Edward Gerhard

Early life

Gerhard was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, and began playing the guitar at age fourteen. Initially influenced by an Andrés Segovia performance on television, Gerhard was also exposed to the playing of Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Willie McTell, Dave Van Ronk and John Fahey.

Career

Gerhard most often performed solo, but would often act as an accompanist and sideman for other musicians. His ensemble work can be heard on recordings by Arlo Guthrie and Jorma Kaukonen. Influenced by John Fahey, Gerhard began composing and arranging music for solo guitar in an array of alternate tunings.

In 1987, Gerhard released his first album, Night Birds. Virtue Records was established in 1991 as a record label for instrumental acoustic guitar and as the exclusive label for Ed Gerhard.

Every December since 1982, Gerhard has performed a seasonal concert in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Recent shows over two nights included a food drive for the Seacoast Family Food Pantry. In addition, a portion of proceeds from the concerts benefited the ACT ONE; Artists’ Collaborative Theatre of New England.

Gerhard was awarded a Grammy award for his participation in the 2004 CD Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar (Solid Air SACD2048), for which he arranged and performed “Moon River.”

In 2012, after six years of work, Gerhard release the album There and Gone.

Gerhard tours in North America, Europe, and Asia. He lives with his wife Kelli in rural New Hampshire, where he moved in 1977.

Breedlove Ed Gerhard Signature Model Guitar

Breedlove Guitars released the “Ed Gerhard Signature Model” guitar in 1997. The guitar became one of Breedlove's best-selling guitars and won the "Player's Choice Award" by Acoustic Guitar Magazine in 2000.

In collaboration with Gerhard, Breedlove also released a Weissenborn guitar in which traditional design is combined with modern features and contemporary wood combinations.

Albums

In Compilations

Soundtracks

In works by others

Video

Books