Chuck Sull is the newest addition signed to the Now Hear This client roster. As a result of his skills, he forces NHT to drop the second word in the “Promoting Vocal Talent” company tagline when it comes to efforts on his behalf.
A longtime resident of the greater Tampa Bay area, he is a 12-string acoustic guitar player.
His debut CD, “Requiem for the Wolfhound” (shown at right),
came out this past December and features eleven tracks of his own original music.
Dominick Pages recorded Sull at Crystal Blue Sound Studios in Brandon, Florida, and called him one of the best 12-string guitar pickers he has ever seen.
You don’t get that good by accident.
Sull grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he said he’d sit on the front porch of his mother’s house, playing for six hours at a time. Nowadays he goes at it for three hours every night, playing a one-of-a-kind Martin guitar built just for him.
It should come as no surprise, then, that he already has seven new songs toward a second CD.
He started with folk rock on the guitar, at age 13, playing the likes of Gordon Lightfoot and Ian & Sylvia, among others. In later years he played at The Bitter End, which is the oldest rock and roll club in New York City.
Presently a solo artist, Sull also spent one summer living on Long Island, playing with a group called The Northfields. He lived in Levittown and played in the Village, and other places in that area.
Although music has always been first and foremost, for a few years he was also a boxer. His trainer/coach was a sparring partner for Sugar Ray Robinson. Just like his dedication to the guitar, Sull sought to come out on top in boxing too, and during his brief career never got knocked out or even knocked down, and was undefeated.
While focusing on where he is now, Sull is very aware of his past.
“My favorite was a flamenco guitar player named Carlos Montoya. I used to see him play at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo all the time. He was a Spanish gypsy and was the master of the tremolo. He inspired me a lot, listening to him and watching him play. He was so fast and his hands were so perfect. You never heard a bad note. He was the Itzhak Perlman of flamenco guitar.”
Sull owns two Irish Wolfhounds, one of which (“Sugar”) is pictured on the cover of his CD as she had passed away. (The title track had been written in her memory shortly after she passed.) He laughs and says that “Strong Hands” might be the title of his next CD because he says that’s what it takes to play 12-string guitar.
“Over the last five years I really started listening to the tonal quality and the richness of the 12-string, which is enhanced by the octave strings giving it an orchestral quality. I then worked more on my right hand technique because that’s what it’s all about. That’s how you can bring more tonal quality. You can use tremolo, arpeggio, and resqueado to bring out the warm tonal quality that sits inside the 12-string.”
Now Hear This looks forward to working with him, and listeners are sure to enjoy Sull’s music and feel the warmth in his songs and his playing, starting with a sample below of a track called “After It Rains,” from his debut CD.