Winner of the 2002 National Fingerstyle Guitar Contest and open division winner of the 2004 International Home of the Legends Competition, John Standefer is a true guitar talent. He began playing the guitar in 1963, learning the Chet Atkins style by ear as well as studying music in a conservatory. These early accomplishments gave John a great start towards a career in music.
By age 16, he had begun a lifetime as a professional guitarist and teacher. Over his life John has appeared with many famous performers, has headed up several of his own bands and has made his mark in the fingerstyle guitar world. John is both happy and humbled to say that many of the players who he has looked up to over the years have now become his friends.
John currently travels throughout the U.S. and abroad performing concerts, teaching master classes and instructing Christian guitarists through his highly acclaimed Praise Guitar Workshop. He also teaches private guitar lessons to students living in the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington areas.
Besides these live appearances, John has produced numerous CDs, tabs, books and videos, which can be found on the product page of this website. John's most recent recording, Guitar Cafe, explores beautiful melodies from around the world, including swing tunes, ballads, South American classics, Chet Atkins style tunes, a European waltz, a Hawaiian piece, a hymn and a new original piece.
John also writes for Fingerstyle Guitar and Christian Musician magazines and appears yearly at such events as the Chet Atkins Convention in Nashville and the Christian Musician Summit in Seattle. Recently he was honored by guitar maker Dave Bertoncini, who incorporated John's ideas into the development of the new 'John Standefer Signature Model' Bertoncini guitar.