Adam Levine's Guitar Teacher Carlos Calvo Loved every moment with my old friend, singer/songwriter/ guitarist/teacher Carlos Calvo. It had been far too long since we last chatted, pre-COVID. The world, art, and our lives have changed drastically since then. Carlos, with his wife and daughter, moved to Spain, for one. Most of his work and mine are now online. Gratefully, it felt like we were in the same room. Gotta love the Zoom. We caught up with the Calvos’ relocation to a tiny hamlet in Galicia, the where, why, and when, and some family history plus a little geography to put things in perspective. We circled back to Carlos growing up in New Jersey, picking up a guitar at 3 1/2, his father’s guidance to study classical guitar at Carnegie Hall, coming out to LA to attend the Music School... his early gigs, including working at the original Guitar Center and a customer named Stevie Wonder, for one. Great story there. Club gigs, and Tommy Tedesco opening the door to session work, while beginning to teach: first Dionne Warwick’s son, a few other celebrity kids, and a few years in, 10-year-old Adam Levine, whom Carlos would school until Adam’s first record deal. There was also Adam’s neighbor, Jonah Hill, and his brother, Jordon Feldstein, who went on to become a prominent music manager (Maroon 5 from the band’s inception), Joe Perry’s son, two of Pamela Adlon’s daughters, and Neil Diamond’s son, which included sitting in on their family Thanksgiving dinner. Being called to teach guitar to actors who needed to play on film... like Californication, where he worked on set for years, first hired to teach Becca Moody, aka Madeleine Martin, then teaching a passionate David Duchovny how to play off camera and then working it into the show... his call with David today, now four albums of his own later. All the while doing his own singer/songwriter band thing. Throughout the pod, Carlos noodled a bit, including snippets of a couple of my impromptu requests, finally treating us to a taste of his guitar genius. Carlos and I have history. He opened for Micky Dolenz with Rob Morrow at a Women Who Write event in my living room, the two then generously playing at my book signing at Book Soup, then again at another WWW in my living room, with an unscheduled Esai Morales jumping up to sing some Beatles tunes with Carlos at the end of his set. Carlos’ Hotel Cafe gig and his first appearance on Game Changers, at that time done face-to-face, also in my living room. Always warm, humble, enthusiastic, and fun, it felt like going home. I’ve missed my friend and had so much fun spending time, even if it was across the miles. I moved the show up two hours to accommodate the time difference, not realizing it’d be midnight for Carlos when we started. Not a peep of complaint, infact I was told he’d barely finished dinner. My gratitude abounds! Carlos Calvo on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson ***Wed, August 19th, SPECIAL TIME 3 pm PT, 6 pm ET*** Streamed Live on my FB, YouTube & LinkedIn
