Stupid Simple Guitar Newsletter
Stay on top of your guitar game with our weekly newsletter!
This Saturday's Event Is Now Open
Okay friends! The time has come to open our Registration Event for our Summer Sprint: 90 Days to Play Guitar.
👉🏻 Join me this Saturday at 11am Eastern/8am Pacific for the event that could change your guitar game forever!
Not only will you have the chance to grab one of our limited seats (I can ...
May 27, 2026
Why must you play the guitar?
Why must you play the guitar?
When I ask folks over 50 this question, the answers usually sound like:
“I’ve wanted to play since I was a kid.”
“I don’t want to leave this world without finally doing it."
“I want to play songs my wife / kids / grandkids recognize.”
“It relaxes me after a long day....
May 26, 2026
Memorializing: v) preserve the memory of some one or thing
It's Memorial Day and if you have served in the military, first, thank you for your service and sacrifice. It is easy to forget that the freedoms we enjoy in this country came at a price and many are still paying that price today.
But what do we do on a day like this?
Visit the gravesite of los...
May 25, 2026
What is a summer sprint?
Maybe it's just me, but every summer I want to tackle new songs, learn new licks, climb new mountains with just my guitar on my back and have a meditative moment with me and my girl (yes, my guitar is female).
And I hear this a lot from beginner guitarists over 50 that, while the rest of the yea...
May 22, 2026
Summer of 69...
What is it about summer? Every year around this time I find myself wandering around outside in the sunlight - something we don't get here in Chicago for about 6 months out of the year - and I'm filled with all sorts of ambitions and dreams about the next three months.
Am I the only one?
I don't...
May 12, 2026
I got coffee with the Goo Goo Dolls Drummer on Monday
Earlier this week I met up with (former) drummer of the band, Goo Goo Dolls, Mike Malinin.
Mike recently moved to the Chicago area and was looking to connect with other artists so we sat down to talk music and life.
One of the things that surprise me was how down to earth the guy is - and I got...
May 07, 2026
You don't know what you don't know... neither did he
I talked to a guy recently who was in his sixties, top of his career and miserable. He had no more mountains to climb, no new hills to take and everything felt pretty meaningless. So his wife bought him a guitar. He had never been musical, but she knew he liked listening to the old rock classics....
Apr 24, 2026
Springsteen-Strength
In the summer of 1976, Bruce Springsteen was everywhere. His face was on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week — a feat no rock musician had pulled off before. Born to Run had made him a phenomenon. The world was waiting to see what he'd do next.
Then, almost overnight, everything stopp...
Apr 20, 2026
He waited too long
"I'm sorry but I have to put the guitar down for good." Words he never thought he’d say, but were true.
This was a student of mine last year who had always said “one day I’ll pick up the guitar” and kept putting his career ahead of his dream.
Unfortunately by the time “one day” rolled around an...
Apr 15, 2026
Playing music with others does something to you...
I'll never forget recording my first full length album.
My wife and I funded the entire thing ourselves. Flew my buddy from London to Cincinnati to play drums on it. Hired a professional cellist to compose and record on six of the ten songs. Brought in so many friends to sing or play random part...
Apr 13, 2026
He was called "god" at 25. His greatest work came at 46.
There's a version of Eric Clapton's story that most people know.
The prodigy. The legend. The man whose fans spray-painted "Clapton is god" on the walls of London Underground stations in the 1960s when he was barely in his mid-twenties. The guitarist who played on Beatles records, formed Cream, w...
Apr 06, 2026
The guitar in the closet
There's a particular kind of person I love working with.
They've done everything right. Built a career over 35 years that most people would envy. Retired with financial security, the freedom to travel, maybe a sports car in the driveway and a pilot's license to boot.
By every conventional measure...
Apr 01, 2026
Stupid Simple Guitar Newsletter
