Gregory Howe (born December 8, 1963)Malusardi, Guglielmo (October 2006)

. Guitar Nine Records. Retrieved 2012-10-14. is an American guitarist and composer. An active musician across four decades, he has released ten studio albums in addition to collaborating with a wide variety of artists.

Recording career

Solo

After leaving high school and playing the

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

circuit around the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

areas with his brother Albert Howe (a singer) for most of the 1980s, Greg Howe officially began his solo career after sending a

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

in 1987, upon which he was immediately signed by founder

Mike Varney Michael Varney (born 1958) is an American record producer and music publisher. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records, and Blues Bureau International. He also owns 50% of Magna Car ...

.Wood, James (2012-07-30)
"Interview: Guitarist Greg Howe Discusses New Vocal Project, Maragold, and Reflects on 1988 Debut Album"
. ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

''.

NewBay Media NewBay Media, LLC was a magazine and website publisher founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City. NewBay Media served five marketplaces — Music, Pro Audio/AV, Video & Broadcast, Consumer Electronics, and Education. In April 2018, ...

. Retrieved 2012-10-14. His self-titled debut album, ''

Greg Howe Gregory Howe (born December 8, 1963)Malusardi, Guglielmo (October 2006). Guitar Nine Records. Retrieved 2012-10-14. is an American guitarist and composer. An active musician across four decades, he has released ten studio albums in addition to ...

'', was released in 1988 during the popular shred era, and went on to become his highest-selling album; a 2009 article in ''

'' magazine ranked it tenth in the all-time top ten list of shred albums. The following year, he joined with Albert to form a

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

-inspired

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

group named Howe II.Hinds, Andy
"Howe 2: High Gear - Greg Howe"
. ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

''.

All Media Network RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the AIM market of the London St ...

. Retrieved 2014-12-24. Through Shrapnel, they released two studio albums: ''

High Gear High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

'' (1989) and '' Now Hear This'' (1991). His second solo album, ''

Introspection Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's s ...

'', was released in 1993. At this point his style had changed radically from the straightforward

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular f ...

of both his debut and the Howe II albums, to a more

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

-laden approachEdwards, Owen (2006-08-29)
"Greg Howe Interview - Fusion Maestro"
. All Out Guitar. Retrieved 2015-09-09. which remains unique and identifiable to this day; some of his signature traits being fast left-hand

legato In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly, such that the transition from note to note is made with no intervening si ...

passages (having been influenced greatly by jazz fusion guitarist

Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz and rock music, rock guitarist, violinist and composer. He contributed to numerous bands, including Soft Machine, U.K. (band), U.K., The Tony Williams Lifetime, Pierre Moerl ...

), and the frequent use of

tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

and odd

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s. One particularly noteworthy aspect of Howe's legato technique is the "

hammer-on A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. Thi ...

from nowhere", in which a note is hammered-on to a different string without first being picked. A trio of albums spanning the middle part of the decade – '' Uncertain Terms'' (1994), ''

Parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...

'' (1995) and ''

Five 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

'' (1996) – were all a consistent evolution of the sound he had adopted on ''Introspection''. During this time he collaborated twice with guitarist

Richie Kotzen Richard Dale Kotzen Jr. (born February 3, 1970) is an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. As a solo artist, Kotzen has a back catalogue of more than 20 album releases. He was signed to California-based Shrapnel Records from 1988 to ...

for the albums ''

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

'' and ''

Project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

'' in 1995 and 1997, respectively. He then briefly dabbled with a heavier,

neo-classical metal Neoclassical metal is a Music subgenre, subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,Stephan Forté, "Metal néoclassique" in ''Guitarist Magazine Pedago'', ...

style for his 1999 release, ''Ascend'', which featured keyboardist

Vitalij Kuprij Vitalij Kuprij (July 7, 1974 – February 20, 2024) was a Ukrainian-American pianist, composer and music teacher. He was a keyboardist for Ring of Fire and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He resided in Reading, Pennsylvania. Early life Vitalij began p ...

. Howe has since spoken of his dissatisfaction for that project, as well as an earlier collaboration on Kuprij's own album, ''High Definition'' (1997). After switching labels to Shrapnel's jazz-oriented counterpart,

Tone Center Records Tone may refer to: Visual arts and color-related * Tone (color theory), a mix of tint and shade, in painting and color theory * Tone (color), the lightness or brightness (as well as darkness) of a color * Toning (coin), color change in coins * ...

, he returned to his familiar style with ''

Hyperacuity The sharpness of our senses is defined by the finest detail we can discriminate. Visual acuity is measured by the smallest letters that can be distinguished on a chart and is governed by the anatomical spacing of the mosaic of sensory elements on ...

'' (2000), which still stands as some of his most prominent experimentation with jazz fusion. After a highly troubled recording process for ''

Extraction Extraction may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * Comedo extraction, a method of acne treatment * Dental extraction, the surgical removal of a tooth from the mouth Computing and information science * Data extraction, the ...

'' (2003) – a collaboration with drummer

Dennis Chambers Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American jazz fusion and funk drummer. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959, in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. He began drumming ...

and bassist

Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other ...

– he took an extended hiatus from recording solo material until the release of his eighth studio album, '' Sound Proof'', in 2008. It would be another nine years until Howe's next solo release, ''Wheelhouse'', in 2017, which has been described as his "most personal work to date" and marks his return to solo instrumental work. For one track of the album, "Shady Lane", Richie Kotzen provided vocals.Sands, David (2017-09-01)
"Greg Howe Interview"
. Retrieved 2018-02-17. In a 2015 article by ''Guitar World'', Howe was ranked tenth in the "Top 10 Pick Squealers of All Time". In December 2019, ''Guitar World'' ranked Howe's "Wheelhouse" album #6 in "The 20 best guitar albums of the decade".

Maragold

In 2012 it was announced that Howe would play in a new band named Maragold, which would include drummer Gianluca Palmieri (who previously played on ''Sound Proof''), bassist Kevin Vecchione (from ''Five''), and singer Meghan Krauss. A promotional video was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on October 6, 2012, and the band's self-titled album was released on April 23, 2013. They would also release three official music videos via YouTube. In a 2016 interview, Howe said that the band was no longer active.

Session and touring career

Currently residing in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Nevada (having previously lived in

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

until around 2006), Howe continues to work as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and producer, as well as providing online guitar lessons through his official website. From 2010 onwards he has toured Europe for the first time, having long stated a desire to tour the continent as a solo artist. During his solo career, Howe has continuously made himself available as a session musician for many of the world's biggest pop stars. Most recently he has played with artists such as

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Lady Antebellum Lady A, known until 2020 as Lady Antebellum, is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar ...

P Diddy Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

and

Salt-n-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (sometimes stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa) is an American hip-hop, hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (rapper), Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (rapper), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). ...

. In 1996, he replaced

Jennifer Batten Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997, she played on all three of Michael Jackson's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001, she toured and recorded w ...

as primary guitarist during the Asian and European legs of singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's ''HIS''tory World Tour. He would later provide guitar duties for singer

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

in 2000, which culminated in a series of high-profile televised performances and a European tour. The following two years saw Howe recruited as lead guitarist for boy band

'N Sync NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Joey ...

during two tours of the United States. After singer

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

left 'N Sync, Howe continued to tour with him in 2003. Eight years later, Howe teamed up again with Timberlake, as well as rapper

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

, for a performance at the

2009 Grammy Awards The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the ...

. In the same year, Howe played as part of keyboardist/violinist

Eddie Jobson Edwin Jobson (born 28 April 1955) is an English musician who has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976–77. Noted for his key ...

's Ultimate Zero Project, in a line-up which included bassists

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

and

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Although he was left-handed, he was known for his skilled right-handed bass playing as well as his booming baritone voice. He was a member ...

, and drummers

Marco Minnemann Marco Minnemann (born 24 December 1970) is a German multi-instrumentalist and composer who primarily plays drums. Career Minnemann has released over a dozen solo albums as drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist, and performed on over 100 ...

and Simon Phillips. In 2011, Howe toured Vladivostok, Italy and Israel with drummer

and bassist

Stu Hamm Stuart Hamm (born February 8, 1960) is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well as for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings. Career Born in New Orleans, Hamm spent his chil ...

. In November of that year, Michael Jackson's second posthumous album, ''

Immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

'', featured Howe's playing on "

Dancing Machine "Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B group the Jackson 5; it was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album '' G.I.T.: Get It Together'' and was released as a remix. ...

" and "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produced by Quincy Jones, and co-produced by Jackson. Jones encouraged Jackson to ...

Protocol

In 2017 Howe joined the band Protocol, featuring Simon Phillips on drums, Ernest Tibbs on bass, and Otmaro Ruiz on keyboard. The ''Protocol 4'' album was nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 61st Grammy Awards.

Equipment

As of 2017, Howe is endorsed by DV Mark amplification, who released a 'Maragold' signature amplifier in 2014. He is also endorsed by

DiMarzio DiMarzio, Inc. (formerly DiMarzio Musical Instrument Pickups, Inc.) is an American manufacturing company best known for popularizing direct-replacement guitar pickups. The company also produces other accessories, such as hardware, guitar strap ...

, D'Addario and

Floyd Rose The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking Vibrato systems for guitar, vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company ...

. His

effects pedals An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion (music), distortion/overdrive, ...

include Carl Martin, Pigtronix and T-Rex. Also in 2014, Howe was endorsed by

Kiesel Guitars Kiesel Guitars is an American manufacturer of custom electric guitars and electric bass guitars located in Southern California, with a heritage dating back to 1946. In 2015, Kiesel Guitars split from Carvin Corporation, taking the guitar and bas ...

, who released a signature 'GH24 model in February 2015. A second signature guitar called the GH3 was released in 2017 by Kiesel Guitars. This guitar featured a three single coil pickups mounted on a pickguard giving it a look similar to the

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

. Kiesel also offers the option of having a

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

humbucking pickup in the bridge position of the GH3. As of Feb 2022, Kiesel Guitars offers a Greg Howe signature guitar, with various customizable features such as number of frets and fingerboard wood, with a fixed two single coil, one (bridge) humbucker pickup layout.

Discography

Studio albums

*1988: ''

'' *1993: ''

'' *1994: '' Uncertain Terms'' *1995: ''

'' *1996: ''

'' *1999: ''Ascend'' *2000: ''

'' *2003: ''

'' – with

and

*2008: '' Sound Proof'' *2017: ''Wheelhouse''

Compilations

*2006: '' Collection: The Shrapnel Years''

Collaborations

*1995: ''

'' – with

*1997: ''

'' – with Richie Kotzen

Howe II

*1989: ''

'' *1991: '' Now Hear This''

Maragold

*2013: ''Maragold''

Other appearances

*1996: ''Convergence'' – James Murphy *2001: ''Gentle Hearts'' –

Tetsuo Sakurai is a Japanese bassist. To date, he has released a total of 37 albums as a member of Casiopea and Jimsaku and solo artist, and has also made 3 bass instructional videos. History Tetsuo Sakurai started playing bass when he was 13 years old. In 1 ...

*2004: '' Rhythm of Time'' –

Jordan Rudess Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes; November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist, composer, and software developer, best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment. Early lif ...

*2004: ''A Guitar Supreme'' – various guitarists compilation *2004: ''The Spirit Lives On'' –

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

tribute *2004: ''Gentle Hearts Tour 2004'' – Tetsuo Sakurai *2005: ''Visions of an Inner Mounting Apocalypse: A Fusion Guitar Tribute'' – various guitarists compilation *2006: ''

Io Canto ''Io canto'' and ''Yo canto'' (English: ''I Sing'') are the ninth studio albums by Italian singer Laura Pausini. The Italian-language edition was released on November 10, 2006 while the Spanish-language edition was released on November 14, 2006 ...

'' –

Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (; born 16 May 1974) is an Italian Pop music, pop singer. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the Sanremo Music Festival 1993, 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which becam ...

*2008: ''Collection'' –

Jason Becker Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American composer and former guitarist. At the age of 16, he became part of the Shrapnel Records-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman, and they released two albums, '' Speed Metal Sy ...

*2008: ''Clean'' – Dave Martone *2009: ''Out of Oblivion'' – Ethan Brosh *2010: ''Vital World'' – Tetsuo Sakurai *2011: ''

'' –

*2017: ''Protocol 4'' – Simon Phillips *2018: '' Triumphant Hearts'' – Jason Becker *2024: Five Steps On The Sun – with DarWin, Simon Phillips, Mohini Dey

References

External links

*
Audio interview with Greg Howe
at Jemfest Radio {{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, Greg 1963 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American jazz guitarists American session musicians Jazz fusion musicians Guitarists from New York City Guitarists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American guitarists Jazz musicians from New York (state) Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Shrapnel Records artists Jazz fusion guitarists