MoGuitar

If you were not at DC's Tavern in Hooksett on Saturday night you missed an excellent show. MoGuitar took the stage at 8:00pm and turned it on from the start. The band played a lot of great music through out the night and had people dancing,singing and even yelling all night. Normally MoGuitar is a power trio, Saturday night they had two guest players sitting in. Aaron Botelho joined the band on guitar and Howard Fohlin would join in on saxophone.

The band kicked off the night with a great rendition of the Mike Dugan tune "Turn It On And Light It Up" which immediately had people dancing in their seats. About half way through the first set was "Bewitched" a song by Lonnie Brooks. Towards the end of the set they had the entire club singing "The Blues Is Alright" by Little Milton and they ended the set with "My Dogs Still Walking" by Smoking Joe Kubeck and B'nois King.

The second set started with a rocking shuffle "Rock This House" which would coax some great jazzy licks out of guitarist Gordy Pettipas. Next up was "W-A-S-T-E-D", followed by a great cover of Tommy Castro's "Right As Rain". The band took a few minutes to pay a respectful homage to Luther Guitar Jr Johnson with a cover of "Every Woman Needs To Be Loved. They were blowing the roof off the club and things got wild with the last song of the set "Have Blues Will Travel" which had a clever twist that had the club screaming, literally. The louder they screamed the faster the song got, if they didn't scream the band would slow down. Drummer Garrett Cameron and bassist Mike Berkowitz held down a tight foundation as the rhythm section even at the speed the audience got the band up to by the end of the song.

Set three would introduce some old favorites like, "Sharp Dressed Man"," Messing With The Kid", "Phone Booth", "Love Me Tonight" and "I'd Rather Be". The set ended with the original song "Misery", the guitar work during the outro solo of this was masterful to say the least. Filled with passion and an almost voice like scream at points when single note bends just soared. MoGuitar was proving to be a force to be reckoned with.

The last set really brought out the power of this band with songs like "Walking By Myself", "Mail Order Mystics" and "Black Magic Woman" with the complete "Gypsy Queen" ending note for note. Next was a powerful version of "Double Trouble", this song shined light on the abilities of Pettipas to play some amazing slow blues reminiscent of "Sean Costello" or "Stevie Ray Vaughan" and we really got to hear the power of his vocals on this song also. The night would come to an end with Pettipas digging deep into the "Hendrix" playing style and performing relentless versions of both the Bob Dylan tune "All Along The Watchtower" and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child". All in all it was a great night of music performed by a pro level band with immense talent.

I highly recommend MoGuitar to anyone who loves live music. DC's Tavern was a great open room venue, with excellent food and service.

Visit MoGuitar on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/moguitarnh/

Revernation
https://www.reverbnation.com/moguitarblues - Blues Tone Magazine

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes a MoGuitar show so successful. Is it all of the busy guitar techniques utilized by Gordy Pettipas? Is it his assertive vocalizing? Is it the flexibility and variety of grooves coming from the rhythm section of bassist Mike Berkowitz and drummer Garrett Cameron? The trio’s gig last Saturday night at DC’s Tavern in Hooksett, New Hampshire found them rocking the room with tremendous blues power.

Guest musician Aaron Botelho played second guitar for most of the first two sets and saxophonist Howie Frolin showed up for a few numbers. The occasion was Gordy Pettpas’s birthday, and the two additional players helped him celebrate it in style.

The MoGuitar boys plus Botelho opened with the frisky guitar phrasing leading the other four through a feisty take on “Turn It On & Turn It Up.” The blues shuffle played underneath the guitars was strong enough to power a truck. The rhythm section’s pushy groove also powered up the funkier “Champagne Fantasy.” Pettipas traipsed over the beats and low ends with fierce guitar phrase while finessing the lead vocal, coasting over the cusps of the music.

After the first few numbers it was clear the audience was in for night of much better than average bar band music. Bulbous grooves were loaded with strength and nuance and numerous guitar techniques flew out of Pettipas’s fingertips to create hard charging blues. “High Heeled Sneakers” offered a lean, mean guitar phrase over a lilting groove. “Bewitched” had a raucous groove that knocked everything out of its path and over that Pettipas unleashed a wiry phrase that practically whistled through the room. “Natural Man” let Pettipas showcase his snappy guitar licks as he belted out his lead vocal with muscular authority.

MoGuitar played the lively “Caledonia” earlier in their show than most bands who prefer to use it nearer the end. This shows that MoGuitar plays with enough musical power to make any song a highlight at any point in their show. The rhythm boys flung the groove forward with ballsy momentum as Pettipas sang the sweet lines over his flinty guitar picking style. Mr. Pettipas got a fun call and response action going with their audience on “Blues Is All Right,” showing that MoGuitar is also a fun band to book into a room of fun loving local patrons.


“Hey Little Sister” is one that lured several onto the dance floor. Howie Frolin’s tender saxophone melody over a booming groove made all the difference. The band went into oldies rock and roll-blues hybrid “Rock This House” that became a riff-fest for each member during this party vibe number. Botelho whipped out a riff that had plenty of snap, crackle, and pop. His sharp, snappy line danced over the groove. The entire band’s precise sense of timing was a key ingredient in this swampy send up.

Pettipas delivered plenty of clever world play on “W.A.S.T.E.D.” as he made his way through a description of being like the title says. The band played even wilder on modern blues rocker “Right As Rain” before getting sweeter on the R&B-ish “Every Woman Needs To Be Loved,” a number with a bleating guitar line expressing tenderness. It was during the show’s half way moments when Berkowitz shined on his four string. His knobby notes and his tastefully restrained lines were full of twisty parts that allowed a glimpse into how he flavors up these numbers while moving each forward. Cameron too was more palpably heard here. A multitude of fills and skin smacks made each tune feel like there was something alive and rumbling beneath the surface. Like a kidnap victim gagged and tied up inside the trunk of a car shimmying around to be heard.

“Big Legged Woman” was another that benefited from the rhythm section’s talent, a pulsating groove that never quit. “Have Blues Will Travel” was a more complex affair, wavy guitar lines soaring over a hoofing groove. MoGuitar Blues Band let loose with some very recognizable tunes. “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Messin’ With The Kid,” “Phone Booth,” and “Love Me Tonight,” were all action packed and tight as a trio can be.

Flinty, speedy guitar riffs were on order for “I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled, and Crazy” and Pettipas put out even more wattage on “Skin Tight Fishnet Bodysuit, which was packed with punchy, snappy riffs beneath Botelho’s lead guitar phrase. A MoGuitar original, “Misery,” indicates this trio needs to get out of New Hampshire’s townie bar scene fast. Pettipas played on it his wildest guitar phrase of the evening. The rhythm section played their heftiest groove, showing their original to be better than their performances of their selection of great standards. Another original, “Groove Thing,” was loaded with hard hitting notes from each player, each of those little notes were ringing out with clarity and purpose.


MoGuitar showed a lot of power in a few slow boiler blues before putting their personal stamp on long play guitar classics like “Black Magic Woman,” Voodoo Chile,” and “All Along The Watchtower.” Sleek phrasing on the Santana classic felt like Pettipas was playing aerial over a wall of groove. He effortless captured the vitality of the Hendrix works too.

It all added up to a night of bolt action groove and fire when ready guitar action. MoGuitar needs to circulate more around the New England blues circuit. They express a massive amount of talent while showing respect to many nuggets out of the great American blues and rock songbook. It didn’t hurt that the tiled ceilings, carpeted floor, and direct layout of Hooksett, New Hampshire’s DC’s Tavern allowed the trio and guest players’ sound to travel smoothly and unimpeded from one end of the house to the other. (The food and service were good too).

https://www.facebook.com/moguitarnh/ - Bill Copeland Music News

Gordy Pettipas is gearing up for one of the biggest gigs of his life. The New Hampshire guitarist’s trio MoGuitar Blues will be opening for Eric Gales at Jewel Nightclub in Manchester, New Hampshire on Sunday, October 30th. It’s taken the local musician many years to get to the level of accomplishment he is at. The self-taught Pettipas began an early childhood fascination with guitar when he started teaching himself Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Texas Flood album on cassette.

“I heard that song ‘Lenny’ on there,” Pettipas said. “I really liked the song so I learned the entire song by ear and that lead to the entire album and then after that it lead to his entire collection.” Pettipas had heard B.B. King and other blues artists when he was a kid but he was more focused on martial arts for most of his youth. After earning black belts in Taekwondo and Kenpo, he became more involved with music while still earning black belts.

Pettipas got his start in the music scene in Massachusetts, playing in a band called DV8 before moving onto a New Hampshire band called Plaedo in the 1990s. Plaedo played the Uptown Tavern on Elm Street in Manchester, sitting in frequently with Pat Herlihy’s Big Boy Guitar.

“He was the very first person I ever got on stage with,” Pettipas said. “I sat in with them at a private party in Billerica and they couldn’t believe how good I was for just playing for three months.” Pettipas figured if he was doing that well after three months, he was onto something.

Pettipas and his wife eventually relocated to Goffstown in the late 1990s. Pettipas was soon playing Uptown Tavern, O’Donnell’s and other venues too numerous to recall. In 1999, Pettipas and his wife moved out to Kansas, not returning to New Hampshire until 2015. While in Kansas, Pettipas got to play with Bobby Blue Bland’s guitarist Ray Drew.

“I played with him off and on for about four years or so,” he said. “I also had my own band going on at the time called Red River. We played all over the Midwest. Any where we could book, we’d play.”

Pettipas’s current band, MoGuitar Blues, got the opening slot with Eric Gales through knowing local promoter David Roberge of Transit Music Group and Global Music Initiative. Pettipas gave Roberge the contacts for Gales’ wife.

“As far as how I got the gig, I think they really just liked my original stuff,” Pettipas said.

Pettipas is endorsed by CMG Guitars and Double Cat Amplifiers, both out of Statesboro, Georgia. “I got talked into entering one of the battle of the blues deals in 2013. That’s how I ended up getting the endorsements. I won the endorsements. I won the free guitar, all kinds of stuff,” Pettipas said.

Despite all of his accomplishments though, Pettipas is very much looking forward to opening for Eric Gales. Pettipas is about the same age as Gales and he’s been following him for many years. “He’s one of my influences from when I started playing, and for me it’s very exciting.”

“We’ll be doing original stuff which is a mix of straight blues and blues rock. When we do cover shows we’re doing more straight blues, Albert Collins, Albert King, Freddie King. With my original stuff I do more blues-rock you could definitely say.”

Pettipas and his trio mates may have a keyboardist who works at a studio in Brookline, New Hampshire, but this is not yet confirmed. Pettipas and his wife Diane Pettipas manage and organize the Thirsty Thursday jam and open mic at Auburn Pitts in Auburn.

“Diane pretty much sets up all the players. I play when I’m needed,” he said. “If somebody needs a guitar player, I’ll play. She’s much better at putting together the players than I am. She actually puts them into groups and gets them all set up as a band.”

Pettipas’s MoGuitar Blues band will also be playing the Auburn Pitts on New Year’s Evening. Bass player and Berklee grad Mike Berkowitz and drummer Garrett Cameron, who is also a multi-instrumentalist and has worked on PBS soundtracks, round out Pettipas’s Moguitar Blues,

For those who cannot wait until New Year’s Eve to catch MoGuitar Blues band, local New England blues fans can come check out Pettipas’s MoGuitar Blues trio Sunday, October 30 at Jewel in Manchester.

“Eric’s just a great show,” Pettipas said. “He’s one of the best guitar players in the world. As far as me being able to open up for him, I’m just excited about. It’s something I’ve actually looked forward to for a
while.”

Jewel at 61 Canal Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. Doors open at 6:00 a.m. The show starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 day of show and $15 pre-sale.

https://www.facebook.com/moguitarnh - Bill Copeland Music News

MoGuitar is a blues-rock power trio based out of Allenstown, New Hampshire and they are doing some amazing things. A band that's been together just over two years and hasn't even recorded their first CD yet. However they've gathered over 6000 likes on Facebook, over 7000 Reverbnation fans, they can be found on the Top Tens - Best Blues Rock Bands - Top Ten List and recently they broke the Top 40 bands on Reverbnation which in itself is a feat considering how many bands are on Reverbnation. In May the band won the 2018 Granite State Blues Challenge and they will be heading to Memphis in January to participate in the International Blues Challenge.

MoGuitar is fronted by guitarist Gordy Pettipas a veteran player who has spent the last 25 years performing throughout the country. Over the years Gordy has been lucky enough to cross paths with some great players who he learned a lot from. Gordy originally a Massachusetts native got his first taste of playing with a live band while sitting in with Big Boy Guitar and The Drive By Bloozin a band fronted by Mighty Sam McClain guitarist Pat Herlehy in the 90's. Gordy recalls "Pat was great he really kind of took me under his wing so to speak and helped me get out there and play". Gordy spent years playing around Mass and New Hampshire in various bands and had made a decent name for himself as a guitarist. In 2000 Gordy and his wife moved to Hutchinson Kansas and remained there for 15 years. Over that time he fronted a popular mid-west band named Brick River for nearly 10 years, Brick River played all over the mid-west, they opened shows for or performed with acts like Pat Travers, Little Milton, Bill Murray, Brian Howe, Odell Reed, Michelle Blackmon, King Midas and many more. Eventually, he spent some time playing guitar for Ray Drew who was Bobby Blue Blands guitarist, he said: " I learned a lot playing with Ray, he was a great mentor to me". While he was living in Kansas he would go on to win the Battle Of The Blues guitar competition in 2013, and he would even be voted best guitarist.

In 2015 Gordy and his family moved to New Hampshire and he immediately jumped back into the local music scene and was doing well until he suffered a severe case of Vertigo that left him unable to perform for nearly a year. In October 2016 he finally felt like he could perform without getting dizzy and put together MoGuitar on October 7th by October 30th the band was opening for world renown guitarist Eric Gales. MoGuitar continues to climb and is currently waiting to start recording their first CD, they hope to have it out before they head to Memphis in January. The band has some great originals like Misery, Just Fighting These Blues, We're Gonna Boogie, Come To Play The Blues, Hey Baby, Though You're Gone, Dear God, Once Again My love, You Better Run, Never Gonna Find It In Me, Evil, Our Loves Grown Cold and many more. They also have a lot of great covers they perform and they have some great crowd participation tricks and dance songs. Some of their originals have even been called hit songs for the genre by radio DJ's, music critics and even well-known blues artists who have heard the songs performed live. MoGuitar is prepping to make some big moves in the near future and everything is pointing towards that, we can't wait to see what the future holds for them.

Below you'll find some quotes about the band from other artists as well as concertgoers who have seen the band live.

The most talented group of musicians I have seen in years!! Can't wait to see them again, wish everyone could experience them.
-Barbara May (concertgoer)

Great guitarist and vocalist. The entire band was awesome!
-Peter Perry (concertgoer)

Great band & always a good time! Looking forward to seeing them play again soon! So enjoyable to listen too - they do an amazing job!
-Tara Brousseau (concert goer)

Awesome group...very talented musicians. Should check them out if you haven’t already.
-Lorraine Cordosi (concert Goer)

I've seen MoGuitar a couple times and I am blown away every time. These guys are amazing.
-Francis Simon (Live Music Reviewer)

"Everybody who Knows this band loves this band. Everybody who Discovers this band, goes out to see them. This ain't no flash. This is a lot of high octane talent"! - Billy Copeland (Bill Copeland Music News)

"Gordy is an excellent guitarist, that knows a little bit of something about tone"
-Eric Gales (World Renown Blues Guitar Phenom)

"Gordy is one of the finest guitarists I ever worked with. He's an incredible player"
-Ray Drew (Former Bobby Blue Bland Guitarist)

I got to jam with my old pal Gordy Pettipas who just moved back to New England from Kansas. Got Dang can that boy pick. Look out N'England.... Gordy bout to rip shit up.
-Pat Herlehy (Mighty Sam McClain Guitarist/Sax Player and Big Boy Guitar Front Man)

You can find MoGuiitar online at:

MoGuitar site
https://www.moguitarnh.com/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/moguitarnh/

Reverbnation
https://www.reverbnation.com/moguitarnh

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/moguitarnh/

Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMTE3RStam_sq7byOMBn5rA


If you get the chance to see MoGuitar I highly recommend checking them out. - Blues Tone Magazine

New England has a well-established blues community, with many great players, but there are also many up-and-coming artists emerging, ready to take the blues into the future. At the forefront is guitarist Gordy Pettipas and his band MoGuitar, who performs at the Strange Brew Tavern in Manchester on July 21.

Pettipas has been performing and recording for over 25 years, citing a long list of inspirations that includes Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Gales, and Chris Cain. It’s no coincidence that the list of artists is heavily blues influenced.

“I play the blues because it is honest,” he said. “There’s no B.S. You can feel it. That is what music is all about. Sure, it needs to sound good, but for me, the feeling always comes first. Especially as a guitarist, it needs to come from your soul,” he continued.

“People can tell if you are being truthful and sincere. That’s what the blues is all about. You can’t fake it. That’s why I love it.”

Born in Salem, Mass, Pettipas moved around quite a bit. He grew up primarily in Woburn. “We moved a lot while I was growing up,some how I always found my way back to Woburn” he recalled. “Whether I had to walk or ride a bike I would get there.”

Pettipas' choice of music as a career was likely influenced by his family. “I was really fortunate to have a music-loving family, most of whom played some kind of instrument” he said. “There was always an amazing album blasting in the house. We don’t listen to music quietly in my family,” he laughed.

“One of my earliest memories is sitting at my grandmothers piano and trying to play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. ”

Over the years Pettipas has managed to share the stage with some great acts, like Pat Travers, Little Milton, Bill Murray, Eric Gales, Odell Reed, Michelle Blackmon and even spent some time playing guitar for Ray Drew, Bobby Blands former guitarist. "Playing with Ray was a great experience, I learned a lot playing with him" he said.

For his band, Pettipas has spent a lot of time trying to find the right players. “I attended a lot of blues jams, and posted a lot of ads” he said. “My wife and I have been hosting a jam for the last couple years and I met my bass player Chris Chesna through that."

Chesna has became a mainstay of MoGuitar. “MoGuitar has only been together about two years now, Chris has been with me for about a year” he said. “We really have fun playing music together, we're putting in all the time and effort to really try to make a great band and great music."

Pettipas says "Right now I've got a lot of music I've written over the years, and quite a bit of newer material I've written over the last year or so." "We're hoping to have our first CD recorded and ready for release before the end of the year."

“People really love when I do Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix songs, and they also love the originals. There is one song in particular that will be coming out on the CD that’s called “Misery” that everyone really seems to like a lot,” he said. “It's a song about other people's misery and how it kind of seeps into your life and affects you, it's more of a blues-rock song.”

For his part, Pettipas is happy with his career path, set to include traveling to Memphis in January to compete in the International Blues Challenge. “We're really looking forward to the challenge, we're going to have fun that's for sure,” he said. “It is such a gift. We get to go up on stage and help people forget about their stress and their worries and just have fun.

“To be able to put a smile on someone’s face and help them forget about a bad day. That is what it is all about,” he said.

Next performance

Where: The Strange Brew Tavern
When: July 21, 8pm-12:45am.

You can find MoGuitar online at:

MoGuitar site
https://www.moguitarnh.com/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/moguitarnh/

Reverbnation
https://www.reverbnation.com/moguitarnh

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/moguitarnh/

Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMTE3RStam_sq7byOMBn5rA


If you get the chance to see MoGuitar I highly recommend checking them out.


MoGuitar - Misery live at North Beach Bar & Grill in Hampton,NH. - Blues Tone Magazine