California Guitar Trio

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Kat Friedmann

California Guitar Trio at Songbirds on 4/27

The universe of guitar knows no boundaries for The California Guitar Trio. Since 1991, the group has enthralled listeners with a singular sound that fearlessly crisscrosses genres. The trio’s questing spirit drives it to explore the intersections between rock, jazz, classical, and world music. It even throws in the occasional surf or spaghetti Western tune for good measure.

Comprised of Bert Lams, Tom Griesgraber, and Paul Richards, the group has established a unique, personal connection with audiences. In addition to dazzling musicianship and interplay, The California Guitar Trio’s (CGT) shows are full of captivating stories and humor that enable concertgoers to feel like they’re part of the music, not just spectators. In fact, the group’s CGT’s 21 albums, streamed over 115 million times on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, offer diverse snapshots of the group’s mercurial muse.

The trio’s latest album Live In Scottsdale – On Tour With King Crimson is a recording of the final opening set from the 2021 tour with the legendary King Crimson and features the new CGT 2.0 line up with Tom Griesgraber on Chapman Stick. CGT's most recent studio release Elegy showcases its acoustic side, with beautiful lush originals and innovative cover arrangements of Beatles, Radiohead and more.

The trio’s output has made a major global impact, having served as the soundtrack for Olympics coverage, and programs on CNN, CBS, NBC, and ESPN. They have fans in high places too: NASA used their music to wake the crew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor.

CGT’s lineup is truly the sum of its distinct parts: A Utah native now residing in Los Angeles, Paul Richards immersed himself in rock, blues, and jazz during his early days and while attending The University of Utah’s jazz guitar program. While on and off the road, Paul enjoys doing landscape photography.

Bert Lams, originally from Belgium, graduated from the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, winning awards in classical guitar performance. Bert Lams currently lives with his family in Jupiter Florida.

Tom Griesgraber, the only California native in the group, is from Encinitas. Tom is a virtuoso player of the Chapman Stick, a guitar/bass hybrid tapping instrument invented in California by Emmett Chapman. Tom is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music on Boston.

Tokyo-born Hideyo Moriya began his guitar journey with surf music and British rock, before relocating to Boston to study at Berklee. Hideyo is currently on hiatus from touring and lives in Chiba Japan.

Lams, Richards and Moriya felt the call to push themselves to the limit by enrolling in Robert Fripp’s challenging Guitar Craft courses, where they first met in 1987. They went on to tour together as part of Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists, before forming the California Guitar Trio in Los Angeles four years later.

Thirty-[four] years and 2,000+ gigs later, the CGT remains intensely committed to explore, evolve, and communicate a wide-ranging musical worldview.

– written by Anil Prasad

Doors at 6:00 PM

Show at 7:00 PM

Seated Show

General Admission Advanced: $30

General Admission Day of Show: $35