About Sam Matheson

About Sam Matheson Sam Matheson is a guitarist based out of the DC metro area. He teaches all ages of students, from beginner to advanced, and he specializes in teaching rock, pop, country, folk and jazz. Sam began performing at the age of 16 with friends from school in the band “Freakandy”. In this group, he started his journey by playing at local venues such as Jammin’ Java and the Velvet Lounge. This interest quickly grew into a career path, and Sam decided to pursue his degree in music. After graduation Sam attended Berklee College of Music studying theory and playing techniques with guitarists Tomo Fujita, Jeffery Lockhart and John Wilkins. While at Berklee Sam had an opportunity to focus in on developing his craft as a guitarist and played with the bands “Cherry Mellow” and “Whatever Whatever”. Both provided opportunities to record, tour, and play events. After relocating back to the D.C. area after Berklee, Sam also began playing with a DC area band, “Turtle Recall”. Playing at venues and events such as Shamrockfest DC, Taste of DC, Taste of Arlington, The Hamilton DC, The Bullpen at Nats Park, The Black Cat and more. Sam’s playing style is influenced by a variety of guitarists including Jimmy Page, John Frusciante, Elliot Smith, John Scofield, and Nile Rodgers. He’s also a dedicated instructor to his students and enjoys working with all age groups — from beginners through experienced! His lessons are based around building melodic and rhythmic fundamentals, as well as including songs the student is interested in. In addition to repertoire and song selections, Sam can include music theory and notation along with the practical areas of study.