O.J. Laier III guitar, dobro and banjo

O.J. Laier is known for his distinctive fingerpicking style and sound; his influences include Leo Kottke, John Michael Talbot, Norman Blake, Steve Stills, Norman Liota, Doc Watson, and Merle Travis. O.J. has 15 years of teaching experience and believes that learning should always be fun. "I try to de-mystify the learning process and encourage students to learn while playing the kind of music they want to be playing...as quickly as possible," he says. He teaches guitar, banjo, and dobro to beginners as well as advanced students who want to play folk, country, blues, rock, and bluegrass.

OJ's lifelong musical journey has included 20 years playing trumpet (he spent his Army years playing trumpet at Fort Sam Houston and in Stuttgart, Germany), winning a USO talent show and touring Europe as part of a folk trio, and playing lead guitar in a German rock band. Back in the States he toured the Midwest in Wabash Resurrection, a power rock trio, then spent a decade playing solo and duo gigs in the Black Hills of South Dakota (including the Deadwood casinos and the Sturgis bike rally). Currently he plays dobro and guitar with Hillbilly Parker, an Austin-based trio featuring tight vocal harmonies. O.J. is also known for his historically accurate recreations of Native American artifacts (www.prairieedge.com).

Student testimonial
" Despite my utter lack of training and education in the field of music, I have made surprising progress from my weekly studies with my guitar teacher, O.J. Laier III. After only two years I find that I can sing a variety of songs, six of which I have written myself. I am delighted to find that I have made excellent gains in learning to accompany myself with fingerpicking and now am beginning to use a flatpick. O.J. has an unusual ability to teach a disciplined technical approach while at the same time creating an atmosphere of freedom and confidence to develop creativity. He is fun to work with. His own skills on the guitar are wide-ranging, very impressive, and are backed with a deep knowledge of music theory. I have not found him to be intimidating, even when he plays Bach on his Martin! I recommend him without reservation." -- Seth H. Montgomery, Ph.D.