By: Matt Warnock
It takes a special kind of person to make a living in today’s competitive and ever-changing music scene. That person needs to be entrepreneurial, hard-working, multi-talented, internet savvy and above all else a world-class performer. Chicago guitarist Brad Conroy is a musician who possesses all of these qualities and more, which have made him an in demand performer, in multiple genres, and guitar pedagogue throughout the Windy City area and Midwest. His playing is world-class, encompasses a multitude of genres, and his ability to mix classic repertoire with original compositions is exemplary.
Guitar International recently caught up with Brad Conroy to talk about his influences, which guitars he’s playing these days and what the music scene is like in Chicago right now.
Brad Conroy
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Matt: Who were your early influences and what made you pick up the guitar and learn to play back in the day?
Brad Conroy: I began playing the piano when I was in about first grade, but I didn’t pick up a guitar until my late teens. It was the music of Jimmy Page that first drew me to the instrument. I heard the tune “White Summer Black Mountainside” and I realized that I not only had to learn to play the guitar, but I had to learn to play it well. From there, I found the music of John McLaughlin and the Mahvishnu Orchestra, and was absolutely blown away with that for quite a few years. When something interests me I have a tendency to only listen to that one group or performer for a long time.
When the music is dense or busy you might not hear it after only a few listens, and it can be a long time before you take it in and are able to make sense of it. Around this same time I had just began to study the classical guitar, so I was listening to a lot of John Williams and Julian Bream recordings. The music of Michael Hedges was highly influential in the development of my own style that is still emerging, and once I heard his album Aerial Boundaries, I had a completely different concept of what the guitar was capable of. For the past few years I’ve been really into Shawn Lane and the trio he did with Jonas Hellborg and Jeff Sipe, now if I could just play like Shawn that would be something. Who knows what I will be listening to next year. Any Suggestions?
Matt: You choose to get two degrees in guitar performance. Do you feel that those degrees have helped you in your career after you left school and became a professional musician?
Brad Conroy: The degrees, even though they were hard, very expensive, and I wish that I didn’t have student loans, were most definitely worth it. Being in school and studying with the teachers that I was lucky enough to have had, gave me the tools, inspiration, and direction that I needed to make a career out of playing the guitar.
The friends that I made in school were also crucial in that they were inspiring, turned me on to new music, new ideas, and many of them have turned out to be great contacts in the real world. Having those degrees has opened a lot of doors that might have otherwise been closed, and a degree is almost mandatory if you want a good teaching position.
Matt: There are many different styles that make their way into your playing. How do you balance those many genres in your practice routine?
Brad Conroy: That’s a tough one. The core of my practicing is based on the classical guitar. I work on scales, arpeggios, etudes, and repertoire almost on a daily basis, but I have been known to go in phases though. There might be a few months where I’m trying to play jazz and I’ll spend a lot of time working on licks and playing over different chord changes. A friend might send me a Flamenco video and that in turn might inspire me to start working in the Kostner book again. In my improvising I might stumble across a melody and then I’ll spend a week working it into a piece.
I’m listening to and thinking about music almost constantly, so naturally I’m inspired by many things and it is easy for me to be curious about something new. I must say that the classical guitar really has given me a solid foundation in which to build all those other styles on, and after 15 years I guess I’ve built up a nice little trick bag and all of the styles are just beginning to blend together.
Brad Conroy
Matt: Is there any genre of music that you prefer to play or do you all offer something that you like to explore in your playing and writing?
Brad Conroy: I really do love the sensation of playing classical guitar. There is something about the way it feels to be able to play something like Scarlatti at a high level, like you’re really in command of the instrument. I also love to play electric guitar too, especially in a band. It feels so awesome to be connected with the other musicians and being in the moment while feeding off of each other.
I also love playing my own compositions, in a way they are everything I’ve ever wanted to hear, and it’s fun to see the reactions I get from different people. I guess you can say that I just love to play guitar and it doesn’t really matter what style or genre as long as the strings are under my fingers. I feel very lucky that my life gets to revolve around it even though it is a lot of work.
Matt: How important is it these days for a guitarist to write their own material as well as learn the standard songs and repertoire?
Brad Conroy: For the classical guitar I think it’s very important to maintain the music of the masters like Mertz, Tarrega, Barrios, etc. Some performers enjoy making a career out of specializing in certain repertoire. They become scholars and give historical recitals and this level of performing is a really hard thing to do. So many hours practicing, but there’s a reason this music has lasted so long, simply because it’s amazing and I have much respect for those kind of guitarists.
The classical guitar in a way has a very limited repertoire and audience, so it’s equally important for some players to be writing and performing their own music. This not only expands the repertoire in some cases, but it makes the classical guitar enjoyable for a larger audience and attracts new fans and students to the instrument. For me, it was really important that I learned the traditional repertoire because that gave me the technique and foundation for composing my own music, and I love performing the standard pieces as well as my own.
Matt: You teach as well as perform. Do you find that both careers influence each other?
Brad Conroy: My performing influences my teaching in many ways and it would take a long time to really go into it all, but one example from last year comes to mind. I was playing some gigs where I had to learn four sets of popular rock tunes in a relatively short period. I was limited on time so I was teaching a lot of these tunes to my students because I had to work on them and learn them too. The same thing goes for new licks and new ideas, if I want to make sure that I have a new concept solid, I’ll work on it with a few students.
Teaching helps my performing in a variety of ways. During lessons my ear is always being exercised, my knowledge of technique and theory is always sharp. I’m constantly sight reading through new repertoire to work on with students and I do a lot of improvisation and jamming with students during lessons too. All these areas help enhance each other and keep me prepared for what might happen on stage.
Brad Conroy
Matt: How is the music scene in Chicago these days? Is it better or worse when you first started out as a professional guitarist?
Brad Conroy: Overall I think the music scene in Chicago, for some genres, is thriving and for others it might be falling a bit short. There is always a venue to play a rock show, and depending on how many people you draw you might even get paid too. As for the steady paying jazz gig, with so much competition and so few venues, these kinds of gigs might be fewer and farther between.
The same thing goes with the recording studio and session work. The few studios I’ve worked with don’t exist anymore because home studios have taken over and naturally are the way of the future. It’s a little hard for me to compare the scene with when I first started out because I didn’t have as many connections or credentials back then and I was still a bit green, but in the past few years things have been beginning to build momentum and I’ve been really lucky with at least one gig a week, so I really can’t complain.
Matt: What guitars do you use and why do you choose to play these brands?
Brad Conroy: The electric guitar that I primarily use is my PRS CE 24, whale blue, called Obi-Wan. I love this guitar, the action is super smooth, it has a clean sound, and it’s nice to look at. I run this through the Line 6 Vetta combo amp, and I use the Line 6 DL4 loop pedal, along with the Ibanez ts808 tube screamer.
My concert classical guitar is a Masaki Sakurai Concert R, 1999, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. I love the balance and natural tone of this guitar, and it’s really easy to play. Someone special recently loaned me a Taylor classical electric guitar that I’ve been using a lot. It plays really easy and it plugs in which means I have less to carry and it’s loud.
Matt: What do you have planned for 2011 as far as performing and recordings?
Brad Conroy: I plan on writing as much original music as possible, continue trying to record my solo guitar repertoire, YouTube videos, and most importantly getting my instrumental jam fusion band up and playing shows again.
