Guitar with Katie L.

I was just five years old when I started sneaking into my older brothers’ bedrooms to steal their CDs. ​Throughout my childhood, I was drawn to music. I was active in choir, band, and orchestra, as well as taught myself guitar. I composed, recorded, and performed an original acoustic album before graduating high school. After attending a year of music classes at Minnesota State University – Mankato, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and pursue my dream of forming a band. Creating a band led me on many adventures that exposed me to the music industry and uniquely equipped me to be a part of it. Throughout my twenties, I gained experience in arranging and composition, performance technique, running live sound and lights, instrument building and repair, as well as other skills that are important for artists, such as graphic, merch, and web design. Eventually I returned to school, earning my Bachelor of Science in Music Production and Technology from McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul, MN. Now I use my experience and diverse skillset to specialize in Music Production and Audio Engineering. I still play in a couple bands as well as do freelance audio engineering projects in the area. Teaching students has been one of the most rewarding things I've done in my musical career so far. When a student finally masters that tricky guitar lick, or locks in on a new strum pattern, or finishes writing their first song, it is a truly exciting experience for me as an instructor. Everyone learns differently and picks up on certain techniques quicker than others. I enjoy the challenge of trying to customize each lesson plan for each student so that they may have the most rewarding experience possible while they're learning their instrument.