Jeff Pearce is an

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

-based

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

musician. He has been called "one of the top two electronic guitarists of all time" by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, while reviewer

John Diliberto ''Echoes'' is a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient, space, electronica, and new-age music. The program features in-depth artist interviews and intimate "living room" performances. Inte ...

wrote in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine that Pearce is "one of the best" guitarists to follow the solo electric guitarist concept. Pearce started playing guitar at age 13 and discovered the music of Brian Eno and Harold Budd while in college.

Recordings

Pearce's first CD, ''Tenderness and Fatality'', was released in 1993 and the following six CDs saw Pearce focusing on creating music using only electric guitar. His CDs ''To the Shores of Heaven'' and ''Bleed'' were picked as "CD of the month" by the producers of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's '' Echoes'' radio program. For his eighth and ninth CD's, ''Lingering Light'' and ''Rainshadow Sky'', Pearce featured compositions written for the

Chapman Stick The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines, ...

. Pearce plays the Alto Chapman Stick, and in 2009, was asked to write an article for Stick Enterprises (manufacturer of the Chapman Stick) about his experience with the Alto Stick.

Awards and airplay

Pearce's 2008 CD, ''Rainshadow Sky'' was voted "album of the year" by the DJs and radio programmers who submit their playlists to the

Zone Music Reporter Zone Music Reporter (formerly ''New Age Reporter'') is a website tracking New Age, world, and instrumental music. The site features weekly playlist, monthly airplay charts, and album reviews. Premium services are also offered to artists and their ...

reporting service. In 2000, his CD ''To the Shores of Heaven'' was voted "favorite CD of the year" by the listeners of the ''Echoes'' radio program, while his 2005 CD ''Lingering Light'' was voted the Echoes listeners' #10 favorite CD of the year. Pearce's 2014 album, "With Evening Above" was the #1 new age radio airplay album of 2014, and was also awarded "Ambient Album of 2014" at the Zone Music Reporter Awards Show, while his 2016 album "Follow the River Home" also received a ZMR "Ambient Album of 2016" award. In 2017, Jeff's album, "From the Darker Seasons", charted in the top 10 of ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

s New Age chart. In 2019, Jeff's 14th album, "Skies and Stars", made its debut at #2 on ''

s New Age chart. Pearce's music can also be heard on the nationally syndicated weekly radio program ''

Music from the Hearts of Space ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are anc ...

''.

Contributions and compilations

Pearce played on two cuts on

William Ackerman William Ackerman (born November 16, 1949) is an American guitarist and record producer who founded Windham Hill Records. Career Early years Ackerman was born in Palo Alto, California. His adoptive father was a professor of English at Stanfor ...

's Grammy-nominated recording "Meditations" and has music on two of the ''Echoes'' "Living Room Concert" CDs. Pearce also contributed a Chapman Stick version of "Sudden Light" to the

Star's End :''Star's End is also a 1974 album by British composer David Bedford and a 1982 novel by Glen Cook.'' ''Star's End'' is a weekly, five-hour-long new-age music radio show broadcast by 88.5 WXPN, the University of Pennsylvania's radio station, in ...

30th anniversary CD, appearing alongside Robert Rich,

Jonn Serrie Jonn Serrie is an American composer of space music, a genre of ambient electronic music, and New Age music. He has recorded at least 18 albums and worked on projects for Lucasfilm, IMAX Corporation, NASA, the United States Navy, Hayden Planetari ...

, and Steve Roach. He has also contributed his guitar and Stick playing to recordings by Kevin Keller,

Paul Avgerinos Paul Avgerinos (born November 21, 1957 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is an American music composer, performer, and producer. His work is in the genres of ambient, space, world, World Fusion, electronic, and drone. Avgerinos has worked with Deana Cart ...

Al Conti Al Conti (born 9 March 1968) is a Grammy-nominated New Age composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Biography Al Conti is Argentinian-born and currently resides in the United States. Since 2006, Conti has led an impressive music ...

, Robert Linton, and

Vidna Obmana Vidna Obmana (stylized vidnaObmana on many album covers) is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. The name ''Vidna Obmana'', a phrase in Serbian, literally translates to "optical illusion" and was chosen by Serr ...

Discography

*1993: ''Tenderness and Fatality'' *1995: ''The Hidden Rift'' *1997: ''Vestiges'' *1998: ''Daylight Slowly'' *2000: ''To the Shores of Heaven'' *2001: ''The Light Beyond'' *2002: ''Bleed'' *2003: ''Summer Solstice'' *2005: ''Lingering Light'' *2008: ''Rainshadow Sky'' *2012: ''In the Season of Fading Light'' *2014: ''With Evening Above'' *2014: ''Solitude: December (EP)'' *2015: ''Winter Calm (EP)'' *2016: ''Follow the River Home'' *2017: ''From the Darker Seasons'' *2019: ''Skies and Stars'' *2020: ''Archive 1: Songs for the Gathering'' *2020: ''Hidden Shores/Empty Beach''

References

External links

*
Jeff Pearce
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Jeff American electronic musicians New-age guitarists Living people Guitarists from Indiana American male guitarists Year of birth missing (living people)