOU CAN CONNECT WITH THE BAND AT -->> HERE

About Kaleido

 You

Hometown: Detroit, MI

Genres: Rock / Pop Rock

Members: Christina Chriss - vocals, Joey Fava - drums, Ronnie Rosolino - guitar, Cody Morales - bass

The 4 piece pop/rock group Kaleido surfaced in 2011 in Detroit, Michigan. Co-founders, Christina Chriss and Joey Fava met in 2010, and while both heavily submerged in the music scene with their own respective bands/projects, began writing together. Without any expectations, they recorded their first song, 'This Far', and knew instantly they had something very special. Combining Christina's powerful vocals and lyrics with Joey's thunderous drums and multi-instrumental songwriting ability, they wrote and recorded a handful of songs that would later define their sound. Almost falling right out of the sky into their hands, came Ronnie Rosolino, a talented guitar player with style, passion, and fire. They knew he would be perfect for their sound. Without question, there was only one person who could bring the driving, funk oriented bass the music demanded. Enter, long time friend and former band mate of Christina, Cody Morales. In May 2011, Christina was invited to perform at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, and after only a handful of practices, flew cross country with the newly formed, currently unnamed band, to play what would be their very first show. The reaction in LA was incredible, and shortly upon returning home, Christina decided to name the band Kaleido. "The instant that it came to me, I knew it was right, and that intuition carries on into everything this band is", Christina says. The group fuses heavy hitting rock with melodically driven pop elements, and emotional, real life lyrics. With a bright future and the family like bond the members share, Kaleido is destined for greatness.