Charles O'Meara (March 13, 1953 – October 20, 2018) better known as C.W. Vrtacek, was an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was a founding member of

Forever Einstein Forever Einstein is an avant-garde band formed in 1989, and described as a, "very smart trio,"(1992). ''Option magazine'', Issues 42-47, p.106. Sonic Options Network. The band's music is characterized by tightly arranged sections which and rapid ...

and group member with Biota.

Career

Vrtacek took up guitar at the age of 11, and played in the band Dancing Lessons before starting Forever Einstein with Dancing Lessons drummer John Roulat. Vrtacek claimed to be influenced by anything from rock, folk, jazz, blues, ska, punk, avant garde, classical, to Irish music. He also cited unorthodox things such as church hymns, cartoon music, and the sounds made by pinball machines as being inspirational. His solo music drew equally from the dissonances of

Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

and

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

as well as the

melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

of French impressionists such as

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

and

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

, and also used

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among ...

s. In 2013, Vrtacek, along with

Nick Didkovsky Nick Didkovsky (born 22 November 1958) is a composer, guitarist, computer music programmer, and leader of the band Doctor Nerve.Dorsch He is a former student of Christian Wolff, Pauline Oliveros and Gerald Shapiro. Career Didkovsky formed Docto ...

of Doctor Nerve, conceived and released the " $100 Guitar Project", a recorded project based upon the "journey" of a guitar purchased from a secondhand music shop for $100 that passed through the hands of over 65 players, each of whom recorded a piece with it and then signed it, in turn passing it along to the next player to do the same. The two-CD set, released o
Bridge Records
features performances by such noted guitarists and musicians as Alex Skolnick,

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has wor ...

, and many others.Kozinn, Allan (2013)
A Generic Guitar Inspires a Distinctive Project
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', April 2, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2014

Discography

;Solo ;

;with Biota ;Collaboration

References

External links

C.W. Vrtacek
at Cuneiform Records
Forever Einstein
2018 deaths 1953 births People from Old Saybrook, Connecticut Guitarists from Connecticut American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-guitarist-stub