Adriano Wisnik is a guitarist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is happiest when playing his acoustic or electric guitars, but is also known to dabble with the banjo, ukulele, and bass guitar.
The style of his solo acoustic guitar work can be difficult to define, but can be described as classically inspired, mostly fingerpicked, instrumental music.
Motivated primarily by his love for the music of Elvis Presley, Adriano started learning guitar at age 11 in his native Brazil, where nylon-string acoustic guitar is king. He studied classical guitar for several years, and soon started composing and performing his own solo pieces that are still in his repertoire to this day.
In the 1990s, Adriano was part of various bands and collaborations, including: Rock bands E&E, Etilicus Specimens, Della Brown, and Cesar Romero; The instrumental electric duo Eu&Ele; and the experimental rock opera / theatrical performance troupe Rollmops And The Kings Of Love.
Later, Adriano studied with renowned Brazilian guitarist Ulisses Rocha, who persuaded him to record his first demo, and participate in the first edition of the Prêmio Visa de MPB Instrumental (Visa Instrumental Brazilian Popular Music Award).
After moving to the United States, Adriano collaborated with local musicians and bands across various musical genres, like the Brazilian music group Tropicabana, and the Rock / Alternative band Agile Feedback (AKA Summa Band), while never stopping to write and record his own music.
Adriano's influences are varied, ranging from 'New Age' acoustic to Jazz fusion to instrumental Rock guitar soloists, including: Michael Hedges, Alex De Grassi, Ulisses Rocha, André Geraissati, Arthur Maia, Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucía, Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour, Frank Gambale, Joe Satriani, and - last but not least - Steve Vai, among others.
Adriano vows to continue writing music that is both uplifting and hopeful... but hopefully never dull. Or as his friends like to call it, "Adriano's strange guitar music".
