Carl Verheyen

Carl Verheyen, a skilled guitarist who also works as a session musician and instructor, earned his widest recognition through his long association with the rock band Supertramp. He was born in 1954 and raised in Pasadena, California, where he first picked up the guitar around the age of eleven. Early influences included rock players such as the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn, Duane Allman, and Eric Clapton; by his late teens he was already performing four nights a week with a local cover band. He later turned toward jazz and completed two years of study at Pasadena City College.

Throughout the 1970s he maintained a steady schedule of jazz gigs and session recordings. Session work took him to Los Angeles in 1980, and in 1985 he joined the British rock outfit Supertramp. For the following decades he toured and recorded with the group while simultaneously developing his solo output and teaching activities. His debut solo release, the 1988 album No Borders, displayed an assortment of styles ranging from jazz fusion to rock and country and included a guest appearance by British guitar giant Allan Holdsworth. Additional credits include appearances on recordings by Richard Elliott, Joe Jackson, David Benoit, Rick Braun, and numerous others.

As an educator, Verheyen has taught jazz guitar at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California and continues to offer private online courses. His solo discography reflects an expansive stylistic range, encompassing purely acoustic jazz on 2001’s Solo Guitar Improvisations and a personal blend of singer-songwriter rock and blues on the albums Six (2003), Trading 8s (2009), and Mustang Run (2013). A second collection of solo guitar pieces appeared in 2015, followed a year later by Grand Design, which contained a version of Bob Dylan’s “Time’s They Are a-Changin’.” The 2017 release Essential Blues, captured live across three days, surveyed a broad spectrum of blues idioms.