Carlo Di Mello

I am a one man act on a mission to provide relaxing music for your enjoyment. I am happy to provide background music and do not need to be the focus of attention. I am self contained, all I need is a spot to put my chair. I can dress formally, if needed, otherwise will be wearing dress casual attire.

I normally play straight through with minimum breaks. I will likely be changing guitars and retuning some but aside from that you will get about 50 minutes of music an hour. I can provide background music through my P/A if desired while I am not playing. I play the majority of my music from memory. I may use music for certain back catalog requests. I can do special requests if they are in advance, but I discourage on the spot requests as I normally play pre-rehearsed arrangements.

My musical journey began at the University of Miami where I studied classical guitar under the esteemed Cuban maestro Juan Mercadal. After moving to California I graduated from CSU Sacramento with a degree in Classical Guitar and a minor in Computer Science. I continued to study privately with David Tannenbaum and Scott Cmiel from the San Francisco Conservatory while I pursued a career in technology. Later, I fell in love with the Blues and for many years performed throughout the East Bay with The Little Skunk band, playing Stevie Ray Vaughn tunes and rock classics, but my true focus was my family.

Now, I have retired from my career in technology, devoting myself full time to fulfill my passion for music. I am an instructor at Guitar Center and with my act Carlo Di Mello I perform at various venues in the Bay Area including Santana Row, wine tasting rooms and private parties and charitable events. I continue to study classical guitar with Steve Lin. I study arranging and fingerstyle picking with Mark Hanson, a Grammy award winning guitarist and author of over 30 books on guitar technique.
I am affiliated with the South Bay Guitar Society and am a member of the SBGS Guitar Ensemble.

I have amplification and can play by battery if needed. I can setup and teardown in about 15 minutes and only need one trip to/from the car. I have a microphone, which the host could also use if needed for announcement and so forth. I usually just announce myself and if the audience is interested may give them some background info or some light banter.