Welcome to the WebTop of: Kevin Toler

Musician, Artist, Songwriter

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Kevin Toler, founding member of many rock and jazz fusion bands, was born in March of 1964. Kevin has studied with master guitarists Joe Pass, Joe Diorio, Larry Carlton, Frank Gambale and many others from the Guitar Institute of Technology. Kevin Toler grew up in the late 70's and 80's, an era where blues, rock, jazz fusion, and progressive rock was very popular. Kevin started playing the guitar when he was 11 years old. His formative musical years took place in southern Illinois and the Chicago suburbs where he played the clubs and toured the mid-west with a variety of bands, playing covers from Led Zeppelin, Yes, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith and everything else that was popular at the time. He then opened his still developing ears to the likes of Jean Luc Ponty, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, Steely Dan, Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, Lenny Breau, etc. It was around that time when he merged his rock chops with elements of jazz and fusion and started to develop his own style, although Kevin Toler claims to be more of a rock and roll player, it was the influence of jazz that led him to the style of playing and composing that he is now recognized for. Kevin Toler is also a professional artist and has been creating artwork, illustrations, graphics and interfaces for many years, most notably is Frank Zappa's "CIVILIZATION: Phase III" CD cover art co-created with Russian artist Uri Balashov.