Roger McGuinn

“Music would be a very different place if it hadn’t been for Roger McGuinn.” – Rolling Stone Magazine

As the co-founder of the Byrds, Roger McGuinn is firmly established as an indisputable industry icon. From his signature 12-string Rickenbacker sound to his instantly recognizable vocals on hits like “Turn, Turn, Turn”, “Eight Miles High” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”, McGuinn didn’t just make music, he made history. That feeling continues today as McGuinn offers shows that are as mesmerizing and magical as ever. He delivers the gift of an evening with a master that is as intimate as it is spellbinding. He guides his audience along a journey of story and song; populated by the “old friends” they expect to hear, as well as some new acquaintances from the folk music that McGuinn so passionately embraces.

Jim McGuinn, later known as Roger, was already a veteran of the New York and Los Angeles music scenes when he co-founded the group that would become The Byrds with Gene Clark and David Crosby in 1964. Prior to forming the Byrds, Roger toured and performed with the Limeliters, Chad Mitchell Trio and Bobby Darin as a guitarist and banjo player. McGuinn, a Chicago native, studied at the Old Town School of Folk Music and was active on Chicago’s folk scene. After touring for a while with Darin, McGuinn moved to New York. After hearing the Beatles for the first time, McGuinn began playing folk songs to a rock beat in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village. His experiments in merging folk and rock didn’t please the folk purist, so he moved to Los Angeles to work at the Troubadour. It was after an opening set for Hoyt Axton that Gene Clark approached McGuinn with appreciation for his new musical blend. They started writing songs together in the folk den of the Troubadour. It wasn’t long before David Crosby joined them and added his unique concepts of harmony to the duo, thereby completing the underpinnings for one of the most influential bands of the ’60s.