stevetarshis.com
Music/News

LATEST NEWS:  

My special summer 'new depression' rates were such a big hit last summer, I'm going to offer them again..I'm offering some great discounts for new and former students on guitar and theory  lessons between June 28 and Sept 15, contact me to get all the details....

My good friend and ex Bucktooth Johnson drummer extraordinaire Marco Giovino will be blowing into town with Patty Griffen and Buddy Miller...just in time to track with us as we go into Dubway  studios to begin recording Hope Nunnery's second album......

I'm excited to report that I just signed on as the New York director of Camp Jam. Camp Jam is for kids 7-17 and is open to all experience levels. It will take place from Aug 2-6 at the Hofstra University campus on Long Island...available as a day or sleep-over experience, it give kids a chance to experience total rock and roll emersion, with a well thought out curriculum, personal instruction, and the chance to perform with a rock  band... contact me for more information. There is a referral program for music teachers as well. Contact me if you are a teacher and would like the chance to earn some extra cash...

 

I am now set up to record in my home studio...if you would like some guitar parts added to your track, get in touch, it can all be done over the internet...

 

Heard from Dave Gilmour fan Chris Cunningham...he was asking about my David Gilmour transcription book which is now out of print and told me it is going for over $100 on the internet! (thanks Chris!) I was able to hook him up with a pdf of one my few copies...any other interested parties feel free to contact me....

 

Looking ahead here are some shows coming up... 

 

The  Trio will be playing a great free concert in Riverside Park@ the 96th St. tennis courts  Aug 14th 7pm..great summer evening vibe by the river at sunset, don't miss it! Click here for more details.

 

The  Trio   will return to the   P&G Lounge 380 Columbus Ave betw 78-79th..friday August 27th 10-12.... your chance to check out my cool instrumental group when it's not a school night! 

 

Hope Nunnery and I return for our third annual summer concert appearance at Westerleigh Park on Staten Island.  sat aug 28th 7pm.

Hope Nunnery and I at Banjo JIm's Sept 28th with Monica 'Lil Mo' Passin and her field of stars show.

 

Some  good news! 'Little Pink Radio' a song from 'Wilderness Lounge', a cd by Hope Nunnery that I produced and played on in '07 was named #20 in the No Depression (the roots music authority) list of the top 40 songs of the decade. check it out if you want at we're in good company. (thanks and a tip of the sombrero to my old pal and great singer, Monica 'Lil Mo' Passin for letting me know!)  Hope and I had a great time recently playing a House Concert  in the Chelsea area,NYC. Thanks to  Tom Boyd for sponsoring this event which sold out ..great evening! 

 

 

 

 

 Just heard from my former student Max Bernstein...he was passing through ny on tour with megastar Ki$ha playing guitar and bass...way to go Max! 

 

 

Trio News: Our new cd (Steve Tarshis and his Instrumental Trio vol. II) is now ready, contact me to purchase...

 

 

 Hope Nunnery and I have finished recording  our contribution to the "In My Room" cd which will benefit the  National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We are recording the old Carter family tune 'Gospel Ship' , and I have to say it's really sounding great, my old Bucktooth Johnson buddy Marco Giovino has contributed his percussion magic along with Hope and I and Dave Hofstra on bass...The release date for 'in my room' on the LML Music label (LMLMusic.com) is Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

In the studio with composer Jamie Lawrence working on a new doc featuring Sean Penn..lots of slide guitar,since it takes place in New Orleans....

 

 My old blues band, Nine Below Zero had a great re-union gig at the Manhattan Country School Farm Festival, pictured above left to right, Darryl Milton, Me, Stuart Ziff, Robin Gould, Paul Ossola, scroll down for early pic of the band

 Hope Nunnery and I had a great  out door show in Riverside Park by the 96th St. tennis courts, this summer. You can catch some of this show now by clicking on this link. Hope and I also appeared on Staten Island at Westerleigh Park, here's a video of Little Pink Radio from that gig . Pictured here  Hope and I on tour in South Carolina

 

 

 

 

 

 Below: The Trio arriving for a recent gig, pictured Dave Hofstra, bass, Peter Grant, drums and myself.

 

Transcription news: Recently completed transcribing charts for the fabulous country (and more) singer  Shannon Brown, she'll be using them as she sits in with various bands around town, (including my Trio)  .....Had a lot of fun transcribing the Count Basie band's arrangement of 'Sunny Side of the Street' backing up Ella Fitzgerald and arranging it for one piano...this was at the request of Ellen  Gould who will be using  it for her one woman show "The Last Checker".

 

 

 more sessions with composer Jamie Lawrence for an  HBO doc, it's another of  the undercover animal rights series, this one an expose' of pig farms called Death on a Factory Farm which is currently being shown on  HBO. Click the link for broadcast schedule.

 

.

 

had a nice gig with the Trio at Bar 82 for Peggy Ehrhart's book release party (scroll below for more info about Peggy's book) photo above, after gig hang, left to right, me, unidentified drinker, ny blues stalwart Johathon Kalb, good time!  ....., .... .transcription notes: I'm currently working with Julia Douglass, constructing lead sheets for her wonderful project "Chef Do Re Me', here's an example............. 

at the pigeon club studios overdubbing with the hi-strung martin

 

Was recently re-united with my Bucktooth Johnson bandmate Marco Giovino who was up from Nashville producing an album for singer-songwriter Kylie Harris. I did some overdubs on slide guitar and high tuned guitar for them over at the Pidgeon Club studio in Hoboken (photo left)....

 

Sadly, summer '07 semester at the New School was our last. While I look for a new home for my courses, I will be offering them privately as usual. Farewell Guitar Study Center!..... ............EMAIL NOTES FROM ALL OVER.........recently received a request from Eric vd Meijde of the Netherlands. He has a copy of my (now out of print) Jimi Hendrix book and has requested a transcription of Little Wing, he wants to make a tatoo out of it...cool!....I'm going to send it to him and he has generously agreed to send me photos which I will post here..can't wait!........................speaking of books, I just got a great call from Mike Burstein down in Lynchburg, VA. He had a copy of my first book "Teach Yourself Lead Guitar" (still in print) and it inspired him to become a working musician and teacher, wow, love hearing stuff like that, thanks for the call Mike and best luck with your career!........................ I've been working with film composer Jamie Lawrence. Recently did some cue's for the Food Network on nylon string...Here's a cue from a documentary about the 2002 dockworkers strike called "Eye of the Storm".click here to hear 'The Negotiation' from the film. I spent a few months working with Jamie on his sound track for the HBO Special 'Dealing Dogs'. Got to play electric, acoustic, slide and resonator..click here to hear 'Dog to Nowhere one of the cues.click here to hear 'the Big Vamp.... click here to find out more about the show and when it will next be scheduled, it's usually on a couple of times a month.......................................................

/i//nine_below_reunion.jpg

/i//Hope_Nunnery_and_Steve_Tarshis.jpg

The Hope Nunnery , CD 'Wilderness Lounge' of traditional and original tunes, which I am honored to have produced and performed on has now been released! Hope draws on her southern gothic background, her music has its roots in Appalachian Mountain/gospel/blues..she's lived it and now she's tellin' it! You can sample or purchase the cd and get more information at CD Baby..by clicking here  Wilderness Lounge  received a rave review on the New Depression website, check it out!..this led to a  full blown interview in the latest newstand issue click here to read it.....here's another nice review from Rambles.net....Hope and I had a great ‘Homecoming’ tour of South Carolina this fall..(Photo top of page) Highlights included an NPR interview with Hope and a taping of one of our shows by NPR affiliate WNCW . Shoutouts to Tom Johnson who got the whole thing going and my old pal Dorothy Chapman Josey, unofficial mayor of all things cool in Spartenburg.  Also Carl Martin who helped get the sound system together in Liberty. (Carl to me when I walked in the venue with my guitars..’you the picker or the strummer?’ Yankee translation:lead or rhythm guitar) Check out Hope’s blog of the tour here, and youtube clips of Trouble is my Rider and Judgement Day courtesy of our good friend Rawson Gordon. .....see below for more info about HopeYou can also download the tunes or the whole album from Itunes. Wilderness Lounge was on a 'short list' of about 50 records  considered for a Grammy nomination in the Traditional Folk catagory in 2008. Independent Music Award , Album of the year in the Americana division...

THE TRIO I’ve always loved instrumental music. My trio plays a repetoire of tunes by artists such as Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and classic instrumentals like Sleepwalk, Last Date, and Cast Your Fate to the Wind. We also do jazz standards like Lullaby of Birdland and Bye Bye Blackbird, and blues tunes of all kinds. I like to think of the music as a cross between the Ventures and Bill Frisell.It's a great listening experience for any kind of situation, or a party or corporate event. click here to hear a music sampler of 'The Trio" . We now have two cd's available here, volume I and volume II. 

/i//cdtrio400_1.jpg

/i//WHAT_I_WANT_cover.jpg

Nora York For quite a while it has been my privledge to perform and record with the fantastic singer Nora York. To call her just a 'singer' is an injustice though..she's a charismatic performer, conceptualist, and metaphysical stand up comic all in one. Her music has elements of roots, jazz, pop, rock and r&b all in one. Here's a cut from her recent cd "What I Want"... Turns on a Dime ...I

BUCKTOOTH JOHNSON a rootsy vibey band featuring myself, Neal Pawley on bass and vocals and Marco Giovino on drums. As these things sometimes go, Marco's in Nashville now, so we're on a long hiatus. click here to hear "Can't be Satisfied". click here to hear "Devil's Duty"....You can sample the Bucktooth CD "Two Tooth Minumum" by clicking here Contact me to purchase.

/i//bucktooth_johnson0002_1.jpg

/i//tinystrat.jpg

RENT I've been involved with the hit Broadway show since it opened in the east village. The band plays live onstage with the cast at the Nederlander Theater 208 W.41st St. After a glorious twelve year run the show closed on sept. 7th.

NINE BELOW ZERO..here's a blast from the past, Nine Below Zero was a blues band that played around New York for many years. we still get together and do a gig once in a while..here's a tune we cut a number of years ago that I wrote for the band called Bluesville, early publicity shot of the band featuring me with hair on far left then Steve Morrell, Robin Gould, Paul Ossola, and Stuart Ziff.

/i//early_nine_below.jpg

/i//Peggy_book_smaller_1.jpg

OK this is really cool...Peggy Ehrhart, my former student and a formidable writer (the word kind) who is also a fine guitarist and a blues aficionado, has just published Sweet Man is Gone. As Peggy says, "It's a funny, funky look at the inner workings of a blues band, and it features amateur detective Maxx Maxwell (real name: Elizabeth), a sexy blonde blues singer and bandleader." I read it and its awesome! And check this out...one of the characters is based on me! (Hint: it's not the dead guy) You can read all about it at Peggy's site...plus she's giving away Sweet Man is Gone guitar picks at the site, so hurry over...