Guitar League 10/08/25!

Guitar League Saint Petersburg will meet on October 8, 2025 at the Gulfport American Legion 125 – sign in at 6:30pm. We are very happy to welcome back for the third time Mr. Chad Stivers as the Main Presenter!

How to get there:

The American Legion is located at 6440 5th Ave S, Saint Petersburg 33707. Here is a dropped pin you can use with your smartphone directions app:

https://maps.apple.com/?ll=27.766087,-82.725310&q=Dropped%20Pin&t=m

About our presenter:

Chad started out his guitar journey as an electric rock and blues player, studying the likes of the Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and all the classics. Later on he dove into the acoustic side of things, learning instrumentals by Mark Hanson, Leo Kottke, Eric Johnson, and others. Chad started playing with the Tampa Bay Fingerstyle Guitar Guild and has continued to play with them for over five years now. During this time he met Dr. Jimmy Moore, classical guitar professor at St. Petersburg College and Florida Southern College, who refined his playing with the techniques of Christopher Parkening, and gave him a taste of classical guitar repertoire and studies. Furthermore, Chad would go on to study with LaRue Nickelson, jazz guitar professor at the University of Southern Florida, who gave him years of invaluable musical guidance while he took up singing and continued to dive deep into different styles of acoustic guitar music. Some of his favorites are Bert Jansch, James Taylor, Lindsey Buckingham, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Richard Thompson, and more recently getting into bluegrass with Tony Rice. Chad plays around the Tampa Bay, Clearwater, St Petersburg area and had the great honor of opening for the world-renowned fingerstyle virtuoso Richard Smith at Seven C Music in March.

2nd Half guitar playing:

In the second half of the meeting, we will all play our guitars. We will let Chad guide us on what fret to capo on so that it matches his vocal range as he helps us - be sure to bring a capo.

First we will revisit two of the songs we did last time

1. Knockin' on Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan – key of G

2. Heart of Gold – Young – Key of G

https://www.justinguitar.com/songs/neil-young-heart-of-gold-chords-tabs-guitar-lesson-st-909

Chad will work with us on two Carol King/James Taylor songs:

3. You’ve to a friend. The OnSong version that I will project is the “simplified version” with easier to play chords. For those who want to dig into the James Taylor fingerstyle version, here is Justin’s lesson on it

https://www.justinguitar.com/songs/james-taylor-you-ve-got-a-friend-chords-tabs-guitar-lesson-sb-421

4. Up on the Roof. The OnSong version that I will project is the “simplified version” with easier to play chords. For those who want to dig into the James Taylor fingerstyle version, here is David Harrison’s lesson on it:

Club details:

The Guitar League generally meets the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 6:30 PM to 9 PM (sign in & registration at 6:30) at the American Legion Post 125 on 5th Avenue South.

At each meeting, the main presenter spends the first 50 minutes sharing a mixture of performing and discussing their craft, something truly unique in the entertainment industry. Next, we take a 20-minute break and the 2nd half is your chance to play your guitar along with the presenter and the rest of the club. Attendees are encouraged to bring their acoustic guitar, capo and tuner if they have one.

A prospective member’s first meeting is always free to test-drive the organization. Membership is $120/year for 12 monthly meetings or $10 per month at the door. Membership includes access to a huge curated library of free online lessons from guitar instruction industry leader Truefire and deep discounts on their All-Access plan. The Saint Petersburg chapter of Guitar League is the ninth chapter of the Syracuse, NY based organization. Chapters are located in Syracuse N.Y., Asheville, NC, Boston North, MA, Central Massachusetts, MA, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, Knoxville, TN, Phoenix, AZ, Poconos, PA, Southern Wisconsin, WIS., and Coachella Valley, CA

Website: https://www.guitarleague.com/saint-petersburg-fl.html

For more information contact:

Guitar League Saint Petersburg

Tom Abrassart

Cell phone: 407-399-1292

Email: [email protected]

Guitar League National:

Jim Horsman

Cell phone: 941-786-8137

Email: [email protected]

Host or Publisher Tom Abrassart, Chapter Leader