Philly Guitarist Dirk Quinn releases Sophomore Gem with “Quinntet”
By Rob Nagy
For jazz guitarist Dirk Quinn life as a professional musician has been a liberating yet exhaustive climb to create a niche in a sea of talent vying for notoriety. Now, more than two decades after strapping on a guitar, Quinn has experienced the high and lows of a struggling artist while honing his guitar skills and creating a style that sets him apart from the rest of the pack. Currently fronting the Dirk Quinn Band, Quinn has most recently released his sophomore effort “Quinntet”, featuring nine fresh compositions from an artist whose career is on the rise with his best work still to come.
Quinn grew up in the rural Philadelphia suburb of Green Lane, located near Quakertown. Latching onto music at a young age, Quinn’s mother taught him his first guitar chords and he was off and running. Sacrificing the social temptations of a teenager, Quinn spent all of his free time mastering his
self taught guitar skills. Influenced by guitar greats Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour and Jimmy Page, he was determined to make his way as a professional guitarist. Following high school Quinn earned an engineering degree from Penn State University landing a job as a computer programmer, something that paid the bills but didn’t feel right to Quinn as he soon grew tired of the corporate world opting to focus his energy on playing guitar. “One day I realized that I was committing nine hours a day to a job that was making
someone else lots of money”, recalls Quinn. “I thought that if I commit nine hours a day to my own career there is no way I can fail. So that’s what I did, I just quit with no back-up plan to pursue the guitar.” Quinn
sold his car, slept on friends sofas and started his own band playing long hours barely making ends meet. “I started hustling playing music people wanted to hear”, recalls Quinn. “So I fell into this trap of playing cover
music when what I really wanted to do was play originals. I did it for five years. It just killed my soul when I started seeing people come to the shows and we would get requests for only cover songs. This is not what I
wanted to do so I quit and turned to teaching guitar.” Quinn spent the next ten years giving lessons while performing live with every opportunity. “This was a great move”, recalls Quinn. “Teaching really pushed me to get my own act together. You can’t just be like ‘I really don’t know what I’m doing?’ you have to have it internalized. This is when my eyes were opened and I realized ‘Wow there’s so much to learn about music.’” Quinn’s efforts did not go to waste as he continued to master his instrument. In 2007 Quinn made his long awaited recording debut releasing his self titled CD. “It took me over a year non-stop every day to record this CD”, recalls Quinn. “I wanted to be able to put it next to anything that was out there. I would
retake and retake solos. I’ve since learned that perfection doesn’t mean every note is in the right spot that is the human side” Armed with an impressive CD, Quinn now had the invaluable promotional piece to share his
guitar skills with the world. Working the club and coffee house circuit, Quinn became increasingly in demand over time playing as many as two gigs a day anywhere and everywhere while getting the occasional call to share the stage with a variety of more established jazz artists. With each performance Quinn won over more fans doing what any great artist would do, building a fan base one by one on his own merits, a philosophy that continues to pay off for Quinn. “I’m really hustling”, says Quinn. “It gets better every month. It most certainly gets better every year. I can’t complain. I am better off than I was last year and, hopefully I can
continue the momentum.”
Most recently Quinn has released his follow-up CD “Quinntet, offering a collection of vibrant and uplifting originals that show the diverse talent and gift of artistry that Quinn provides. Every track is flawless and
beautifully produced taking the listener on a musical journey that flows from one song to the next with the precision of a seasoned veteran. Particular standouts include, “Evil Birdman of Funk”, “Money Bus”, “Emaj7th
Jam”, and “Good Ol’ Fashioned Gospel Throwdown”. “I didn’t want to spend a lot of time doing retakes like I did on the first albums”, says Quinn. “I wanted first takes not overdubs. I felt like the live recordings said
something the first album didn’t and I think we achieved it with this second album. It has a live quality to it.” With two releases under his belt and an extensive run of on-going live performances, Quinn is at a crossroads as he now looks to take his career to the next level. “I need somebody that can put me in front of audiences”, says Quinn. “Somebody that is great at the business part and knowing where I fit and knowing the demographic that I should be playing for so I can concentrate on the music. I feel like I’ve found my art and I want to devote as much time to that as possible. In a year I would like to be hitting the east coast hard” added Quinn. “Hitting as many festivals as possible and getting some sort of recognition nationally.” To learn more about Dirk Quinn go to www.dirkquinn.com or http://www.myspace.com/dirkquinn
The Dirk Quinn Band plays Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville, PA. on
Saturday 11/22/08 at 8:30 P.M. Joining Quinn on stage will be Anibal Rojas.
Tickets are $12 adv./ $15 DOS./ Don’t miss this amazing night of Jazz!
Photo by Rob Nagy
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