My name is Michael Gutshall. I’ve been playing piano since I was 4 years old, and my experience with the instrument has been extremely diverse. I started teaching myself the basics and then around the age of 7, I took lessons from the pianist at our local church. Further down the road, around age 13, I took lessons from Nancy Weston, who got me into piano recitals and showed me more about music theory. After I graduated from Irmo High School, I took a semester of lessons from Professor Fugo from USC’s School of Music. Since then I’ve been playing with several bands around Columbia: besides starting my own original music duo called Travel Therapy with Smith Austin (bassist), I play keys for the synth-pop/funk bands OUTEREGO and Bad Vessel. I have a deep love for music in general and am looking forward to getting any students excited for it as well! Music has always been a sanctuary and also deeply therapeutic for me, and my goal is to plant a seed of musical inspiration. Piano may be my primary instrument, but I also know how to play guitar and I record my own original music (with vocals, guitar, and drums). So if the student requires any immediate help in those areas I am more than willing to assist.