Tobias began playing guitar as a teenager being influenced by his friend Rick Rutledge. They soon started a garage band called Vacuform that played at their high school events. Tobias continued through a succession of local bands and musical styles including Smooth and Company (R&B), The Crack (punk), Vandal (hard rock), Lip Service (prog metal), Toyz (variety), and Empire (rock), while also finding the time to graduate from the GIT guitar school in California. In addition to these bands, he played bluegrass with Ola Belle Reed, and country with the Reeves Brothers appearing on their 1987 single.
In the mid-‘80s he assembled a band that included Chris Dardozzi (guitar), Nick Costa (guitar), Jeff Russo (bass), and Tom Ginsberg (violin).
Version 1 of the Tobias Hurwitz Band circa 1994-96 featured Tom Ginsberg (electric violin), Mike Dyson (bass), Steve Fahlsing (rhythm guitar), and Kim Yates (drums –Scarlet Angel, Kryptic). With this group and many top local session musicians, including drummer Dennis Chambers, Tobias released the 1997 CD “Painted Sky.”
During the ‘90s the Tobias Hurwitz Band performed locally at the Café Tattoo, Crossroads, Hyatt Eastside, 1998 SoWeBo Festival, Planet Music, Mars Music, Fells Point Festival and clubs…
The second version of the Tobias Hurwitz Band circa 2005-07 featured Bill Hugo (rhythm guitar), Jordan Resnick (bass), and Marc Norgaard (drums). They played at Fletcher’s, DayJams, Mo Pitkin’s (NYC), outdoor festivals… This group recorded the CD “Zen Shred Zone.”
Photos courtesy of Tobias Hurwitz
Tobias performed concurrently in a duo with singer/songwriter Terry Gourley from 2001-08+. They worked together for many years as a duo, while also assembling a trio (with percussionist Dakini), and quartets or other configurations as needed for the event. They played at Sonar, Mo Pitkin’s (NYC), The Evergreen, The Shamrock, Elk Run, Oregon Ridge, The York Inn, The Still, DayJams, etc…
As a solo performer through the ‘90s-00s Tobias could be seen at The Recher Theater, Sonar, The Zen Guitar Festivals in NYC, The National Guitar Workshops in Nashville and Connecticut, Bill’s Music House, Coffey Music, Guitar Center, DayJams, etc.
Tobias became a leader in the field of guitar performance and education, and a designer of curriculum for The National Guitar Workshop, DayJams, and Workshop Live.
He loves Zen Guitar and the art of guitar shredding. He’s a MACE Music artist, in association with Michael Angelo Batio, who guest stars on his 2007 CD “Zen Shred Zone.”
Tobias has been widely published by magazines like Guitar Player, Guitar One, and Guitar, and has authored over 11 books on guitar technique.
Through his career, Tobias jammed or recorded with many of the world’s top players, including Stanley Clarke, Michael Angelo Batio, Mattias Ia Eklundh, Dennis Chambers, The Coasters, J. Geils, and Joe Pass, to name a few.
1997(CD) Hurwitz Painted Sky
2004(CD) Hurwitz The Way of Zen Guitar
2007(CD) Hurwitz Zen Shred Zone
2011(EP) Hurwitz Meet The Master (with Michael Angelo Batio and Dave Martone)
