MARSHALL DAWSON
Music Instruction Guitar, Ukulele, Bass
Marshall has a bachelor’s degree in music composition. He started playing the ukulele when he could sit up, drums at age 7, guitar at 13, and bass at 17. He has played these instruments in bands of widely varying quality since 1983, and has taught guitar, bass and ukulele at Guitar Works since 1995.

PAT FLEMING
Music Instruction Guitar
Pat started playing the guitar at the age of 11, having demonstrated an interest in it long before that. Later in life, he studied with many teachers, including Paul Strasser, Curt Lehman, David Bloom, Jack Cecchini, the renowned session player Milt Norman, the late jazz guitar master John Abercrombie, Jazz guitar legend Mike Stern and saxophone icon David Liebman. Pat has worked/shared the stage with a diverse group of musicians, including David Amram, Bob Gibson, Bonnie Koloc, Jim Post, Tom Paxton, Paquito de Rivera and Josh White Jr., D-Section, The Balkan Rhythm Band, Howard Levy and Fareed Haque. His scholarship and vast performing experience have embraced many types of music, making him well versed in folk, Balkan, jazz, blues and rock styles.

GUS FRIEDLANDER
Music Instruction Banjo, Mandolin, Flatpick Guitar
Our resident Folk instructor, Gus has over 40 years’ experience as a professional musician and has been teaching music full-time since 1989. He teaches guitar, mandolin, and banjo, and specializes in bluegrass, Celtic music, and traditional jazz.

JASON HUNT
Music Instruction Guitar
Jason Hunt is an Evanston native and classical guitarist who has been teaching and performing at nightclubs, weddings, dinners, country clubs and restaurants in the Chicagoland area in the Chicagoland area for 18 years. In addition to earning a degree in classical guitar from Northwestern under Ann Waller, Jason has also studied Classical Guitar with Mark Maxwell (DePaul) and Saxophone with Paul Bro. Thru Northwestern and other Chicagoland opportunities Jason has performed at masterclasses for such artists as Oscar Ghiglia, Scott Tenant, Robert Guthrie, and the L.A. Guitar Trio. Not just an expert in classical guitar, Jason also has a wide range of styles in which he teaches.

TOM KLEIN
Music Instruction Guitar
Tommy is a long-time fixture in the Chicago music scene who has been playing guitar for over 50 years and has been teaching guitar several decades. A disciple of guitar icon Jack Cecchini, Tommy has also studied with Howard Roberts, Johnny Smith and Mark Goodrick. Training and experience have made Tommy adept in multiple disciplines including jazz, funk, soul, rhythm & blues, country, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll. Primarily known for his work in the legendary surf band, Spies Who Surf and the critically acclaimed jazz/funk fusion band Liquid Soul, Tommy also performs regularly in several other outfits and combos around the globe.  He also collects wah-wah pedals.

DAN POLONSKY
Music Instruction Guitar, Bass, Ukulele
Dan became interested in bass as a teenager, and played bass and guitar in bands throughout high school.  As an adult, he learned to play the accordion, which haunts him to this day. He has played, toured, and recorded with many Chicago bands since 1992, and has worked at Guitar Works since 1994, where he continues to teach guitar, bass, and ukulele.  Dan is putting the finishing touches on a movie script in the works titled "Kodiak Bear Knuckle Boxing", with which he hopes to attract the attention of Nicolas Cage (and the Academy).

ERWIN C. YASUKAWA
Repairs, Music instruction Bass
Erwin began his musical career with the study of trombone at Senn High School in Chicago, Illinois (USA), eventually participating in Chicago’s All-City High School Band. He then continued his studies at Loop College, Columbia College, and at Northwestern University. In 1973, Erwin made the transition to electric bass and acoustic string bass under the tutelage of Rufus Reid and Warren Benfield. His professional experience ranges from teaching bass at Guitar Works, to playing club dates, concerts, studio sessions for films and commercials, to backing up dance troupes and touring the Midwest and West Coast with various rock, folk, blues and jazz artists. In the summer of 1995, Erwin toured Ireland with Green Linnet recording artist & Ireland’s 1996 folk artist of the year, Martin Hayes. Erwin has been working in the repair shop since 2000, setting up and repairing instruments.