Vestapol is a music publishing company with over 100 DVDs and videos published as of 2004. It has been releasing videos since the 1960s, mainly featuring jazz, blues, country and folk music artists. The video line is produced by

Stefan Grossman Stefan Grossman (born April 16, 1945) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records. He is known for his instructional videos and Vestapol line of videos and DVDs. ...

. Artists who have recorded on Vestapol video include

Merle Travis Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic expl ...

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, an ...

Pat Kirtley Pat Kirtley (born in Kentucky, United States) is an American fingerstyle guitarist, composer and guitar educator. Biography Pat Kirtley grew up in a musical Kentucky family. As a child he was exposed to the musical influences of his mother's f ...

, Norman Blake,

Preston Reed Preston Reed (born April 13, 1955) is an American fingerstyle guitarist. He is noted for a two-handed playing style and compositional approach that uses the guitar's body as a percussion instrument. Biography Reed learned guitar as a child on ...

, and

Raymond Fairchild Raymond Fairchild (March 15, 1939 – October 13, 2019) was an American banjo player from North Carolina in the Great Smoky Mountains. He was widely known for his fast playing, his fancy and intricate picking, and his ability to mimic the sounds o ...

. The name Vestapol refers to an

open D Open D tuning is an open tuning for the acoustic or electric guitar. The open string notes in this tuning are (from lowest to highest): D A D F A D. It uses the three notes that form the triad of a D major chord: D, the root note; A, ...

Major tuning for the guitar, common in finger-style guitar in country and folk music. Grossman also began to acquire concert footage of the old blues and country artists who had been rediscovered in the 1960s and had often made TV appearances; this was the basis of Vestapol Videos, which edited and reissued this footage. It was a breakthrough for younger guitarists to be able to watch Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins,

Reverend Gary Davis Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infancy ...

and many others long after these players had died. Vestapol rapidly expanded to include concert footage from living artists too. Although originally issued as video tapes, almost all of this material (both instructional and concert) has in the last few years been re-issued on DVD. The Guitar Workshop mails worldwide from its bases in New Jersey and Yorkshire.

References

{{Reflist Music publishing companies of the United States