Russ Pettit comes from a rock n’ roll background. He has listened to the Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry, since birth. His first concerts were The Who and Led Zepplin in 1973 when he was 7. Those concerts made such an impression that he can still remember where he sat. It was Randy Rhoads who finally motivated him to pick up the guitar in his sophomore year of high school. Black Sabbath introduced him to Ozzy Osbourne and “heavy metal”. He was hooked. The guitar became his favorite hobby. When Russ was 20, he finally had the time to devote himself to guitar. His obsession was born. He started practicing up to 8 hours a day. A highlight of those days was studying with Joe Satriani. His musical tastes have matured and broadened since his “heavy metal” days. He discovered Jeff Beck and spent hours analyzing the styles of Stevie Ray, Jimmy Page, Robben Ford, Mike Stern and Steve Vai. As a performer and a guitar instructor for over 30 years, he’s played and studied a variety of styles including Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Latin, Classical, Folk and, World Fusion. So when he writes music, he has a lot from which to draw. The focus of his music is melody. Russ feels that a strong melody gives a song longevity and helps it to transcend generations.
Russ Pettit’s first solo cd, “The Endless Journey” and his sophomore solo cd “Travels of a Fallen Leaf” mark a break onto a different musical path. His music continues to be a culmination of everything he’s learned past and present. It is a tangible item that can take people on a journey out of the hustle of life and into the emotion and creativity of music. Russ has been working on the new Style of “World Fusion” for a few years now. He fell in love with the sounds of the Guitar trio ( Paco De Lucía, John McLaughlin & Al Di Meola)with their album “A Friday Night in San Francisco" . World Fusion brought Russ into the realm of acoustic guitar music with percussion instead of drums and the use of other instruments such as violin and flute, with a presence of the electric bass still providing the influences from other styles Russ has been playing for years. To hear Russ` new album, please visit www.russpettit.com , Facebook at www.facebook.com/RussPettitMusic/ .