Pete Thorn and Quist join us for an incredible Skype conversation this week! Both are very talented guitarists and educators who’ve been in the studio and on the road with an impressive list of artists — they each have their own popular YouTube channels as well! This is a relaxed and enjoyable chat about tour riders, guitar influences, how they got started on the instrument, and a whole lot more!
About Pete Thorn
Like many of us, Pete Thorn is a self-proclaimed “guitar nerd.” His playing has landed him onstage alongside truly legendary artists like Don Henley, Chris Cornell, and Melissa Etheridge, amongst others.
Pete is an Edmonton native who packed up his guitars and moved to LA as a teenager to attend the famed Musician’s Institute in Hollywood. After graduation, he joined the LA-based band Surreal McCoys who were signed with Sony Music Japan. Even though the band itself didn’t pan out, Pete’s experience working with the band’s lead singer Frank Simes (who also worked with Don Henley, Mick Jagger, Warren Zevon, and Stevie Nicks) allowed him to make important connections in the music industry that would eventually work to his advantage.
Several years later, in the early 2000s, Pete started to see tremendous success as a guitar player. He toured/recorded with Grammy-winning Columbia Records artist Robi Draco Rosa and toured with multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter Jewel. During this time, he also wrote and recorded tracks with Courtney Love — several of these songs ended up on the 2010 Hole album, Nobody’s Daughter.
By 2006, Pete started working regularly with famed producer Linda Perry at her Kung Fu Gardens studio. He played on tracks from a huge range of artists like James Blunt, Daniel Powter, Alicia Keys, Pink, and many others. In 2007, he joined Chris Cornell’s solo band and toured the world extensively in support of the Carry On and Scream albums — the latter of which he also recorded guitar on.
After more successful tours with massive acts like Don Henley and Melissa Etheridge, Pete opted to step into the spotlight, so-to-speak, and release his first solo album Guitar Nerd in 2011. You can find all of his solo releases, including the recent Pete Thorn II, here.
Ever the “tone connoisseur,” Pete Thorn has been popularly demonstrating guitar gear and accessories on his own Youtube channel as well!
About Quist
Quist — also known as Jacob Quistgaard — hails from Copenhagen, Denmark. He got into guitar at an early age after picking up his father’s acoustic. He started with simple chords and “Dylanesque” finger picking which he learned from his father and a local teacher. He’d later hone his chops in his first bands before moving to London as a teenager. There, he studied jazz for 4 years at the Royal Academy of Music on a scholarship.
Quist first made a name for himself as a session guitarist in the UK, most recently as lead guitarist with British rock legend Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music). He featured on Ferry’s album Avonmore (2014) alongside Nile Rodgers, Mark Knopfler, Johnny Marr, Flea, and Marcus Miller — touring the world for several years in various incarnations of Bryan Ferry’s band.
Quist has enjoyed performing all over the world, including at The Royal Albert Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, Coachella, Glastonbury, and Abbey Road Studios, as well as on many prime time international TV & radio shows. Through years of touring whilst simultaneously posting his trademark jam tracks on his YouTube channel, Quist has found an audience of his own as a solo artist and educator.
In 2017, FretMonkey Records released Quist’s instrumental album Trigger. The album features bass players Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd) and Jonathan Harvey (Bill Laurance), drummers Dave De Rose (Mark Ronson) and Cherisse Osei (Simple Minds), as well as keyboard player/producer Magnus Fiennes (Gary Moore).
He has since released a string of singles and guitar remixes and is set to drop several full-lengths in this year, the first of which was released in February: Loop Improvisations, Vol. 1.
