Alum

Thaddeus Hogarth

Position
Professor
Affiliated Departments
Telephone
617-747-2830

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Born in the U.K. and raised in the West Indies, Thaddeus Hogarth is a professor in the Guitar Department. A two-time winner of the Independent Music Award for R&B/Blues, he has been a prominent guitar and chromatic harmonica player and singer-songwriter on the New England music scene since graduating from Berklee in 1988. He leads the Thaddeus Hogarth Collective. 

Hogarth and his band have shared the bill or stage with such legends as Tower of Power, Average White Band, Fred Wesley, Bernie Worrell, and Ernie Isley, among many others. He was one of 24 acts selected to represent Bose nationwide for the launch of their live music amplification technology. His collaborations include Grammy Award nominee and reggae legend Sister Carol. Before his solo career, Hogarth was the principal singer-songwriter and guitarist for Boston's own award-winning Heavy Metal Horns (1990–94), known for their heavy-hitting, funk rock grooves and full brass sound. 

Hogarth has produced and released five solo CDs and a live concert DVD. He is the author of Funk/R&B Guitar: Creative Solos, Grooves & Sounds and Berklee Chromatic Harmonica Method: Foundations for Jazz for the Berklee Press. For Berklee Online, he has authored Funk/Rock and R&B Guitar Soloing, and his Berklee/Coursera course, Guitar for Beginners, has enrollment surpassing 500,000. 

Hogarth's music and voice can be heard worldwide in full-length and independent short feature films and on commercial television, PBS, and MTV. Billboard Magazine describes his music as "soul terra firma," and the Boston Globe called him a "guitar virtuoso."

Career Highlights
  • Leader of the Thaddeus Hogarth Collective
  • Recordings include five solo CDs and a live performance DVD
  • Publications include Funk/R&B Guitar: Creative Solos, Grooves & Sounds and Berklee Chromatic Harmonica Method: Foundations for Jazz for the Berklee Press, the Berklee Online course Funk/Rock and R&B Guitar Soloing, and the Berklee/Coursera course Guitar for Beginners 
  • Collaborations with Grammy Award nominee and reggae legend Sister Carol
  • Former lead vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer for Boston's award-winning Heavy Metal Horns
  • Performances with or on the same bill as Tower of Power, Jimmy Cliff, James Montgomery, the Neville Brothers, and Johnny Winter, among others
  • Performances at Montreal Jazz Fest, Newport at Saratoga Jazz Festival, and the Boston Globe Jazz Festival
Awards
  • Best New Band, Boston Magazine, 1990
  • Outstanding Club Act, Boston Music Awards, 1992
  • Independent Music Award, Best Blues/R&B Song, 2001
  • Independent Music Award, Best R&B Album, 2006
In Their Own Words

"As a thriving independent recording artist, I think of my job as not only to disseminate information but to give a strong basis of context for this information and a method for incorporating it into the student's own identity as a musician, whether as a performer, a composer, or both."

"I'd like my students to gain what I call a dose of reality. I try to keep them thinking about the reasons why they're doing this and keep those valuable reasons in the forefront. I've had success with this as motivation for the daily practice routines that may seem tedious. I encourage them to be open and to set realistic goals, while at the same time realizing that the process is equally important. This is true not just in the classroom."