Meet Your Instructor

John Massey

Master Guitarist

John has been a guitarist for most of his life and a guitar teacher since 1963. He plays a wide variety of music from “Old Timey” and folk music to swing and light jazz, with many stops in between. He was a member of the Bay Area trio Guitar Extravaganza, a performer at each Healdsburg Guitar Festival from 1995 to 2009, and was with a large Bob Wills-style​ band that performed for the Western Swing Society in Sacramento, California.

John performs as an accompanist, in small ensembles, and as a soloist. John accompanied renowned fiddler David Rainwater at venues around northern California. He has also been performing with The Raspberry Jam Band at the Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, The Jazz Jubilee in Sacramento, and The West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento. This is in addition to being on the teaching/performing staff of The American River Acoustic Music Camp for three years and the California Autoharp Gathering for more than six years.

As a finger-style guitarist, John Massey has developed a unique and pleasing style all his own. In his earlier years,​ John was a pianist and has used that experience to create solo guitar music that simultaneously blends melody, chord, bass, and rhythm – the full package. His current repertoire consists of a wide range of music from Stephen Foster, Tin Pan Alley, the Big Band Era, to Doo-Wop with an assortment of folk selections thrown in. His rich harmonies and chord choices have earned him a reputation as a master guitarist and musician.