Pete Smyser is a professional guitarist/ composer/ arranger/ educator residing in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. His influences and performing styles are diverse, including Christian music (diverse genres spanning centuries), classic jazz of the 1920s - 1960s, classical guitar, contemporary popular music (1950s - 1980s & some newer songs), blues & folk. He performs over 200 concerts & events annually.
Pete specializes in playing 7-string guitars which are 6-string guitars with an added bass string to extend the range of the instrument.
EARLY YEARS
At the age of 3, Pete declared, "I want to be a truck driver and a guitar player!" He never drove a truck, but Pete did begin playing the guitar at 8 years old and never looked back. For the next 7 years, Pete took lessons and gained experience while performing in a variety of school, church and rock bands.
HIGH school (GETTING SERIOUS)
When Pete was 15, his father suggested that if he wanted to pursue a career in music, then we should seek the best classical guitar teacher and the best jazz guitar teacher in the area. Pete agreed and entered into an intense period of study while attending weekly lessons with separate classical and jazz instructors. During this time he practiced between 6 and 11 hours every day.
establishing a career
Pete received a full scholarship to attend Temple University where he studied Jazz/ Commercial Guitar Performance. After three semesters, Pete left Temple in favor of private lessons, self study and pursuing performance opportunities. At the age of 18, Pete also began teaching guitar students.
Pete formed a jazz fusion band named “Alternate Routes” which performed throughout the region. At one point, trumpeter/ EVI player, John Swana, joined the group. Swana is a highly regarded straight ahead jazz musician from Philadelphia who recorded many albums for Criss Cross Jazz. John Swana’s trumpet and flugelhorn playing can be heard on two of Pete's recordings from the 1990s... Out of Nowhere and The Scene is Clean. John currently performs as a valve trombonist with Pete in various settings.
In the early 1990s, Smyser dissolved "Alternate Routes" and turned away from fusion, preferring to perform straight ahead jazz associated with the 1950s and '60s.
Along with a great variety of "gigs," Smyser landed a regular Sunday night performance at The Doylestown Inn. He used this weekly opportunity to network with some of Philadelphia's finest jazz musicians. Pete invited a variety of bassists and drummers, established working relationships with them and grew his reputation as a jazz guitarist.
out of nowhere!
Pete released this debut recording as a leader at the age of 28. The CD was prominently featured on Philadelphia's premier jazz radio station, WRTI. In published reviews, critics likened Smyser's playing to that of Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Jim Hall. The CD created many new performing opportunities throughout the region for Pete. The recording also prompted him to be included among legendary guitarists in the reference book - The Jazz Guitar, Its Evolution, Its Players and Personalities Since 1900 (Ashley Mark Publishing Co.).
meet ted lis
Pete met saxophonist Ted Lis in 1995. The two became good friends and quickly landed a steady duo gig at The Joseph Ambler Inn. They performed at this & many other venues, building an audience for their unique approach to performing standards. Pete and Ted continue to perform approximately 120 shows each year. Video samples of the duo are available on YouTube. Ted can be heard on several of Pete’s commercially released albums, including Pete Smyser & Friends - Christmas Album, Slow Boat and The Scene is Clean. The duo also released Hangin’ by the Chimney (on CD) in 1998.
Switching to 7-string
In 1999, guitar luthier Dale Unger attended one of Pete & Ted's duo performances. At the show, he invited Pete to become a player/endorser for his company, American Archtop Guitars. Dale remarked that Pete's playing style of moving chords and walking bass lines would translate perfectly to the 7 string guitar. Pete agreed, so Dale proceeded to build and deliver Pete’s first 7 string archtop jazz guitar in 2000.
meet larry mckenna
In 2000, Pete connected with a former teacher from Temple University... Larry McKenna. Larry was an amazing talent on the saxophone and a significant influence on the development and education of many jazz musicians throughout the Philadelphia region. Pete scheduled a recording session with Larry which included a number of duo tracks where Pete used his new American Archtop, 7 string guitar. The recording, titled Pete Smyser & Larry McKenna, was highly praised and created performing opportunities for Pete and Larry to perform together at museums, universities, festivals and jazz clubs. Pete & Larry were good friends that performed regularly together until Larry’s passing in 2023.
moravian (teaching/ performing/ recording)
From 2006 through 2015, Pete taught jazz guitar as part of the adjunct faculty at Moravian College. A number of Pete's recordings have resulted from opportunities to perform at Moravian College. The first was in 2007 when he was invited to perform a solo program at The Bethlehem Guitar Festival. Although this annual festival is rooted in classical guitar traditions, there was a twist to the theme that year - "Jazz on the Classic." So, Pete put together a program of standards and jazz songs, but incorporated classical elements and performed it on a classical, nylon string guitar. He later recorded the material in the studio and released it under the title, Pete Smyser, Solo Guitar... Jazz on the Classic.
Pete Smyser has a long standing, deep reverence for American Songbook standards — particularly the songs from the 1910s through the 1960s. In 2009, he chose to assemble and perform "An Evening of Gershwin" with his trio. The program included performances of timeless Gershwin songs along with entertaining stories about the songs and composer. Video of the performance is available on YouTube. The success of the concert led to other educational concerts, two of which resulted in commercially released albums.
In 2010, Pete created and delivered a concert program entitled "The Guitar in Jazz" which demonstrated the changing role and development of the instrument in jazz from the 1920s through the 1970s.
His next concert, in 2011, focused on the songs of Jerome Kern and was performed by his quartet. This produced Pete's first live recording, titled The Jerome Kern Concert ...LIVE! The CD reached the top 50 for National jazz radio play and remained there for several weeks. Video is available on YouTube.
In 2013, Pete returned to the Moravian campus with his quintet to present songs composed by another legendary American songbook composer... Harry Warren. He released the recording under the title An Affair to Remember. One of the tracks, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, was voted onto WRTI's "Hot 11 Countdown" for 13 weeks in a row, rising to #1 for three weeks. At the end of the year, the track was the #1 requested song on WRTI's "Top 100 Jazz Countdown of 2014."
ESTABLISHING A HOME STUDIo for REcording & teaching
In 2015, Pete stepped away from Moravian College in favor of teaching from his home studio - a barn circa 1800 which he had meticulously renovated some years earlier. The barn is his work space for teaching, composing and recording (audio & video).
Pete's goal of cultivating the space and resources to release high quality, commercially available audio recordings created in his home studio was realized in 2018 with his release of Wee Small Hours, a solo jazz guitar recording as well as Slow Boat a jazz duo recording with saxophonist Ted Lis.
In 2021, Pete released Pete Smyser & Friends - Christmas Album which features songs that were recorded using overdub techniques during the pandemic in 2020. Joining Pete on the album are Larry McKenna (sax), Ted Lis (sax), Madison Rast (bass) & Dan Monaghan (drums).
Christian Music
In 2024, I experienced a spiritual awakening or “calling” to walk more deeply and diligently in his Christian faith. This followed a decision to prayerfully and diligently read the Bible every day. Although I have long been a born again Christian, baptized at the age of 15, I had not previously read the Bible with regularity or thoroughness. In fact, I never enjoyed reading any books as a pastime. It had been about 30 years since I read a book cover to cover. My wife, Deanne, later told me (quite emotionally) that she had earnestly prayed that I would start reading the Bible. She prayed this heartfelt prayer THE DAY BEFORE I STARTED TO READ!
My life has changed and continues to change as the Lord reveals Himself through the reading of His Word and my daily walk with Him. The Holy Spirit has filled me with unspeakable joy and peace, transforming my life through lessons learned and growth in response to my having heeded some very challenging directives from the Lord.
Worth noting is that a persistent sleep problem that had plagued me for about 15 years was resolved! I had long pursued numerous doctor’s, specialists, holistic gurus, expensive supplements, long-lasting restrictive diets, etc. in an effort to resolve my sleep problem. Although aspects of my health had improved, I’d still wake repeatedly through the night. The peace and joy I’ve enjoyed since giving myself whole heartedly to the Lord is tangible and undeniable! My nightly sleep issue is a thing of the past. Praise the Lord!
To be clear, I’m not saying that I’m 100% without troubles or challenges. That’s not what the Christian life on earth promises, BUT those in Christ are promised that the Holy Spirit resides in us as our Helper…
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV)
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV)
“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;” (Psalm 34:19 NIV)
There is a musical transformation has accompanied my spiritual “awakening.” I feel great inspiration to gather songs of the Christian faith, old and new. The message of the lyrics resonate and the vast musical contributions through so many generations fascinate me. Because I grew up in the church, I was familiar with a reasonable amount of the well-known historic hymns as well as the more contemporary songs through to about the early 1980s, but I’ve discovered that there’s a world of wonderful Christian music to be investigated, learned, arranged and performed.
My wife and I joined a local church in 2025 where I have begun participating musically with the Worship Team and through special music for Communion and occasional Prelude music. In June of 2026, my long time friend and music partner, Ted Lis (saxophonist), performed our first ever 100% Christian concert at my church. The lyrics were displayed on a large screen and we encouraged the congregation to sing. The Lord blessed the concert! The concert was very well attended and folks were praising the Lord! More Christian concerts are in the works, and I continue to feel inspired to discover and develop arrangements in this worshipful direction.
Simultaneously, I continue to perform secular standards and a variety of popular music approximately 20 times each month. The vast majority of are at retirement communities, and most are solo or duo with Ted Lis, John Swana, or other musician.
Pete Smyser on YouTube
Check out Pete Smyser's YouTube Channel to view videos that showcase a variety of instrumental combinations (solo, duo, trio & other combos) and diverse genres - Christian, jazz, contemporary popular, classical, etc.