Michael Elsner profile picture

Michael Elsner

Hug a musician. We never get to dance!

About Me

MyGen Profile GeneratorRaised in the artistic community of Woodstock, NY, music has been a fundamental part of my life since as far back as I can remember. Experimenting with various instruments since the age of 8, I discovered and fell in love with the guitar at the age of 12 and immersed myself into a rigorous practice regimen, often spending up to 8 hours a day becoming more and more proficient on the instrument.
My professional career began in 1998 when I moved to Nashville, TN. Shortly after my arrival, I began working on projects with such artists as Michael McDonald, Sixpence None The Richer, The Backstreet Boys, and Jon Anderson from YES to name just a few. During the 4.5 years I spent in Nashville, I toured with various artists and was in the studio producing and/or playing on countless sessions. I became the Fret Talk columnist for “Rock & Read Magazine,” completed my first instructional book “Introspective Guitar,” had 16 songs of mine recorded by other artists, and was credited on a number of records that achieved multi-platinum status.
Since June of 2003, I've been living in Los Angeles, CA, where I have played on sessions for Miramax Films, Chrysalis Music Publishing, and various television, album and film projects. Select examples of these include the Ella Enchanted soundtrack, The Young & The Restless, and The Bold & the Beautiful. I have signed publishing deals with a number production music libraries and my songs have been placed in various movies, television shows and commercials, including High School Musical 2, CBS’s Cold Case, History Channel's Modern Marvels, Baywatch, and commercials for Audi, Mazda and Rent Way.
In September 2006 I released my first instrumental record, " Stained Voodoo ", a collection of 10 original compositions ranging in style from rock to funk to acoustic, that pays homage to my earliest musical influences. In November 2006, Stained Voodoo took home the Instrumental Album of the Year award at the LA Music Awards.
A brief rundown of some recent events would include touring as the lead guitarist for 2 time Grammy Nominated artist Sarah Kelly as well as multi-platinum selling Universal Records recording artist Chenoa, performing on an episode of American Idol Extra with former contestant Anthony Fedorov, played with the house band on the Megan Mullally Show where I performed with Billy Ray Cyrus. I also appeared with guitarist Paul Gilbert in the December '06 Issue of Guitar One Magazine as well as on his new Get Out Of My Yard Instructional DVD. If you're into virtual instruments, check out " Acoustic Legends ," an acoustic guitar virtual instrument library that I co-produced for Vir2 Instruments.
I am currently working with my original project Chasing Saints and am an endorsing artist for Elixir Strings , DiMarzio Pickups , Visual Sound Amps & Pedals , In Tune Guitar Picks , Guitar Force Guitar Care Products , X-Tempo Designs , and Presonus Studio Gear .

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/23/2005
Band Website: michaelelsner.com
Band Members: My solo band "Stained Voodoo" consists of:
ME - Guitar
Jeff Bowders - Drums
John Massey - Bass

Click Here for more info on Chasing Saints
Influences: What I'm into musically changes on a weekly basis so this list could definately get out of hand, however a brief list would include:

Bands: Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, Tonic, Dream Theater, King's X, Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver

Guitarists: Paul Gilbert, Richie Kotzen, Eric Johnson, John Petrucci, Dann Huff, Gordon Kennedy, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Ian Moore

Artists: Bruce Hornsby, Joshua Kadison, Sting, Prince, Stevie Wonder

Performing with Universal Records Latin recording artist Chenoa

Here is a video of me playing on the Megan Mullally television show:
Megan Mullally Show

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Here's a clip of me as the "Human Capo" from Paul Gilbert's 'Get Out Of My Yard' DVD.

Here's a video of Paul Gilbert, with me acting as the 'Human Capo,' from the December issue of Guitar One Magazine.
Get Out Of My Yard....

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Sounds Like: Here is the Audi commerical that I composed the music for:
Audi A4 Quatro

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Below is a video of me demo'ing the POK.

POK Demo

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Record Label: Glass Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

New Music...

Well, I finally did it... I changed the music on my music player. For many of you who've visited my page, you're probably used to hearing instrumental guitar music coming from my music player (that i...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:33:00 PST

Updated Videos, Reviews, Articles, Interviews, and More...

Greetings festive friends,I was going through all my blogs today and decided to compile them into one full resource of videos, reviews, interviews, and just general stuff... So here it is. One fun bl...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:36:00 PST

The Video Youve ALL Been Waiting For..

... No, not that - get your mind out of the gutter!!!!Here it is, the debut performance of Tele-Menudo... Yes, you heard me right, the debut performance with Universal artist Chenoa on Telemundo's "Ma...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Tue, 06 May 2008 05:58:00 PST

Performing with Universal Records Recording Artist Chenoa...

I was in Florida a few weeks ago and received a call to play a few shows with an artist named Chenoa. She was in the US promoting her 5th album released on Universal Records named "Absurda Cenicienta...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:24:00 PST

New Video uploads....

Hello and Happy 2008!!!Last year was a busy one and this year is already off to a rockin start!I'm thrilled to announce that the new Chasing Saints CDs arrived this week. If you haven't had a chance ...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:06:00 PST

My new band Chasing Saints...

Hello everyone,It's been a while since I posted a blog of any type. Here's a brief rundown of why.I've been sequestered at Thud Studios in North Hollywood since August 23rd producing and recording a ...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:39:00 PST

More Videos and..... Baywatch!

Greetings once again.I just posted a few new video guitar lessons on my videos page. I also just found out that one of my vocal/pop songs called "I Could Have" was included on a new DVD release of on...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Sun, 20 May 2007 12:47:00 PST

Recording Spotlight and Articles

It was just brought to my attention through a number of random e-mails that Crack Puppies was featured in Recording Magazine's Spotlight column. Here's the link:Also, here are 3 recording articles th...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:24:00 PST

Videos.... and more.....

Here is a video from the Megan Mullally show that I played on back in December.Megan Mullally Show The video below is from a performace I did with Pedro Eustache where he showcased a lo...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:52:00 PST

Stained Voodoo wins Album of the Year Award!!!

Well it's official, I just got the word that my new CD 'Stained Voodoo' won the award for Album of the Year in the Instrumental category for the 16th Annual LA Music Awards. The actual award ceremony...
Posted by Michael Elsner on Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:47:00 PST