#57- TJ HELMERICH

T.J. Helmerich is an American electric guitarist/vocalist and audio engineer, known for developing a unique "8 finger" style of playing his instrument.

TJ Helmerich started to play guitar very early in life and by 11 years old he could play guitar with a solid structure. His first band was The Poggletoogs. His influences were Kiss and UFO.

He has played/toured with, among many others: Dweezil Zappa (Zappa Plays Zappa), Planet X (Derek Sherinian, Virgil Donati) filling in for Tony MacAlpine, Autograph (American band), Paul Gilbert, and Eddie Jobson. He has been featured in popular guitar magazines nationally and internationally in ads, articles, reviews and lessons. Together with Australian guitarist Brett Garsed, the duo helped define the direction of instrumental guitar music throughout the '90s and establish the genre now known as "Rock Fusion".

T.J. has also produced/engineered over 90 releases, working with some of the biggest names in the music industry. He teaches guitar and audio engineering courses at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, where he created their "Recording Institute of Audio Engineering" (RIT) program.T.J held the directors seat at RIT for 10 years and has taught at the college for over 20. Currently, T.J. resides in North Hollywood, California. He can be caught performing regularly with an "all-star" line up at the world famous The Baked Potato club.

T.J.'s album with guitarist Brett Garsed, titled Uncle Moe's Space Ranch, received the following review from John Patterson of eer-music.com:

'"Strictly for those hip to the trip of loud, fast, and explosive. Enjoy axes dripping with riffs, bass that delivers seismically, drums that attack the primal bedrock and keys that will tie your ears in knots. T.J. had recorded a solo to vinyl first and then T.J./DJ scratched it in for the final mix. Unreal! These guys never cease to amuse and amaze me."'

Source: Wikipedia

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