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Allstar Academy - Guitar Instructors
Jesse Savage
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As long as I can remember, I have always had a deep affection for music. Although I tried other instruments early on, I fell for guitar when I was fifteen years old. I believe in pursuing hobbies or jobs - or anything you set out to do - with the intention of doing your best . This means learning what you can from others, keeping an open mind to new concepts, and always taking time for independent study of your chosen passion. My personal studies have focused on rhythm and lead guitar, music theory, sight reading, and notation. I always try to put it all together with some heart and soul. I have played in numerous rock, blues, and country bands in which our bands opened for various mainstream artists. I have played a lot of other types of music as well. I worked at Ernie Ball/Music Man for 3 years as a set-up technician. The bottom line is, no matter what you know, or who you have played with, or what gear you have, the whole idea is to have fun. Play what sounds good to you. |
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Dan Wilson
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Read Dan's bio in the about us page |
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Kregg Mattson
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15 years in the music business. Worked a a single, duo and group format. Preformed with the show group, "NORTHSHORE" throughout the west coast, Reno, and Florida as an Entertainer and Vocalist. Responsible for vocal and musical arrangements. |
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Randall Ireland
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Based on reports from my parents I started playing music between age three and four. My instrument of choice was drums (select pieces of "Tupperware") that I would beat to death with wooden spoons while the radio was blasting away. Fast forward to 5th grade and a brief stint playing trumpet where I learned how to read music and found that my lips reacted to the metal in the mouth piece. I switched to snare drum and my lips returned to their normal size within a few weeks. By junior high it was obvious that the music program at school wasn't enough to keep my interest so I began private lessons, got my first drum set, and started playing in a garage band called Red Ball after our $7.00 mic we purchased at Radio Shack. By high school I was a veteran of the garage band scene and moved up to a top 40 band. We played for dances at the junior highs and high school in the Gig Harbor area. It was during this time that I started playing Bass and Guitar, mainly because we practiced at my house and the other guys in the band would leave their instruments from time to time. After a few months plunking away I decided that the bass would be my next venture. I took to the bass quickly because of my foundation in rhythm and my experience playing with other bass players. By the end of high school I was playing in the school jazz band, backing the vocal jazz group, and gigging on a monthly basis.
After graduation I went to Western Washington University in pursuit of a performing arts degree. I studied music theory from Bach to Blues, worked on jazz improvisation, and played with some great musicians. When I returned to the Gig Harbor area I continued to play with a variety of artists while holding down an "real job". About 15 years ago I started giving private lessons and enjoyed experience so much that I pursued a career in teaching. I taught at the junior high level four years. During the past few years I have focused on home schooling my children and teaching part time for the Peninsula School District. |
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Geoffry Klok
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Geoffry Klok has been a student of the guitar for more than 9 years and a pupil in music for nearly 20. Though originally inspired by the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, he is classically trained in the lineage of masters such as Julian Bream and Christopher Parkening. His tastes constantly expand to include jazz, blues, rock, folk, bluegrass, and everything in between. He is an active solo and ensemble artist and performs frequently in the South Sound area at public and private functions. He is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound '02 and has been teaching his instrument of choice for almost 4 years. He is the resident private teacher and performer for the Parks Department of the City of Tacoma. His curriculum is an amalgam, including the Noad and Shearer methods, supplemented by dozens of personal transcriptions and compositions, and frequently draws on the requests of students as new material. |
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Chris Meadors
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From the mosh pit to the orchestra pit, and most points in between, versatility is one of Chris’s major strengths. A full-time instructor and performing musician, he has studied at Mira Costa College and has been making his living with his guitar for over 10 years.
As a teacher, Chris provides personalized, flexible lesson programs designed to help the student learn to play what they want to play, while mastering the skills necessary to explore any style of music.
Chris recently relocated from California to the Pacific Northwest and is proud to join the teaching staff at Allstar Guitar. |
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 Calen Tackett
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Musical History: Calen has been a musician since age 12 starting in church choir where he learned basics of reading music and how to work with other musicians. He started playing guitar at age 14 and spent much of his free time practicing. Calen played in churches from age 16 and played in various worship teams for the next 3 years including leading the youth worship team at Mountain View Baptist Church in Centralia WA for a year. in that time he learned the basics of arranging and transitions. When he moved to Bremerton WA to join a christian rock band, he got experience in touring and was also the principle song writer for the band for the next two years. During that time, he toured California and North and South Carolina and also learned a lot about the writing process and how to arrange original material. In the time since, Calen has kept busy getting involved with a variety of styles and projects including, Vibe Central (an R&B project performing at a variety of places around WA), Living Water Church in Olympia (playing a few sunday morning services and supplying guitar for a jazz band that was formed for use in a play doing 4 performances), and Baabling Brooke (an original jazz/indie band based in Tacoma WA, performing at several popular venues in Tacoma and Seattle).
Teaching History: Calen has been teaching guitar for about 3 years and has had roughly 100 students in that time. some of his students have even gone on to excel and begin to compose their own material or perform in cover bands. Calen caters his curriculum to the students goals, starting with basic playing techniques then introduces appropriate amounts of music theory, improvisation, and composition. He also attempts to adjust his teaching style to the students learning style to maximize comprehension. Calen has been a results oriented teacher and continues to strive to help his students succeed and have fun doing it! |
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 Jho Blenis
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Jho Blenis has been playing guitar for 50 years, teaching for 35. He's played with Robert Cray, Fred Wesley from James Brown's band, opened for Deep Purple, Leon Russell, Staple Singers and many more. He's won awards for Best Blues Guitar, Washington Blues Society and the Tacoma Blues Society, and received awards for teaching the Blues and all associated styles. To quote Jho, "Teaching has become myfirst love, and I believe that music helps you succeed in all other non music endeavors, I lookforward to working with you in the future!"
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 Gary Crooks
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Gary started playing guitar around age 4. By middle school he was performing in bands at school dances, churches and other venues. Drums became another source of fascination in his teenage years thanks to a stepfather who had been a drummer with Jimmy Dorsey and other bands from the big band era. This early introduction to jazz had a tremendous influence on the direction of Gary's musical studies later in life.
Gary has had the opportunity to perform on both guitar and bass with many of the Northwest's "Big Bands" as well as work as sideman with many nationally known artists. He has performed in over 25 countries for the US department of defense, and worked with a number of popular NW artists. Currently he works throughout the Northwest with Portland area jazz and blues vocalist Linda Myers, his new project "Urban Rhapsody," performing original and standard jazz and funk music, as well as solo jazz guitar performances at local venues.
Gary began teaching over 30 years ago at the suggestion of a teacher who noted "sometimes the best way to learn is to try to teach it to someone else."
Gary's teaching experience has included many local music stores and private schools as well as colleges and Universities. He has taught an improvisation course at UPS, guitar classes at TCC, and private guitar lessons to advanced jazz students at PLU and Robert's Music Institute in Bellevue WA.
Gary is a Washington State certified teacher with a Bachelor of Science degree from Evergreen College and a Master of Arts in Education degree from Antioch University and currently teaches for The Tacoma Public Schools. He has also worked as a recording engineer and produces local bands and talent at his home studio in Tacoma, Bell Street Records.
"My goal is to provide students with the necessary tools (technique and music theory) to explore any musical style and help guide them toward finding their own voice."
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