T. J. Helmerich

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Todd Joseph “T. J.” Helmerich is an American musician^[1] and audio engineer.

Helmerich is known for developing a unique 8-finger style of playing his guitar, a technique he taught to a young Joel Hoekstra as one of his first guitar teachers. He has produced/engineered over 110 releases, working with some of the biggest names in the music industry. He has played/toured with Dweezil Zappa (Zappa Plays Zappa), Planet X (band), Autograph (American band), Paul Gilbert, Eddie Jobson, and others. He has been featured in popular guitar magazines nationally/internationally in ads, articles, reviews and lessons. Together with Australian guitarist Brett Garsed, the duo helped define the direction of instrumental guitar music throughout the 1990s and establish the genre now known as rock fusion.^{[citation needed]}

Helmerich resides in North Hollywood, California. He teaches guitar and audio engineering courses at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, where he created their "Recording Institute of Audio Engineering" (RIT) program. He held the directors seat at RIT for 10 years and has taught at the college for over 20. He can be caught performing regularly with an "all-star" line up at the world-famous The Baked Potato club.^{[citation needed]}