Everclear guitarist expands local music teaching studio
July 29, 2010
By Laura Geggel
Davey French, guitarist for Seattle band Everclear, performs at a recent show. (Contributed)
NEW — 12:30 p.m. July 29, 2010
This summer, Everclear rock star Davey French is busy playing Vans Warped Tour shows along the West Coast and getting ready to record a new CD, but he’s also got his hands full in Snoqualmie with guitar students.
Ever since the SnoValley Star printed a story about his guitar lessons in December, French has received dozens of calls from prospective students. So many, that he had to hire another rock star teacher, Dan McInerney, of Preston.
McInerney began playing guitar at age 13 and transformed into a musician and songwriter specializing in jazz, blues, classical and country. He now plays for ZipperLips, a contemporary jazz instrumental group.
He attended Spokane Falls Community College, where he studied classical guitar
In 1998, McInerney released his first CD, “Machinery,” with the song “Gravity,” which won the rock category in Guitar Player Magazine’s 30th Anniversary Guitar Competition.
Since then, he has recorded with B.B. King drummer Tony Coleman; Earth, Wind and Fire; on a locally Grammy-nominated CD by Lucy Mongrel; and he has opened for Ray Charles, Wynona Judd, Kim Wilson and Ike Turner.
When he’s not performing, McInerney teaches guitar, concentrating on technique and musical theory.
Steve Sloan, one of McInerney’s North Bend students, said he played guitar as a child and only recently started playing again.
“Dan is a really easy guy to get along with. He’s really laid back,” Sloan said. “The thing I like most about the way he teaches is he balances what you need to learn with what you want to learn. It was one of the things that turned me off as a kid.”
He added he liked that Davey French Studios is located in Snoqualmie, “because it’s on my way home from work.”
McInerney met French in the late 1980s when the two played in the same Pacific Northwest concert circuit.
“We just always seemed to bump into each other for some reason, because we live in the same area,” McInerney said.
French grew up in Bellevue and also started playing guitar at 13. He later attended Bellevue College and studied music theory, playing in a few bands before Art Alexakis, the lead singer of Everclear, recruited him into the fold in 2003.
After he settled in Snoqualmie with his wife and son, French began teaching guitar lessons with Everclear guitarist Sammy Hudson at Snoqualmie Ridge Music.
When the store closed, French opened his own studio in downtown Snoqualmie.
During guitar lessons, French said he focuses on music theory and technique, training people of all ages to rely more on their ears when playing, improvisation and real world guitar playing.
Gavin Treglown, a 14-year-old Snoqualmie guitarist, said he got involved in music after playing “Guitar Hero.” His older brother had taken bass lessons from French, so Gavin signed up to take guitar.
“We can learn stuff by ear and he’ll break it down and teach it,” Gavin said.
His father said French was teaching his son about music theory.
“He’s just been great. He’s a very positive guy. He’s got the cool factor, because he’s in his own band,” said Ken Treglown, Gavin’s father. “He wants him to learn sheet music and a lot of finger technique. A lot of instructors might bypass that just to get them playing for fun.”
Want a guitar lesson?
Davey French, Sammy Hudson and Dan McInerney’s 30-minute guitar lessons cost $30 each. E-mail david.french2@comcast.net to learn more about Davey French Studios.
Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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