Ian has spent the last 40 years writing, recording and performing in bands and working on projects with: Jimmy Page, Brian May, Chad Smith, Stiff Little Fingers, Reef, Steve Vai, Wilko Johnson, Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction and many more.

Former Director of Marketing and Product Development at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and Head of Operations (incorporating marketing, admissions and senior strategic management) at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London.

Ian co-authored the book ‘Running a Band as a Business’ with Bruce Dickinson (Little Angels, Waterbear Music College) and has also written extensively for Guitarist & Total Guitar magazines.

Ian now consults for music schools and artist development programmes around the world and is the founder at Guitar Breaks.

Tim runs Guitar Breaks workshops in the Midlands.

Mike is one of the UK’s most experienced exponents of the guitar. He has toured live, written music for soundtracks, is an MD for artists, recorded numerous sessions, is an experienced tutor and has endorsed and demonstrated for over 25 years. Mike continues to be heavily in demand as a live guitarist and educator.

Mike has worked and performed with countless high profile artists and producers including:  Jake Gosling  (Ed Sheeran), Living In A Box, Kenny Thomas, Denny Laine Page Official (Paul McCartney & Wings), Liv Dawson, Kitayah (Quincy Jones,  George Michael), Wiley, Robert Burch (Original Rudeboys), Nate James, Thomas Jules (Rudimental) and Cass Fox (solo artist and Faithless).

Mike is also in demand for his soundtrack work, having written, played and produced all of the music for Wildlife Photographer (Channel 5  & Discovery), Lifeboat Rescue (BBC) and Lifeboat (ITV Meridian) and co-written the theme tune and incidental music for Wildlife SOS (Animal Planet, Channel 5, ITV).

​Alongside performing, writing and recording, Mike has taught guitar for over 20 years and is a qualified and experienced tutor. He was also an extremely popular contributor to Guitarist (magazine)  for 10 years.

Mike is absolutely central to many of our guitar workshops at Guitar Breaks, and is here to help you become a better player.

Jeff is one of the rare musicians who can teach as well as he plays. This is borne out by Jeff being one of the most in demand guitar instructors as well as performing and recording with guitar legends Robben Ford and Matt Schofield.

https://www.youtube.com/@JeffMcErlain/

Paul joined the jazz-funk band Jamiroquai in 2005 and has co-written, recorded and performed live with the band ever since. As well as Jamiroquai, he is known for playing with Annie Lennox over a number of years. He formed the soulful jazz/ funk band Trioniq with Jamiroquai bandmate Rob Harris and Iwan Van Hetten.

Other recording and/or live credits include Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry, Tom Jones, Seal and George Michael. He has played with a number of soul & R&B singers such as  Omar, Lamont Dozier and Mica Paris, plus a long list of UK Pop bands as a recording musician and live performer.

Rob has a CV that most pro players can only dream of! The early 90’s was when Rob really began to flourish, recording and touring with The Pasadenas, Gary Numan, Mark Owen, Alphaville eventually joining the band Jamiroquai as a member in 1999 which continues to this day. Rob has played and co- written on the albums Funk Odyssey, Dynamite, Rock Dust Light Star and has most recently played on the band’s 2017 release Automaton and embarking on a global tour with the band in the April of the same year.
 
His credits also include: Beverly Knight, Kylie Minogue, Anastasia, Lighthouse Family, Don Airey (Deep Purple), Katy Perry, JP Cooper, Era, Gabriella Aplin, Will Young, Julian Perretta, Duke Dumont, Paloma Faith, Robbie Williams, Lego Batman (Soundtrack), Louisa Johnson and The Ministry of Sound’s Stripped Album, Kanye West, to name but a few.

Mike Dawes is an English guitarist known for composing, arranging and performing multiple parts simultaneously on a single guitar. He is regarded as one of the world’s most creative modern fingerstyle guitarists with a repertoire spanning original viral videos and popular arrangements, alongside mainstream chart success performing with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues.

Dawes was named ‘Best Acoustic Guitarist In The World’ two years in a row (2017 & 2018) by Total Guitar Magazine & MusicRadar reader polls. YouTube personality Rick Beato named Mike ‘One Of The Finest Acoustic Guitar Players In The World’. Mike’s workshop with Guitar Breaks was an awesome experience that culminated with the guests receiving an impromptu private performance from Mike and Tommy Emmanuel!

British born and now US-based, Matt Schofield continues to push the frontiers and reshape the boundaries of the British Blues tradition. A multi-award winning guitar virtuoso, singer, songwriter, producer and band leader, after more than 30 years of performing, and 20 years into his solo career, Schofield’s impact as one of the most influential and distinctive guitarists of his generation is unquestionable.

Along with a storied career that has taken him and his band to nearly 30 countries worldwide comes awards, industry and critical acclaim – three time “British Blues Guitarist of the Year”, “British Blues Album of the Year” and the first guitarist inducted into the “British Blues Awards Hall of Fame”. Mojo Magazine “Blues Album of the Year”and Guitar & Bass Magazines “Top Ten British Blues Guitarist of All Time” alongside Eric Clapton and Peter Green.

Matt’s fluid and melodic playing and iconic tone has inspired legions of guitarists, and a sought after line of signature instruments and equipment including a Two-Rock Matt Schofield amplifier.

Like his music, there’s a wide diversity to Joey Landreth’s career. He blurs the boundaries between genre and discipline, writing his own songs one minute and contributing to other musicians’ projects the next. From his ongoing efforts with The Bros Landreth — the Juno-winning band that he launched with his brother, David, in 2013 — to his production work for acclaimed songwriters like Leith Ross, he has spent the past decade creating a soundtrack for the current era.

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Joey was raised in a household of blue-collar artists and DIY entrepreneurs. His father, Wally Landreth, was a working musician who filled the family’s WWII-era shack with songs by Bonnie Raitt, John Hiatt, and Lyle Lovett. His mother was a creator, too, decorating the backyard with homemade garden planters and a gazebo constructed from wood scraps found in the garage. “My parents weren’t afraid to give things a shot, which really informed my own sense of entrepreneurship,” Joey remembers. “At a young age, I learned that if you put your mind to something, you can probably figure it out.”

Charlotte has beaten an enviably eclectic musical path since becoming a professional musician at the age of 15. From early success with chart-topping, globetrotting Irish band Ash, she quickly spread her wings to embark on a more personal musical journey.

Her three acclaimed solo LPs, much-loved by critics, brought her into contact with some intriguing and diverse names; in the last decade she’s worked with Bryan Ferry, Bat For Lashes, KT Tunstall, Squarepusher and XTC’s Andy Partridge to name but a few.

Charlotte joined Guitar Breaks in Italy, alongside Nashville session legend Jach Ruch, for a week of musical exploration and pasta!

Not all stars are plastered across social media. Some manage to create a buzz without resorting to self-aggrandizing promotion techniques. 

Jack Ruch is one of those people.

Jack Ruch is a jazz, blues, and soul guitarist from Nashville, Tennessee. He’s racked up an impressive following on his YouTube and Instagram accounts over the past decade or so, and we’ve been wowed by his versatility and groovy guitar chops. 

Ruch is not “out there” on social media in the contemporary sense. In fact, he’s a very private individual who just so happens to be an influencer among the guitarists of Instagram. Thus, his bio simply reads “Husband, Dad, and guitar player in Nashville, TN. Available for Skype lessons.”

We were delighted that Jack could join us in Italy, inspiring our guests with his approach to learning and playing the guitar. 

Ross is a professional guitar instructor who has dedicated his life to helping struggling intermediate guitarists break through their plateaus. He was raised in Scotland and now lives in Music City (Nashville, TN), where he performs in the band for BBR Music recording artist – Jordan Harvey. Ross was invited by GRAMMY award-winning producer Mark Ronson, to record on a session at the legendary Abbey Road studios.

His instructional guitar book “Beyond Pentatonic Blues Guitar” held the #1 best-seller spot on multiple Amazon book charts internationally. 

Blues rock guitar virtuoso, singer-songwriter and producer, Josh Smith, is hailed the world over as a master guitarist with raw talent and power to spare. Blending his signature mix of blues, rock and jazz into dynamic original songs, Smith is known for his incendiary live performances, whether at the Grammy Awards or the Kennedy Center Honors with Mick Jagger, Raphael Saadiq and others. ​

Along with touring the world, recording and performing with renowned artists such as Joe Bonamassa, Eric Johnson, Andy Timmons, Kirk Fletcher and others, Josh is also a producer and owns Flat V Studios in Los Angeles. 

Josh is a Grammy Nominated Producer for “Crown” by Eric Gales and is a Blues Music Award Winning Producer for “Blood Brothers” Mike Zito/Albert Castiglia 

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Pete has been teaching guitar for many years and is a long time friend of the team at Guitar Breaks. We love him and we know you will too!

Ariel Posen’s music occupies the space between genres. It’s a rootsy sound that nods to his influences — heartland rock & roll, electrified Americana, blue-eyed soul, R&B, Beatles-inspired pop — while still moving forward, pushing Posen into territory that’s uniquely his own.

Along the way, Posen has received standing ovations not only from his audiences, but also from outlets like Rolling Stone, who dubbed him “a modern-day guitar hero” Music Radar listing him as a fan voted top 10 rock guitarist of the year and the Western Canadian Music Awards who nominated him for Breakout Artist of the Year in 2020 and 2021, as well as Rock Artist of the Year and Recording of the Year in 2022.

Ariel has joined us many times at Guitar Breaks and we can pretty much guarantee he will be back!

In 2020 and Chris found himself voted Best Blues Guitatist by the readers of Guitarist Magazine in the wake of Buck & Evans critically-acclaimed first record, Write a Better Day. “It’s folly to attach numbers to music but it’s incredibly flattering to see that people enjoy what you do!” laughs Chris.

​Despite associations with Yamaha, Fender and Ernie Ball, a successful weekly YouTube series soon to exceed 10 million views, guitar greats being quick to express their appreciation of Chris’s playing – (“this guy’s a fu*king awesome guitar player!” – Slash), Chris insists that he doesn’t crave the spotlight.

“From that first moment I played in front of a crowd, I never wanted to be the ‘virtuoso guitar guy” says Chris. “All of my favourite musicians were very much part of a band; that sense of interaction and spontaneity is incomparable. Making music with your mates; there’s no better feeling…”

Chris has joined us at Guitar Breaks many times before, and we are pretty sure he will be back!

Mike has been playing the guitar since he was 12 years old, and from that first moment his love affair with music and the instrument began. Fresh out of school at the age of 16 he attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford and completed a year-long Diploma course.

After finishing ACM his life as a full time musician began, playing in numerous bands and touring up and down the country playing iconic venues such as The Shepherds Bush Empire, The Astoria, The Underworld and London’s Jazz Café. Mike has also been fortunate enough to support industry legends including Paul Weller, Blondie and Katie Melua.

Mike’s session work has led to his working on a variety of projects – from performing with stars such as Ricky Wilson and Diana Vickers, to appearing in many TV shows and adverts. Mike loves being on stage performing, but is equally at home recording in a studio – where he has worked with Alex Von Soos (All Saints, Seal, Atomic Kitten), Mike Horner (The Prodigy, Shakira, Bloc Party), and Mike Chapman (Blondie, Suzi Quatro).

Mike is a long time friend of Guitar Breaks. He’s a great player and a lot of fun to have around!