John Kline
Mobile, Alabama, United States | SELF
Music
Press
By Stephen Centanni
It wouldn’t be a groundbreaking statement to state that music has a mental effect on each and every one of us. It has been rumored that music "soothes the savage breast." It has also been rumored that while Hitler would give speeches, he pumped a low frequency bass under the feet of the crowd in order to whip them into a frenzy.
The mental effects of music have been a heavily researched issue for many years now. Local psychology professor/researcher/guitarist Dr. John Kline has combined the theory that music affects the brain along with theories dealing with psychological conditioning in the creation of his debut CD "Instrumental Conditioning."
Taking the title into consideration, it seems as if Kline wishes to instill certain habits or feelings with his music. It seems to having an effect on the critics. He has been recognized by Garagebands.com and compared to Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani.
"Instrumental Conditioning" is definitely a journey of the mind with Kline doing all the instrument arrangements. The CD begins with a series of Pink Floyd-esque chimes that leads into the appropriately titled "Wakey Wakey."
This song has a Southern jam edge to it with his skips across the fret board. Some songs are mellow and have a New Age feel to it and will remind you of the days when Windham Hill ruled Sunday Jazz Brunches everywhere.
The melodic guitars backed by keyboard are quite relaxing. “Salty Dawg- takes the listener into Texas roadhouse country with its bluesy riffs. It probably won’t be long until Kline is conditioning everyone with his music.
- Lagniappe, Mobile, AL
Packing his CD-R with instrumental rock tracks, Alabama shred guitarist John Kline describes his music as "New Age with Edge". Even if the new age reference leaves the average rock guitar listener scratching their head in disbelief after listening to "Wacky Wacky" and "Fruition" off Instrumental Conditioning (which cannot be a bad thing), the 'edge' is quite apparent. Really what you might have here are some hard rock tracks, interspersed with some new age tracks - not quite the same thing. The quality of guitar playing seems to be quite high no matter the genre or label, but for marketing purposes, Kline may wish to separate his two worlds into different project, or band, releases. Overdriven guitar tracks on the hard rock side, acoustic tracks on the new age side - Bob's your uncle - two projects for the price of two.
Featuring rock, jazz, ambient, and Celtic influences, John¹s music has a unique flavor of melodies, textures, and moods, peppered with blazing guitar work. Reviewers have compared him to G3ers Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Eric Johnson. He has been nominated for numerous awards on Garageband, and has been named ³Most Versatile² and ³Prowar Champion² on Guitarwar. His independently produced CD was released in January 2006. Part of the profits will go to animal charities. In his spare time, Dr. John Kline is a psychology professor, and publishes scientific articles on the neurobiology of emotion and consciousness.
Kline does virtually all of his own composition, instruments, programming, engineering, production and prototype mastering in his modest, cottage industry home recording studio.
http://www.guitar9.com/undiscov61e.html
- Guitar9 Records: The Undiscovered
John Kline is a musician by night and a mild mannered psychology professor and research scientist in the neurobiology of emotion by day. Instrumental Conditioning is an instrumental rock album that Kline composed, performed, programmed, engineered, mastered and produced.
The sixteen tracks of Instrumental Conditioning meant to metaphorically allude to elements of a typical day. The songs include hints of rock, blues and jazz, and range from up-tempo rockers, to slower, more melodic ballads, like “Ruby.” All of the instrumentation is quite good, with the guitar riffs on tracks like “Wakey! Wakey!” standing out as particularly good.
Overall: Kline is a gifted instrumentalist.
http://www.pucknation.com/index.php?mod=3&id=168&article=477
- pucknation.com
Wow! This psychologist can mesmerize you with his fantastic guitar playing. The CD covers a variety of styles that highlight John's versatility. John flies across the fretboard in tracks such as Wakey! Wakey! and on the acoustic-driven One In Front. If you enjoy the musical works of guitar virtuosos such as Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, you will love this CD. Pick up a copy today.
- radioindy.com staff
Last year, Lagniappe introduced its readers to Mobile’ s guitarist extraordinaire John Kline and his critically acclaimed release "Instrumental Conditioning." This album (now in full circulation) recently reached number one on the online music store Rhapsody. Kline has also put together a rag-tag group of musicians and formed Bipolar Express. Look out for Bipolar Express and pick up Kline’s album locally at Satori Coffee and online at CD Baby and Fossil Records.
- Lagniappe, Mobile, AL
Discography
Full-Length CDs:
Coming Soon! Downward Facing Dogs
Different Drummers, 2012
I of the Storm, 2010
Instrumental Conditioning, 2006
Flipside, 2003
"Wakey! Wakey!," "Fruition," "Ruby," "Revised Destiny,"and "Apology," were featured on Clear Channel Radio's "New!" program.
Listen to John at Radio Indy, iRADIO LA indie104.7FM. Independent Nation Internet Radio, Band Radio, WQFS 90.9 North Carolina, D.Art Radio, Acoustic Fuel Radio, Radio Indy, Ilike2eock.net, The Starliners, Junior's Cave Radio, The Unsigned Rockzone, WGAD.NET, WDYN Independent Radio, Sven's World Radio, and select Live365 stations.
Photos
Bio
I am a Clinical Psychologist by day, but music is far more than a hobby for me. It is a lifelong calling, well at least from the age of ten. I am working on my fifth full-length CD, titled “Downward Facing Dogs,” due to be released by November of 2013 (I’m all jiggy with my bad self because I’m ahead of schedule, and even my insomnia is getting channeled into forward moving musical momentum).
I have been fortunate that my CDs have received excellent reviews by music critics, radio station managers, music scholars, and other independent musicians and producers. I am a voting member of The Recording Academy, including the Producers and Engineers Wing, and my independent label, “Wet Present Records,” is eligible to submit releases for Grammy consideration.
Music is a highly spiritual and vulnerable thing for me, and I need to work with respectful players who are kind, sensitive, and decent human beings, first and foremost. I am a composer who occasionally writes songs with vocals. My work is often highly improvisational, with Jazz, classical, rock, metal, and electronic influences. My principal instrument is the guitar (electric and acoustic), but I am more or less proficient on bass, keyboards, drums, vocals, recorder, and harmonica, and typically play all or most of my own instruments on my CDs. I have minimal skills on violin, and typically only use it in the studio for very basic parts. You can thank me later.
Temperamentally, I am very shy, but warm up quickly to authentic friendly energy. Some people even mistake me for an extrovert when they get to know me! If you are prone to cynicism and sarcasm, that is fine for you, but won't work for me. I generally thaw on stage, love performing live, and like to bring out the best in the players that I play with. Any questions? Get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.
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