Acoustic double-neck guitarist and Candyrat recording artist Ian Ethan Case (Boston, USA) is quickly becoming recognized as “one of the most creative and engaging fingerstyle guitarists in the world” (International Center for Creativity.)

His unmistakable, one-of-a-kind playing style and compositional voice have drawn praise from icons like guitarist John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), bassist Lee Sklar (James Taylor), Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackermann, and Fingerstyle guitar legend Don Ross, who declared his live performance “some of the most massively inventive musicianship I’ve ever heard/seen.” Other listeners have described his music as a cross between Michael Hedges, Steve Reich, and Pat Metheny.

He has recorded, performed, and/or shared the stage with some of the most noteworthy artists in instrumental non-classical music including Victor Wooten, Stanley Jordan, Michael Manring, Manu Delago (Björk), Jharis Yokley (Jose James), Jeremy Kittel, GoGo Penguin, Andy McKee, and Grammy Award winners Eugene Friesen and Paul McCandless, as well as members of the Hartford Symphony and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. In the United States, his music has been featured on popular nationwide radio programs including NPR’s “Here & Now” and PRI’s “Echoes”, while numerous viral videos have reached over 14 million listeners around the world.

Growing up in a rural area and with few musicians to play with, Case was forced to develop creative ways of extending his reach as a solo musician, using a combination of technology, unusual instruments, and inventive techniques in order to achieve the multi-layered ensemble music he was hearing in his head. He studied at Berklee College of Music and gleaned further insights from music camps, clinics, and private lessons with top jazz musicians such as John Pattitucci (Wayne Shorter), Antonio Sanchez (Pat Metheny), Aaron Goldberg (Joshua Redman, Kurt Rosenwinkel), Mike Manieri (Steps Ahead), Adam Rogers (Michael Brecker, Chris Potter), and master percussionists Giovanni Hidalgo, Jamey Haddad, and Glen Velez.

Since then, he has crafted and refined his unique voice and his live performance over the course of hundreds of concerts throughout the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, and Italy. Following his 2018 album “Earth Suite” (Candyrat Records) which featured a total of 12 guest musicians, Case debuted his innovative “Photon Symphony”, a lifelike virtual ensemble comprised of multiple synchronized projections which allow a large cast of musicians to join him on stage in a unique blend of virtual reality and live performance. Newly expanded and upgraded for 2024, the live show features brand new compositions supported by the most talented and diverse group of instrumentalists the guitarist/composer has assembled to date, along with spectacular landscape footage from world-traveling videographer Charley Voorhis.

As one first-time listener in California exclaimed: “Ian’s music is phenomenal - watching him play is not ‘listening to musc’; it’s a full-mind experience. Transporting.”
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"A sonic feast, an epic journey both aurally and conceptually...Each piece is a mini-symphony that holds the attention fully. Run Toward the Mountains [is] a major achievement which is sure to confirm Case among the ranks of significant artists at work today." - Céline Keating, Minor7th.com

"...sets standards not only in the field of acoustic guitar...he will probably be rightly regarded as one of the most innovative guitarists of our time." - Andreas Schiffmann, MusikReviews.de

“The first glimpse into a video of the American guitarist presents technical fireworks reminiscent of colleagues like Preston Reed or Andy McKee. Listening more closely, however, reveals many more details: traces of Pat Metheny, jazz improvisation, folk sounds and the musical realization of the American expanse into cleverly arranged songs.” -Gitarre und Bass



“He creates melodious, orchestral and rhythmic soundscapes that unfold a hypnotic story. An unforgettable, magical and enchanting musical experience.” - Michael Litzko, Klangfarben Kufstein

“It was refreshing to witness a guitarist who has created his own style and is not emulating a host of other players.” - Devon “Doc” Wendell, The International Review of Music

“A transfixing brand of energetic minimalism, with intense grooves and a harmonic sense reminiscent of Pat Metheny's best moments." - Don Ross , 2x winner, US National Fingerstyle Guitar Competition

“The musical compositions all move through a considerable level of poignancy, but manage to leave a listener with a sense of wonder and optimism, sorely missed in civilization in our current era.” - Peter Bruce Wilder, Emmy-winning Producer & Composer