Meet Jamie Dupuis, an immensely talented composer, guitarist and harp guitarist from New Liskeard in Canada. Jamie's fame has grown steadily due to his very well-received arrangements and performances on his YouTube channel.
Jamie's popularity exploded in 2016 when his arrangement of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, played on the harp guitar, got over 19 million views on Facebook. In that same year, he won the Canadian Guitar Festival Competition. This helped cement Jamie's reputation as one of the world's finest guitarists.
If you want to check out one of Jamie's best performances, you should watch his version of Nothing Else Matters. Although it has only been viewed 499,000 times, classical music and Metallica fans rave about it in the comments section.
One commenter exclaimed, "I'm a huge Metallica fan and this is one of the most beautiful covers I've had the pleasure of listening to. Bravo!" Another positive comment explained how much Jamie's rendition touched them, "Love this so much. This was my dads favorite song. He died 7 months ago. I'm still so devastated and heartbroken. This song gives me chills and peace." It's wonderful, so it's well worth a listen.
If you're thinking he's so talented that he must have started young, you're right. Jamie began, as many musicians seem to, by learning to play the piano. He enjoyed music and began to study music theory and notation soon after, but Jamie didn't fall in love until he was fourteen. Inspired by legendary rock bands like Metallica, Nirvana, Van Halen and Rush, Jamie got his first guitar.
His ability quickly developed, and although he loved playing, he still felt he had further to go. Seeking help, he talked it over with his music teacher, who recommended Jamie also learn classical guitar. That's when Jamie's playing ascended to another level. He practised feverishly for up to eight hours a day.
He studied classical music, jazz and rock and started composing his own music. He graduated from high school and attended Cambrian College, with campuses across Ontario. He worked to become a soloist under the tuition of musician Philip Candelaria. Jamies' hard work paid off. His dreams came true when he won a full scholarship to the Musicians Institute in California. It set him off on his path to stardom.
Jamie graduated in 2012 and since then has worked as a professional musician. He has performed everywhere, from weddings and bar gigs to session work and festivals. He has also continued uploading performances to his YouTube channel. It has 304,000 subscribers, and his 18-string guitar cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence has been viewed 14 million times.
Jamie's music is not just confined to YouTube, though. He has released sixteen guitar and harp guitar albums, which are available on Apple Music and Spotify. It's quite an impressive number, as Jamie is only thirty-two. It's safe to say there's a lot more fantastic music on the way.
If you would like to see more from this awesome guitarist, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel or follow him on Facebook page. You can also visit his official website for more information.