: ''For the Egyptian name see

Tiye (disambiguation) Tiye, also spelled Tiy, Tiyi, Tiya was an ancient Egyptian name; according to Aldred, the pet name for Nefertari.Cyril Aldred: Akhenaten, King of Egypt (London, Thames and Hudson, 1991, , p.141 Its notable bearers were: * Queen Tiye, wife of Amenh ...

.'' Teye (pronounced tie-ya, born 1957 as Teije Wijnterp) is a Frisian (now American) guitarist, best known for his flamenco guitar work with the

Joe Ely Joe Ely (; born February 9, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was "one of the main movers" of Austin, Texas' progressive country scene in the 1970s and '80s. He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce ...

band between 1994 and 2000. Before ending his musical career, Teije began building exclusive handmade guitars.

Biography

Teye started learning guitar in 1968, and moved to London to pursue a musical career, unsuccessfully. He returned to the Netherlands and played in a number of rock and roll bands, after which he studied classical guitar at the conservatory in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

. Starting in the early 1980s, he began learning to play

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

music in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, and spent the next six years alternately studying in Spain, and studying and performing in the Netherlands and the United States. Teye produced a solo flamenco guitar LP, ''El Gitano Punky'' (1988), and studied modern music at the conservatory in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

from 1990 to 1994. A visit to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, brought him in contact with

, who integrated Teye's flamenco guitar into his country-rock band on the 1995 release ''Letter to Laredo''. Teye moved from

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, where he had been living with his soon-to-be wife Belen Oliva Bermudez (a flamenco dancer), to Austin. In 1996, then living in Austin, Teye and Belen married and started a flamenco ensemble in Austin, Teye & Viva El Flamenco, later called Teye & Belen, releasing a CD in 1999, ''Viva el Flamenco'' and one in 2004, "FlamencObsesionArte". He worked with Joe Ely again in 1998, on ''Twistin' in the Wind''.

Teye Guitars

When Teye showed a guitar that he had made to Les Paul, Paul deemed Teye's prototype 'the closest to the ideal guitar I have in my head'. Teye then established himself as builder of electric guitars in 2004. His love for adorned guitars stems from being a longtime Rolling Stones and Faces fan. They played guitars built by

Tony Zemaitis Tony Zemaitis (1935 – 17 August 2002) was a British luthier from London. He was mostly known for his "metal top" electric guitars, which were used by notable rock musicians. After his death in 2002, Zemaitis Guitars company continued his guitar ...

, who built two guitars for Teye and subsequently Tony and he became friends. Teye’s La India La Mora and La Perla models earned praise from magazines all over the world. His Electric Gypsy La Llama was praised by ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

'' as a "dazzling piece of guitar artistry." An unusual feature on some of Teye's older guitars is a "mood" knob, which, to a ''Guitar Player'' reviewer, sounded as a mid-cut control (which it is not), and "exponentially" increased the number of tones available. Later in 2015, Teye introduced an even more versatile circuitry, the Mojo(TM). Summer 2016 Players include

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist best known as a member of the rock band the Police. Prior to joining the Police, Summers had been a member of several bands during the 1960s, including Zoot Money's Big Roll ...

of the Police;

Cliff Williams Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English g ...

of AC/DC;

Zac Brown Zachry Alexander Brown (born July 31, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the co-founder and lead singer of the country Zac Brown Band, as well as electronic dance music group Sir Rosevelt. In 2019, Brown ...

; Cade Foehner (American Idol);

Bibi McGill Bibi McGill (born Belinda McGill) is an American guitarist, yogi, producer and DJ best known as the lead guitarist and musical director of Beyoncé's backing band, the Suga Mamas, as well as for her work with P!nk, Paulina Rubio and Chilean rock ...

(Beyoncé, Pink); Ge Carlsberg and David Hollestelle ( Wild Romance); Eric Saylors (

The Steepwater Band The Steepwater Band is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1998 by the trio of Jeff Massey (guitars and vocals), Joe Winters (drums), and Tod Bowers (bass). The band took their name from a cargo vessel that Massey sighted in a port on La ...

); Ben Thomas (Adele, Sam Smith);

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

;

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

and others.

References

External links

Teye's website

Teye and Belen's website
{{authority control Living people 1957 births Flamenco guitarists Dutch guitarists Dutch male guitarists