is an acoustic

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Born in

Suita, Osaka is a city located in northern Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 378,322 and a population density of 9,880 persons per km². The total area is 36.11 km². The city was founded on April 1, ...

, on February 1, 1968, he is best known for his work on the steel string guitar. Oshio is a part of

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

's SME Records division. Oshio was voted the second greatest Japanese guitarist in a 2019 poll held by goo.

Oshio's music

Oshio's music is classified within various categories including pop,

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 ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. Oshio's musical technique includes

fingerpicking Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

, tap harmonics, and a unique strumming style referred to as a "nail attack" in which he slaps the strings with the nails of his middle and ring fingers which is inspired by

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. Early years The son of Thayne Alden Hedges and Ruth Evelyn Hedges Ipsen, Michael Hedges was born in Sacramento, California. His l ...

. While his albums include mostly original material, Oshio is also known for his covers and movie soundtracks. His unique skill in interpretation and arrangement can be heard in tracks such as ''Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence'' from his album ''Starting Point''.

Oshio's career

Oshio released his first indie record in December 1999, which was followed by a second indie album in March 2001. In July 2002, he released his first major record label album ''Starting Point'' and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival with

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Discography

*''Kotaro Oshio'' (December 18, 1999) *''Love Strings'' (March 22, 2001) *''Starting Point'' (July 10, 2002) *''Dramatic'' (June 18, 2003) *''Be Happy'' (June 23, 2004) *''BOLERO!Be Happy Live'' (December 15, 2004) *''Panorama'' (September 7, 2005) *''Blue sky〜Kotaro Oshio Best Album〜'' (September 29, 2006) *''Color of Life'' (November 29, 2006) *''Nature Spirit'' (Jan 1st, 2008) *''You & Me'' (Oct 1st, 2008) *''Tussie Mussie'' (Mar 11, 2009) *''Eternal Chain'' (Aug 5, 2009) *''Hand to Hand'' (Jan 12, 2011) *''Reboot & Collabo.'' (April 24, 2013) *''Pandora'' (July 30, 2014) *''Tussie Mussie II -Love Cinema-'' (November 25, 2015) *''KTRxGTR'' (November 9, 2016) *''PICK POP! 〜J-Hits Acoustic Covers〜'' (September 19, 2018) *''Encounter'' (February 20, 2019) *''PASSENGER'' (September 30, 2020) *''20th Anniversary "My Guitar, My Life"'' ( September 28, 2022) ;As a featured artist *''

Gundam Song Covers ''Gundam Song Covers'' is a cover album by Hiroko Moriguchi, released on August 7, 2019 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Gundam franchise. The album features Moriguchi's versions of the 10 most popular Gundam songs, as voted on NHK's . ...

'' (August 7, 2019) *''

Gundam Song Covers 2 ''Gundam Song Covers 2'' is a cover album by Hiroko Moriguchi, released in 2020 to coincide with the 35th anniversary of Moriguchi's music career. The sequel to 2019's '' Gundam Song Covers'', the album features Moriguchi's versions of 10 popular ...

'' (September 16, 2020) *'' Gundam Song Covers 3'' (March 9, 2022)

References

External links

Official Kotaro Oshio websiteTwitterFacebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshio, Kotaro 1968 births Living people J-pop musicians New-age guitarists Japanese guitarists People from Suita Musicians from Osaka Prefecture Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Fingerstyle guitarists Acoustic guitarists