GARY DANIEL COOK

I began playing guitar at 11 years old. My earliest teachers introduced me to Travis Picking and Chet Atkins styles. My guitar teacher in high school was a "thumbpicker" and also played banjo. He had a beautiful Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar. At age 14 , I would learn country and classical tunes well for my tests... so that I could get my grade. But then I'd head off to practice with my hard rock band after school. Unfortunately, I was sidetracked by Led Zeppeli...

It was 8:00PM on Friday night. The band was ready to begin our first set. After a few tweaks of the lighting and sound we hit our first chord for "Summertime" - the old standard that we made our own as sort of a fatback blues. As I looked out into the audience, I recognized a few rock heroes, guitarist Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and my favorite heavy metal singer, Ronnie James Dio. Although our band that night played old school blue...

Some say home is where you hang your hat, or in my case... guitar. Those of you that know me or have read my personal biography, know that I spent my teen years growing up in the rolling hills and winding streets of Santa Fe.

There has always been a magical muse in this small town. For years artists, writers, poets and musicians have migrated to the "c...

I was recently invited to play and sing at a church in Southern California. What a great time! It was an excellent opportunity to play music with "no strings attached". Each of the musicians used their talents for a greater cause. There were no "posers" or "look at me" types at this gig. Just down-to-earth talented musicians.

One of the highlights for me was sharing the stage with an accomplished saxophonist named 

I was finally convinced by one of my advanced guitar students to join the cyberspace community known as "blogging". Before I dive in and begin spinning my own thread, I can?t help but ask, "who thought of the word "blog"? Maybe it?s the same yuppie that loves using words like Latte or Beemer? It?s not the most exciting word to describe the thoughts of philosophers, artists, writers or plain ole folks that just want to share their world with others. But I guess we sho...