Carl Verheyen (Los Angeles)

Carl Verheyen is a major presence on the guitar. Growing up in Pasadena in Southern California, he began a lifelong study of the instrument at age 10. Even in his early teens Carl practiced guitar every day, a tradition that continues to this day.

www.carlverheyen.com

Bio
By the time Carl Verheyen had made his first record in 1988, he had already played on hundreds of records, television shows and movie soundtracks. As one of the elite Los Angeles studio musicians, Carl was well known as a "behind the scenes" player capable of playing any style of music with total conviction. This first recording entitled No Borders was a reflection of that jack of all trades status. However Carl's personal style was already apparent. But a studio musician is subservient to the musical vision of others, and Carl had too much music inside him to continue on that path. Within a few years he was ready with another recording called Garage Sale, this one featuring his voice, too. "I buy all the hot guitarists records, but I end up checking them out once or twice and then filing them. I much prefer listening to a great melody, and vocal music is what I'm most passionate about. This record was a transitional one in other ways too, as it showed Carl's improvisational skills embracing blues-based forms and beginning to forge a unique chordal concept that can be heard on his soulful cover of Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages". But it wasn't until CD number three, 1998's Slang Justice that Carl had enough public awareness to take his band on the road. Surrounding himself with top musicians like bassist Cliff Hugo, Chad Wackerman, Steve DiStanislao and Bernie Dresel, the Carl Verheyen Band began to barnstorm the world playing festivals and concert halls all over America and Europe. "The difficulty was fitting these artistically satisfying little tours in between my other job, which was lead guitarist for the British pop group Supertramp". Sometimes the tours would dovetail together and Carl would finish playing a 20,000 seat stadium and go directly to a small club to play for 300 loyal CVB fans. In fact Slingshot, released in 1998 was written entirely backstage at the various arenas that Supertramp was playing on their Some Things Never Change world tour. For this CD Carl expanded the trio format to include some of LA's heaviest players including drummer Gregg Bissonette and keyboard legend Jim Cox. A blues-rock style mixed with pop and jazz influences crystallized on this record and the songs became part of the ever expanding live show the band was delivering night after night on the road. Carl continued to play on other artist's records whenever he was in town, racking up credits on CDs by the Bee Gees and Cher and movie soundtracks including The Crow and The Usual Suspects. When the CVB reunited in the studio in January of 2000, Carl had a stripped down, back to basics approach in mind that resulted in the CD Atlas Overload. Texturally sparse and raw, this music quickly became some of the band's most exciting concert material. Although the band was gaining popularity and garnering very positive reviews, Carl needed to give another side of his music some attention. The acoustic guitar had always been a part of the CVB albums, but in 2001 Carl devoted an entire CD to solo guitar composition and acoustic playing. Entitled Solo Guitar Improvisations, the recording began another avenue of solo concert touring that Carl continues to this day. The virtuoso pieces that he plays at these performances are the perfect compliment to the blistering dazzle of his electric CVB shows. Working closely with the Austrian string company Thomastik-Infeld, Carl developed a line of signature strings for the electric guitar that perfectly balance the tremolo bridge of the Fender Stratocaster. He also helped design a unique double cutaway acoustic guitar with Avalon Guitars, a highly respected manufacturer from Northern Ireland. Besides an instructional video and various on-line lessons available, Carl now has a book/CD detailing his unique "intervallic" style called Improvising Without Scales. Another book entitled Studio City is a compilation of all the columns Carl wrote for Guitar Magazine between 1996 and 1999. Carl currently writes a monthly column for Chitarre, Italy's ..1 guitar publication. Another side project was released in 2001, a CD entitled Reel to Real with Karl Ratzer, Vienna's most important jazz guitarist. This recording was very different than the highly produced CVB CDs. Recorded in just two days, it consisted of extended "jams" and interactive musical sparring between the two guitarists and the assembled rhythm section. Immediately following the release of this project, Carl took the band back into the studio to realize another collection of songs. This was to be the 6th record by the CVB and was therefore simply titled SIX. Following in the tradition of 1994's Garage Sale, Carl recorded a cover of Lennon, McCartney's"Yes It Is" using a chord style fans had come to recognize as "uniquely Verheyen". The band toured extensively behind this record eventually playing in 14 countries over 2 years. In 2005 the band recorded Rumor Mill, a DVD box set with a live concert, an acoustic concert, behind the scenes interviews and rehearsal footage, as well as a master class and many more features. This collector's edition was nominated in seven categories and won Best Dual Disc at the DVD Entertainment Awards and Best Additional Features at the Surround Music Awards. Just released in 2006 is the latest chapter in the CVB's history, a brand new CD entitled Take One Step. The band recorded the material over an entire year, frequently performing the new songs on the road before committing them to record. The CD includes an extended piece called "Bells of April" that uses the many sounds of the electric and acoustic guitar orchestrally and departs radically from traditional song form. This new CD is another step forward in the tradition of a constantly searching musical and artistic career.

www.carlverheyen.com