Guitarist Mario Parga, born in

Lytham Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the 2011 census was 42,954. The town is almost contiguous with ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England on , came into the spotlight during the late 1980s when he began appearing in numerous guitar and rock magazines such as

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and politica ...

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-of ...

Metal Forces ''Metal Forces'' is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. ''Metal Forces'' was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its ''Demolition'' feature and championed the likes of ...

and played a live guitar solo on MTV's 'Metal Hammer' show.Interview with Mario Parga
RockUnited.com, July 2007Mario Parga
last.fmMario Parga
Prognosis.com During the early 1990s Parga toured, played and recorded with numerous artists, most notably

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, B ...

Mario Parga
RockDetector.com and

Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri. ...

.Mario Parga
lsrfm.com
Spirit-of-Metal.com In 1991, his debut guitar instrumental album ''The Magician'' was released by President Records.The Magician
President Records Following disillusionment with the music industry, Parga shied away from the scene until he re-emerged in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 1998, playing guitar on Graham Bonnet's ''The Day I Went Mad''. Considered by many to be one of the greatest sweep arpeggio players of the guitar ' shred' Mario Parga
Shredaholic.com and neoclassical metal genres, Parga combines complex arpeggio patterns with rapid

alternate picking Alternate picking is a guitar playing technique that employs alternating downward and upward strokes in a continuous fashion. If the technique is performed at high speed on a single string or course voicing the same note, it may be referred to ...

Sweep-picking Sweep picking is a guitar playing technique. When sweep picking, the guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a 'sweeping' motion of the pick, while using the fretting hand to produce a specific series of notes that are fast a ...

and string bending.Entranced
Metal CriticoMario Parga
Guitar-List.com, 'Greatest Guitar Players' Mario was listed in the July '08 edition of the international magazine Guitar World as being one of the World's 50 fastest guitarists (

technique) based on a scientific note clocking experiment. Despite his amazing speed, he is also renowned for his highly emotive slower playing.Mario Parga
RockUnited.com In 2000, Parga was approached by the guitar label Liquid Note Records and recorded his instrumental 'Valse Diabolique' for their ''The Alchemists'' album.
DMME.net, June 2008 Two years later, he recorded his haunting ballad 'Hourglass'
ChrisRuel.com (Warmth in the Wilderness II) for Lion Music's ''Warmth in the Wilderness II'', a tribute to fellow guitarist

Jason Becker Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

. Early in 2007, Parga announced the creation of his own record label 'MidnightCafe Music', (the name taken from his track 'The Midnight Café' from ''The Magician'') and plans on releasing his future

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instr ...

guitar music through it. His long-awaited album ''Entranced'' was released on the label on 14 April 2007. Mario Parga lives in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, United States with his wife Shawna and their daughter Skye.

References

External links

Mario Parga official websiteMidnightCafe Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parga, Mario 1969 births Living people English rock guitarists People from Lytham St Annes