Meet Steve Langemo | Guitarist, music teacher, composer, session musician.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Langemo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I work as a musician in the capacity of playing over one hundred dates per year as a professional guitarist, teaching a full-time roster of students at my lesson studio, working in composition and studio session work, and have released several albums of my own jazz fusion material. I don’t remember ever making a conscious choice to pursue a career in music over some other career path I was considering, It was just always what I was drawn to and having a life where I was immersed in what I enjoyed seemed much more true and honest than picking a random career based solely on earning potential or something. Of course I wasn’t exactly the most talented musician and still have a way to go but I’ve always enjoyed the process of getting better and making things happen and luckily there have always been plenty of ways to monetize what I am good at. Now in my early fifties I really value what I got involved in and where it has led me. I look forward to every day, am generally energized by everything I’m doing, and get to work with and be around a lot of talented and interesting people.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
While I work in an art not everything is creative. There are plenty of gigs that are maybe more vocational in nature and sometimes being an instructor is a different sort of creativity. My creative outlet is writing a lot of my own jazz and fusion material and I have released a few albums, the most recent is called Up From The Outside and that was released through a small instrumental focused record label called Guitar One Records. I’ve been playing more of my own instrumental gigs where I’m playing all of my own material and am continuing to figure out how to present that in better ways. In addition I do a lot of writing for the Denver vocalist and bandleader Jacob Larson and I’m pretty proud of our work on his recent album. We just started writing material for his next record and I really enjoy that partnership and what comes out of it.

The majority of my income comes from teaching and I work out my own lesson studio in Colorado Springs. I have now been teaching guitar for about 35 years and that has been key to having a really solid income in a creative field. I consistently have between forty and sixty active students on my schedule so that keeps me busy.

All of this has certainly taken a lot of work and still does. Practicing and working on creative projects takes quite a bit of time but I am quite happy to my time taken up by this stuff. I think enjoying the process is key to being able to be productive and get things done.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I do love Colorado and there is no end to the great things to do and see. I do love being in the mountains and hiking. The Manitou incline in Manitou Springs is a great one for anyone that is reasonably fit. The multitude of music venues in the Denver area would of course be a highlight and on any night you see world class regional talent and/or national acts.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I took a lot of lessons when I was younger, went to music school, and was around a lot of talented peers and mentors. As a kid I grew up in a pretty small own in North Dakota and had a great guitar teacher named Lynn Quamme who was very influential. He was responsible for getting me hooked and helping me to gain some initial skills. After that the list of instructors, peers, and older musicians I would go see would be very long.

Website: www.stevelangemo.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevelangemo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevelangemo/

Other: www.coloradospringsguitarstudio.com

Image Credits
Cathy Higley