Whilst in his early twenties he was living a lifestyle no doubt familiar to many of the readers (and writers) of these pages, working in a music shop in his native Milwaukee during the day and playing bar gigs by night. He caught the ear of a travelling Fender rep that was visiting the store, staying in the area and dropped by to catch his live set that evening. This knocked him out so much that he offered him both a Fender endorsement and also promised to feature him in the next Fender Frontline magazine. A series of Fender clinics followed, initially low key and local but very soon escalating to the relentless schedule of national and international clinics, gigs and in-store demos that now makes up the bulk of Koch’s working life.
Guitarists being on the whole quite traditionalist and often waiy of new technology, Greg’s stylistic breadth, great sense of tone and vibe-driven organic but technical approach to playing meant that he was the perfect player to help launch Fender’s new space-age Cyber-Twin combo in 1996. Again, once proving the old adage that you should never underestimate who’s watching you at all times, Koch was spotted whilst performing on the Fender stand at the NAMM show in Anaheim by a representative of Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label. Within months Greg had secured both a deal with FN and also a lucrative book and DVD contract with Hal Leonard. The rest is, as they say, history!
If you’ve not heard him play probably the easiest way to get us in the right place would be to look at his influences. Koch started playing at 12 inspired by his elder brother’s vinyl collection, and in particular records by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. From here he progressed through Led Zep’s
Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck before tracing the roots backwards via BB and Albert King and other blues masters. After discovering Albert Lee on an old Eric Clapton album, this inspired an exploratory excursion into county via Ray Flacke and Ricky Skaggs. Let’s not forget his exposure to jazz whilst at music college, inspiring a love of all things Charlie Christian and George Benson. Get the picture now? Not only is Greg an amazing player, he’s also a wonderful showman and an extremely funny guy to boot with an infectious enthusiasm for music and guitar.
I’ve presented one long, cohesive solo study for you this month, and whilst it’s impossible to condense thirty-odd years of musical experience into twenty bars we can still highlight several of Greg’s key concepts, techniques and musical devices. Once again, I’d urge you to go straight to the source and check out as much of Koch’s playing, and also his teaching material, as you possibly can. Why not consider investing in one of the great software/hardware devices that are out there that allow you to slow down audio and get transcribing on a weekly or even daily basis? This is a fantastic way to make substantial and rapid improvements in both your playing and in your general musicianship, and it’s something I’m absolutely certain that Greg would heartily endorse..