Guitarist Monte Pittman ready to rock out with Madonna in Istanbul

We’re only 2 days away from the Madonna MDNA world tour in Istanbul on June 7th and Monte Pittman is ready to rock out with Madonna in Istanbul!

This will be Monte’s first time in Istanbul, and he will be performing on the whole tour, as it hits Europe and North and South America, later in the year.

The touring band kicked off Madonna’s MDNA world tour in Tel Aviv, Israel, wishing peace in the Middle East. According to Pittman, the level of professionalism among the performers is the highest he’s encountered.

Raised in Longview, TX, Monte Pittman made the bold decision at only 24 to move to L.A. to pursue a career as a professional musician. Upon arrival in LA, he made ends meet by working at a local Guitar Center. Realizing he was better at teaching than selling, he left to start providing guitar lessons.

As fate would have it, his third student would end up being British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, who had just received a guitar from his girlfriend, Madonna. Soon after, Monte was introduced to the iconic performer, and became her guitar teacher as well. A month later, Monte was invited to join Madonna on stage at the David Letterman Show to promote her album, Music.

Monte has since played on every live tour starting with her 2001 Drowned World Tour to sharing writing credits on songs like “Easy Ride,” “Hey You” and “It’s So Cool” from 2009’s Celebration.

Monte has also played guitar and bass for the industrial rock band Prong. He is credited with co-writing songs on Scorpio Rising from 2003 and co-writing/co-producing their 2007 album, Power of the Damager, to which he also added backing vocals and bass. Monte has also been the lead guitarist and music director for Adam Lambert’s live band, and recently toured on the Glam Nation Tour. His rock influence is evident in Lambert’s more recent live performances. Fingers fly on the fretboard during electric solos, while his acoustic skills are showcased in the stripped-down arrangements of Adam’s songs.

In November 2009, Monte released his debut solo album, The Deepest Dark, which features 11 acoustic songs. Almost a year after its release, a special bonus version of The Deepest Dark was released and immediately reached the No. 1 spot on the Best-Selling Acoustic Albums list on CD- Baby.com. It was also No. 9 in the Top 10 Best-Selling CDs for the autumn of 2010.

He also recently released his second album, Pain, Love & Destiny, which in its first week made it to No. 1 Rock Album, No. 1 Pop Album, and made it onto the Top 10 Albums chart. In addition, it cracked iTunes’ Top 200 within its first week, making it the only album by an independent artist to have done so.

Last year, Monte’s Kickstarter campaign raised a staggering $65,500, making him the top rock musician to ever raise the most money on the Kickstarter crowd-funding platform. Monte met his initial goal of $5,000 in under 24 hours.

As if 2011 wasn’t amazing enough, 2012 is shaping up to be Pittman’s best year yet! Jarrell Guitars has honored Pittman with his very own MPS Series, a signature Monte Pittman guitar. Monte also performed with his new signature guitar at the 2012 Super Bowl alongside Madonna; and at the 2012 Artists In Music Awards, where he was honored with an award for Best Solo Artist, in addition to being nominated in four other categories. He has also recently been honored with a Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood F.A.M.E. Awards, and was nominated by the Los Angeles Music Awards for Best Male Singer/Songwriter; for Best Modern Rock Album and Best Independent Album by Melodic.net; and by Guitar Planet, which has inducted his new signature Jarrell guitar into its Hall of Fame, along with being up for Guitar Planet’s Guitar of the Year Award.

For more info on Monte Pittman check www.montepittman.com

Photo credit: Lisa Pittman

Author: istanbul

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