Albums

About Neal Grandstaff

The following is a summary of Neal Grandstaff’s education, training and job experience. For additional information please contact Neal at: grandstaff1@comcast.net, or 503-422-6612.
For bookings contact: Pacific Talent/Andy Gilbert pacifictalent.com, Ph# 503-228-3620

Neal Grandstaff’s first music training began at age 10 with Segovian Master Class student and guitar instructor, Zane Casey, in Washington State.

In 1966 between the ages of 13 and 14 Neal started teaching beginning students at Wiltsey Weather’s Music in Salem, Oregon. The education tutor was Precilla Wiltsey, a piano instructor of local repute with a small academy. Neal used Mrs. Wiltsey’s Academy approach and fused that with the Segovian method and was teaching 10 students a week.

1967-1970
Work experience continued and in the next 3 years Neal had taken on 12 to 16 students per week in Salem and Corvallis, Oregon, all the while creating and musically directing a performing quartet, with the help of small business mentor Tom Day. In 2 years, he was able to develop a group that received national attention. The group made an appearance on ABC’s Happening ‘69 with hosts Paul Revere and the Raiders as well as receiving “Fourth Place in Fifty” status from a Pop Music Association Contest at the national level. Neal graduated from Corvallis High with 3.85 GPA.

1970
At 17-18 traveled extensively on the West Coast and worked Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, and Nevada (Reno, Tahoe, and Las Vegas) in shows and pit bands for a little over a year.

In the early 70s (1971-1973) at age 19, Neal attended Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon and was subsequently contracted to teach the Adult Education guitar classes at that school. During this same time frame Neal was teaching private lessons at Music West, also in Eugene, and was carrying 32 private students a week.

1974
Now, at 22, he returned to the “traveling circuit” and started a publishing company, Sunrise Publications, which produced guitar instruction pamphlets and small manuals. Neal continued to travel, teach, and record between Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, L.A., Reno, Tahoe, and Las Vegas, Nevada.

1977
Finding a permanent residence in Portland, Grandstaff created a Co-Op music production team at Sound Smith Studios and a production company, Staff-O-Life Productions, using MHCC’s “Kicks Band” members and local professionals: Joe Millward, Rob Thomas, Thara Memory, Lloyd Jones, Tom Grant, Jim Solberg, Gary Clinton, Terry Lane, Dick Burdell, Mike Murphy, Jeff Uusitalo, Glenn Holstrum, Lester McFarland, Lee Wuthenow, just to name a few of the primary players.

This studio group produced content for recording projects involving local artists, film, TV and radio advertising and I.D. Packages. Neal continued to perform with many of the best regional musicians in concerts, special and private events, and club dates.

Neal published Guitar Mechanics, a guitar method book in 1977, which today includes two hours of video lessons with over fifty play-along audio recordings. Grandstaff continues to publish and revise this text.

Combos at this time included Spice of Life Trio with Lloyd Jones and Glen Holstrum, Nuance (Joe Millward and Dave Royer), The Buddy Fite Trio, Sound Advise with Gordy Michael, Higher Ground, the Swingline Cubs, CC and Company, Mary Curtis and the Ozone Rangers, The Bo Cody Band and various other Portland based groups.

1985-1987
Neal taught private lessons at Mt. Hood Community College using Guitar Mechanics as the method of choice in a third revision college edition.

1992-1995
Neal started work providing music, thematic orchestration, and sound design content on site in Oakhurst California for Sierra Online, the worlds largest producer of role playing (RPG) computer interactive software (video games).

Awards include the Golden Triad Award for Space Quest 6 and a variety of industry awards for music and sound design (Rama, Fantasmagoria, Slater and Charlie Go Camping, Police Quest 4, Kings Quest 7, Pepper’s Adventures in Time, Trophy Bass, 3-D Pinball, Quest for Glory 3, Gabriel Knight).

1995-1996
He moved back to the Northwest and started work at Dynamics, a sister company to Sierra, a new production facility co-oped by University of Oregon. Neal produced music and sound for sim-games (Herc Force, Earth Siege, Red Barron, Trophy Bass) and did sound design and additional music for “Rama”, produced from the Arthur C. Clark, Rama series, books.

Back to the Northwest

1996-2014
In 1996 Neal starts teaching a few days per week as an instructor and member of the music staff at Oregon State University. Teaching private guitar lessons to about 100 students per term and classes in Jazz Improv, Jazz studies and, Jazz combos Lab.

During this same time frame GSP Audio-Sunrise Publishing also produced several performance groups: The Wondertones, The Nairobi Bois, Threeplay, Just Us (a duo with bassist Ray Brassfield), Partykit, Donny Osborne Quartet with Al Criado and Caton’ Lyles, Django Bango with Tim Gilson and Alex Hargreaves. Two of these groups, The Willie Phillips Project, a simple country trio, and The Rubes, a twelve piece country variety act, were warm up acts at the Oregon Jamboree five years in a row, opening for Sawyer Brown, Dwight Yokum, Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers, and Lee Ann Womack.

Neal’s Guitar Mechanics is the method of choice at OSU. There is also an outreach program set up by Neal in a few of the local bistros for the students of the improv class to improve their skills and liaison with professionals for a real world training experience.

Many of the improv class participants are also networked with some of the Portland sessions as well. Through association with Ron Steen, Bill Beach, Phil Baker and others the students are always welcome at nightly jam sessions at Produce Row, Riverplace, Clyde's Steak House, or Jimmy Mak’s.

In 2003 Oregon State’s Distance Education began an online course for credit by using the Guitar Mechanics method in conjunction with the Guitar Mechanics Video Lessons. The student can also opt to take juries via web cam. This was the only course of its kind, at that time, at any college or public school in the country.

2013
In addition to retiring from OSU and performing in concert with the legendary Wayne Newton, Neal continues to perform regionally and all around the country as well as continuing to teach individuals through the latest version of his online site Guitar Mechanics.com.

2014 -2018
Grandstaff takes a hiatus and retirement from Oregon State University, discontinuing the in classroom programs he had establish from 1996-2014. Neal had been on the faculty as adjunct staff, and an instructor, designing the Guitar College Course (adapted from his own publication Guitar Mechanics copy written in 1977) as well as syllabi provided for the Guitar Studies, Improvisational Performance Studies, including "Big Band" and "Super Combo" disciplines, and Audio Recording Classes headed by Mike Coolen and Sam Kincaid.

2015-2017
Neal established the Guitar Mechanics Teaching Method as an online presence with Jason Carter of Wavelength Studios and Atomic Disc Duplicators in Salem Oregon.

The method includes 134 tutorial Video Lessons and 4 separate E-books and hard copy versions of the same.

The FREE Membership shares the "Red Book", or Beginning portion, of the method. The Intermediate or "Green Book" Membership is offered, at a reduced rate, by visiting the site’s store as well as the "Gold Book" Membership (or Complete Method) and, of course, the Classic Pro Membership allows access to the entire site with no additional purchase necessary.

For advanced study there is the "Blue Book", a "Special Study Guide to Performance of Standards and Blues" and the approach to these selected songs is a study of improvisational playing styles.

All the while, supported by a complete library of "Audio Play Along Backing Tracks" which include PDF Lead Sheets (Charts) with the purchase of these memberships. The backing tracks are also available individually at a surprising low rate and are a real hit amongst Pros and Hobbyists alike.

2018-2019
Neal's regular crew of players continue to perform at concerts, public and private special events, casinos, bistros, and regular music venues all across the Northwest and throughout Oregon from the Pacific Coast to the Painted Hills.

2019-2024
A group produced by Trumpet and Flugelhorn player Jon Deshler and Neal became a mainstay through the "Monsterous Chest Cold" that swept the globe for the next couple of seasons, closing venues and driving people into their homes and shelters, and denying them entertainment and socializing of any kind.

Neal Grandstaff told me, "When we lost our house gig at "Hobo’s Junction" in Portland Oregon, we were forced to improvise and adapt. Consequentially, we turned to playing "outdoors" at a "safe distance" by outfitting Jon’s F-250 Pickup with an upright piano and with Tune Tours Logo on the doors of the truck with many friends, including: Justin Schepige (bass), Nate Deshler (piano), Jon on Flugelhorn, and me (Neal Grandstaff) on guitar and gas mask (yes, I wore a gas mask in lieu of a useless paper mask)."

"We continued to play for people everywhere."

"We appeared on KGW and KATU television as The Band That Won’t Quit!!"

He continued, "We decided, if the venues were going to close we would go to the people and continue to do what musicians, throughout the ages, have ALWAYS done during crisis….. WE PLAYED FOR THE PEOPLE".

"And we - Tune Tours - played everywhere."

"Care facilities, Wineries, Restaurants, National and State Parks, in Cul de Sacs for private parties."

Neal was very passionate when he said, "We appeared at the "Tulip Farm" in the Mid-Willamette Valley for the drive-through customers in April 2020."

"We were at Newport’s Yaquina Bay State Park in front of the bridge; Longview/Kelso Washington at private parties and in Vancouver Washington, more great parties with the 7 piece "Tune Tours/Wondertones".

"We worked at "The Taste of Woodburn" 2023 and 2024, Silverton Oregon’s Crafts Fair 2020-2024 and "The Towers" in Mt. Angel Oregon as well as The Lewis & Clark State Park and Visitor’s center and The Painted Hills in Baker City."

The Tune Tours crew continues to stream interviews and music performances from The Mt. Angel Theater and Studios.

All of us at Tune Tours, The Wondertones and, Guitar Mechanics hope that all our followers, friends, and lovers of music, continue to watch and listen to what we do, for one and all.

Releases by GSP Audio-Sunrise Publishing LLC

In 2009 GSP Audio-Sunrise Publishing LLC, in cooperation with Thunderstone Productions releases a marvelous Blues, Jazz, Funk recording that has been dubbed Old School “Progressive R&B”. The album ’Round Midnight by Jonny Dark and the Wondertones, is available on: iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon.com, and CD World. It can be viewed and listened to online at: thewondertones.com; booking and calendar info can be found there as well.

2011
GSP Audio-Sunrise Publishing LLC releases The Wondertones Old School - 47 Minutes

2013
GSP Audio-Sunrise Publishing LLC releases Quantum Guitar Mechanics (a solo album by Neal Grandstaff)

2014
GSP Audio-Sunrise Publishing LLC launches a new web site Guitar Mechanics.com, a Live/Online Teaching Method and Membership Academy. It is an outsource for the public and private schools and for individuals wanting to study at the professional or collegiate level in order to start a career in performance and composition of music.