Tom Hess (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
Tom Hess is a touring guitarist, recording artist and a member of the band Rhapsody Of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band led by Alex Staropoli. Since forming in 1993, the band has released eight studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and a live DVD...

. Hess also toured Europe and US with the band HolyHell alongside Joe Stump and recorded the album "Apocalypse" which landed on the charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In addition to his professional music career as a recording artist, Tom is also an online guitar teacher and a mentor to musicians, guitar teachers and rock bands around the world.

Biography

Hess began playing guitar on January 31, 1986 inspired by heavy metal bands such as Metallica, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden. His musical style later evolved from hard rock and heavy metal to the neo-classical and progressive rock styles, influenced by artists such as: Yngwie Malmsteen, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Andy Larocque, Jason Becker, Fryderyk Chopin, Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms and Claude Debussy.

Hess went on to receive two music degrees: one in music theory and another in music composition. In addition to his music school background, Hess also studied guitar with many guitar teachers, most notably with Lion Music recording artist George Bellas.

HESS Band

In 1994, Tom Hess formed the progressive rock band "HESS" along with his brother Scott Hess.
To date, the band has released 2 full length albums: "Opus 1" (April 20, 2000) and "Opus 2" (January 4, 2004). Both albums have sold in more than 26 countries around the world, and remain among the top sellers in the Neo-Classical and Progressive categories at the instrumental guitar music distributor Guitar9.com.

Current lineup of the HESS band:
  • Tom Hess - Guitars and Composition
  • Mike Walsh - Guitars
  • Scott Hess - Drums
  • Mark Carozza - Bass

HolyHell Years (2004-2008)

In 2004, Hess joined a power metal band HolyHell where he played guitar together with Joe Stump. The band went on tour in 2005, before releasing its first album. Tom Hess and HolyHell played alongside bands such as Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell), Motorhead, Nightwish, Epica, Testament, Manowar and Rhapsody of Fire performing for crowds of up to 30,000 people. Some of the band's notable performances included the Earthshaker's Festival in Germany and Masters of Rock Festival in the Czech Republic where the band performed the cover of "The Phantom Of The Opera".

In 2007, the band's first album Apocalypse was released and HolyHell went on tour the second time.

In 2008, Hess left HolyHell to focus on other aspects of his music career.

Tom Hess and HolyHell 2005 Tour Dates
Date City/State Country Venue
Thursday, June 2, 2005 Cleveland, Ohio USA House Of Blues
Friday, June 3, 2005 Winston Salem, North Carolina USA Ziggy's
Saturday, June 4, 2005 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida USA The Culture Room
Sunday, June 5, 2005 Orlando, Florida USA House Of Blues
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Atlanta, Georgia USA The Masquerade
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 Charleston, South Carolina USA The Music Farm
Thursday, June 9, 2005 Baltimore, Maryland USA Sonar
Saturday, June 11, 2005 Buffalo, New York USA The Icon
Sunday, June 12, 2005 Toronto, Ontario Canada Opera House
Monday, June 13, 2005 Quebec City, Quebec Canada Albert-Rousseau
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Montreal, Quebec Canada Metropolis
Thursday, June 16, 2005 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA Theater Of Living Arts
Saturday, June 18, 2005 Worcester, Massachusetts USA The Palladium
Sunday, June 19, 2005 New York, New York USA B.B. King's
Friday, July 15, 2005 Zlin Czech Republic Masters Of Rock Festival
Saturday, July 16, 2005 Zlin Czech Republic Masters Of Rock Festival
Sunday, July 17, 2005 Zlin Czech Republic Masters Of Rock Festival
Thursday, July 21, 2005 Nuremburg Germany Earthshaker Fest 2005
Friday, July 22, 2005 Nuremburg Germany Earthshaker Fest 2005
Saturday, July 23, 2005 Nuremburg Germany Earthshaker Fest 2005




Tom Hess and HolyHell 2007 Tour Dates
Date City/State Country Venue Capacity
March 14, 2007 Zlin Czech Republic Sportovni Hala Novesta 6,400
March 15, 2007 Pardubice Czech Republic Republic Cez Arena 9288
March 16, 2007 Plzen Czech Republic Hala Lokomotiva 6150
March 22. 2007 Berlin Germany Max-Schmeling-Halle 11,950
March 23, 2007 Munich Germany Olympiahalle 12,150-14,000
March 24, 2007 Frankfurt Germany Festhalle 13,592
March 27, 2007 Dortmund Germany Westfalenhalle Westfalenhalle 14,000
March 28, 2007 Hamburg Germany Color Line Arena 13,000
March 30, 2007 Nuremburg Germany Arena 10,200
March 31, 2007 Stuttgart Germany Germany Schleyerhalle 15,000
April 4, 2007 Athens Greece Peace And Friendship Stadium 14,095
June 30, 2007 Kavarna Bulgaria Kaliakra Rock Fest 20,000+
July 6, 2007 Bad Arolsen Germany Magic Circle Festival 20,000+
July 7, 2007 Bad Arolsen Germany Magic Circle Festival 20,000+



Rhapsody Of Fire

On April 15, 2011 it was announced that guitarist Tom Hess has become a new official member of the epic metal band Rhapsody Of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire
Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band led by Alex Staropoli. Since forming in 1993, the band has released eight studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and a live DVD...

. His playing can be heard on the band's album From Chaos to Eternity
From Chaos to Eternity
From Chaos to Eternity is the nineth full-length studio album by the Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It was released in June 17, 2011 via Nuclear Blast. This album is the first to feature the guitar playing of Tom Hess who became a full time official member of the band in 2011...

. Hess recorded all the rhythm guitar parts and contributed several solos for the CD. Hess began touring with the band at the festivals that took place in the summer of 2011.

Alex Staropoli, Rhapsody Of Fire’s keyboard player, released a statement saying: "I saw Tom Hess playing on stage several times and was always impressed by his great stage presence and his way of playing. When I heard the rhythm and solo guitars he recorded for Rhapsody Of Fire I was blown away, I could feel that strong presence in between every single note."

Rhapsody Of Fire's 2011 Release "From Chaos To Eternity" was listed in the top 100 album charts in many countries around the world, such as Japan, Italy, Switzerland, German, France and many others.


Tom Hess and Rhapsody Of Fire 2011 Tour Dates
Date City/State Country Venue
June 11, 2011 Sölvesborg Sweden Sweden Rock Festival
July 15, 2011 Vizovice Czech Republic Masters Of Rock
August 4, 2011 Wacken Germany Wacken Open Air
August 6, 2011 Székesfehérvár Hungary Fezen Festival
August 12, 2011 Derby UK Bloodstock


Discography

  • Rhapsody Of Fire - From Chaos To Eternity (Release Date: June 17, 2011)
  • HolyHell - Apocalypse (2007)
  • HESS - Opus 2 (2004)
  • HESS - Opus 1 (2000)

Guitars

On stage and in the studio, Hess plays mainly Carvin guitars, including V220 and X220 models with a stoptail bridge. Hess uses Seymour Duncan Metal Live Wire Pick Ups in most of his studio and live performance guitars.

During clinics and instructional master classes, he also sometimes plays the Yamaha RGZ 321P with a Floyd Rose bridge.

Endorsements

  • Randall Amplifiers
  • Seymour Duncan Pick ups
  • Dean Markley Guitar Strings
  • Clayton Guitar Picks
  • AMT Electronics USA

Online Guitar Teaching, Music Career Mentoring And Guitar Teacher Training

On top of his career as a recording artist and touring musician, Hess also teaches musicians from all over the world how to improve their guitar playing skills, develop their music careers and build their own guitar teaching businesses. Many of Hess's guitar students have become full time professional musicians and successful music teachers who tour the world, release records and run their own music schools teaching in excess of 100 music students per week.

Hess also contributes guitar lessons, columns and articles to guitar websites around the world, including: Ultimate-Guitar.com, Cyberfret.com and MusicCareers.net.

Tom Hess has also taught guitar at the National Guitar Workshop and started an electric guitar program at Harper College in Illinois, USA.

In 2008, Hess's company Tom Hess Music Corporation has partnered with Luca Turilli from Rhapsody Of Fire to release a course for neoclassical guitar players, based upon Turilli's style of guitar playing.

In 2010, Alex Staropoli (from Rhapsody Of Fire) and Tom Hess Music Corporation created a program for training rock bands to become successful. This program is separate from Hess's Music Careers Mentoring Program for training solo musicians to launch their music careers.

Other Musical Projects

In addition to touring the world, mentoring musicians online and recording music, Hess also performs instructional guitar clinic tours.

2008 Tom Hess Instructional Clinic Tour

Date City/State Country Venue
Sunday, September 7, 2008 Algonquin, IL USA JC's Guitars
Monday, September 8, 2008 Arlington Heights, IL USA Guitar Center
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 Grand Rapids, MI USA Guitar Center
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Indianapolis, IN USA Guitar Center
Thursday, September 11, 2008 Florence, KY USA Guitar Center
Friday, September 12, 2008 Pittsburgh, PA USA Guitar Center
Saturday, September 13, 2008 Vestal, NY USA McNeil Music

2009 Tom Hess Instructional Clinic Tour

Date City/State Country Venue
Thursday, September 10, 2009 Crystal Lake, IL USA Private Hotel
Friday, September 11, 2009 Crystal Lake, IL USA Private Hotel
Saturday, September 12, 2009 Crystal Lake, IL USA Private Hotel
Sunday, September 13, 2009 Crystal Lake, IL USA Private Hotel
Monday, September 14, 2009 Algonquin, IL USA Guitar Center
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Grand Rapids, MI USA Guitar Center
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 Toledo, OH USA Guitar Center
Thursday, September 17, 2009 Cleveland, OH USA Guitar Center
Friday, September 18, 2009 Rochester, NY USA House Of Guitars
Saturday, September 19, 2009 Vestal, NY USA McNeil Music
Sunday, September 20, 2009 Philadelphia, PA USA Private Hotel
Monday, September 21, 2009 Philadelphia, PA USA Private Hotel
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Philadelphia, PA USA Private Hotel
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Harrisburg, PA USA Guitar Center
Thursday, September 24, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA USA Guitar Center
Friday, September 25, 2009 Columbus, OH USA Sam Ash Music
Saturday, September 26, 2009 Cincinnati, OH USA Guitar Center
Sunday, September 27, 2009 Indianapolis, IN USA Guitar Center
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