I received my first guitar for my 13th birthday, in 1995. It was a Harmony Strat copy. I haven't stopped playing since.

Early on, I was influenced by the blues greats: the three Kings, T-Bone Walker, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters. The natural progression led me on to classic rockers like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix.

The older I got, the broader my influences: in high school and college, I studied Jazz, so I listened to stuff like Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and Jim Hall; and as I started to write songs of my own, I turned to guys like John Denver, James Taylor, Jim Croce, and Gordon Lightfoot.

These days, I find myself influenced by all different types of music: rave, dance, and electronic, classical and opera, country, and the modern-day singer/songwriter types: Joshua Radin, Jon Foreman, John Mayer, Andrew Osenga, and fellows like that.

I began teaching private lessons at the age of 16, teaching kids in a spare bedroom of the house where I grew up. The way I saw it, I needed cash, the money was good, and besides, I enjoyed it, and I've always heard that one of the best ways to hone your knowledge on a subject is to teach it.

I started taking private guitar lessons right off the bat, in 1995, and since then I've had the privilege of sitting under some pretty cool (and great) guitarists, studying a wide range of styles, including: rock and blues, jazz, flamenco, and classical. My teaching experience now spans over a decade, teaching students as young as 7 and as old as 57.

And guitar isn't the only thing that I've studied either: over the years, I've studied piano, voice, and violin. In 2005, I graduated from Columbia College Chicago, where I studied Music and Arts Management under jazz guitarist Frank Dawson.

As I hinted to earlier, I have been writing music for a long time. I remember writing my first ditty and lyric when I was about 10 years old. As a singer/songwriter/guitarist, I perform roughly 50 concerts annually all across the country - solo and with a band. I have released several albums, which you can check out on iTunes or wherever. And you can learn more about my music on my website, jaymathes.com.

You might also like to know just a bit more about my personal life... My wife, Megan, and I got married soon after graduating college, in 2005; and we have one boy. Our 1-bedroom apartment is cramped, but we're content with it, and we make due. In my free time, I love camping, backpacking, rock climbing, reading, and cooking. Anything else you'd like to know?

Looking to the future, I could not imagine living a life without music. In the coming years, I plan to continue writing and performing, and hope to soon hit the road full time. Until then, I'll continue to enjoy teaching and inspiring! Ciao!