About

Drew graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in Jazz Guitar Performance and a minor in Audio Production. As teachers and mentors, he counted Frank Dawson, William Russo, Peter Lerner, and Kimo Williams. 

Drew has been teaching music for over 25 years. His students have been accepted by, and earned scholarships to, prestigious music conservatories and colleges such as: Berklee College of Music, Musician’s Institute, The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, Manhattan School of Music, The San Fransisco Conservatory of Music, California Institute of the Arts, Northwestern University, Full Sail University, Los Angeles College of Music, Middle Tennessee State University, Carnegie Mellon University, and many more.

Alongside teaching students in his private practice, Drew taught after-school audio production classes at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Chicago, and for 5+ years served as Music Department Chair at a private high school in San Rafael, California. Drew is currently an instructor of Music & Recording Industry at Hocking College of Music.

Drew’s YouTube Channel, GuitarPlayerU, has over 3 million views, and Drew was also a panelist and content creator at GearWire, a popular YouTube editorial channel.  

In his many years performing and producing music, Drew has had the honor of working with talents such as: Chris & Rich Robinson (The Black Crowes), Badal Roy (Miles Davis), Kris Myers (Umphree’s Mcgee), Imani (The Pharcyde), Howard Levy (Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), T.J. Kanczuzewski (Midnight North), Matt Nelson (Lupe Fiasco, lt. dan band), Alex Burke (Bob Dylan, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dionne Warwick, Save Ferris), Beachwood Sparks, Johnny Frigo, and many more. Drew is currently performing lead guitar for Athens’ own folk-rock band, Chris Michael & the Andrews and Emily Singers latest musical project.

Drew’s musical roots date to 1980’s Detroit when he began to study piano. By 7th grade, Drew was working with his middle school’s administration to produce fundraising concerts for new stage lights and spotlights.

In the mid 90’s, Drew competed in the American Guild of Music Midwest Regional music competition, earning the AAA rating and first-place in Pop Guitar Solo for 3 consecutive years.

Each summer for four years, Drew attended the National Guitar Workshop, studying with luminaries such as John Scofield, Paul Gilbert, John Patitucci, Jim Hall, Pat Martino, Larry Coryell, Mike Stern, John Abercrombie, Jody Fisher, and Harry Jacobson.

In 1999, Drew graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School, where he had built and managed three MIDI technology labs, as well as the first ProTools-based recording studio at any Michigan high school.

Drew continues to sound engineer and mix local artists of all styles. In addition to inspiring the audio students of Hocking College, Drew also does contract work with Ohio University’s Theater Department, where he designs shows and helps with sound engineering. Drew also plays lead guitar in two local bands: Chris Michael & The Andrews, and The Emily Singer Band.

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