Only Solitude I adore this piece of music from Gustavo Santaolalla’s Monsterland soundtrack. So creative, so beautiful. While it’s actually played on a violin, I reimagined it as a solo guitar piece in Santaolalla’s signature, minimalist style. You might also like to play… The Haunting […]

The Haunting of Bly Manor This performance is musical suite comprising the central themes from The Haunting of Bly Manor. The Newton Brothers (Andy Grush and Taylor Newton Stewart) have really outdone themselves in dramatic fashion. As with its predecessor (The Haunting of Hill House) […]

Everything In Its Right Place It’s hard to believe that Radiohead’s Kid-A was released exactly 24 years ago. The record is still one of the most futuristic albums you’ll ever hear. The opening track, “Everything In Its Right Place”, was also used as the opening of […]

The Last of the Mohicans While the film and soundtrack are timeless — the music production was fairly chaotic for The Last of the Mohicans. Director Michael Mann had initially requested that Trevor Jones (composer) provide an electronic score for the film. That surprises me […]

The Ludlows Legends of the Fall (1994) is a sweeping epic that chronicles the lives of the Ludlow family in early 20th century Montana. Colonel William Ludlow, a disillusioned former U.S. Army officer, has retreated to the wilderness with his three sons: Alfred, the responsible […]

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is about, Oskar, a boy on the autism spectrum, who loses his father on 9/11. Upon finding a mysterious key in his father’s closet, he is convinced that his dad left a final message for […]

Healing Katniss In a dystopian future, The Hungers Games (2012) tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, who is forced to compete in an elaborate televised fight to the death, consisting of adolescent contestants from the 12 Districts of Panem. “Healing Katniss” is arguably the best […]

Sign of the Times Harry Styles’ moonshot is much like Robbie Williams’ ascension in the early 2000’s: former British “boy-band” member goes solo, combining songwriting chops with sensational stage presence and charisma. The American version of this story would be Justin Timberlake. Songwriting craftsmanship is […]

It Can’t Last It Can’t Last is a dynamic little song from The Last of Us Part II soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla. This piece is played on a Ronroco — which is a tiny, 5 string Andean guitar. [Actually 10 strings, as two strings create […]

Cover Me Up Cover Me Up was the song that first introduced me to incredible singer/songwriter Jason Isbell. Forget the writing – the raw honesty of the song, and power of Isbell’s voice is what captured me. It’s just brutal in every good sense of […]

cardigan I’ve always liked Taylor Swift. In fact, she’s responsible for most of my physical lesson business. In the mid 2000’s, mostly boys (and very few girls) played guitar. That suddenly changed around 2007 when Taylor Swift became the biggest star in the world. Ever […]

The Water Lets You In Bloodline (2015-2017) is a Netflix original thriller series that follows the Rayburns, a family who own and run a beachside hotel in the Florida Keys. When the black sheep of the family, Danny Rayburn, returns home for his parents’ 45th wedding […]