About |
Craig D. Ferguson is a Los Angeles based utility musician who's American Roots style blends jazz, country, folk, bluegrass, blues and early rock n' roll. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, you can hear Craig playing guitar, mandolin, dobro, slide guitar, lap steel, banjo, pedal steel, and ukulele for films, television, commercials, and live on stage. Since graduating Summa Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music in 2005, Craig has made ten national television appearances, performed over 1,000 live gigs, and recorded sessions for commercial spots by Chevy, GMC, Kayak.com, and John Deere. He's worked for some of the top LA composers like Michael A. Levine, Cliff Martinez, Greg Tripi, Mateo Messina, and Carlos Jose Alvarez for platforms and networks like Nintendo Wii, CBS, Lifetime, and Discovery.
An active performer, Craig spent seven years with "Cliff Wagner & The Old No. 7" appearing on Ep. 2 of Justified, and FOX TV's The Next Great American Band while working bluegrass festivals like the Colorado River, Yuma, Logandale, and Parker Bluegrass Festivals. Since then he's backed up numerous singer/songwriters and worked with other California bands including "Rocky Neck Bluegrass Band", "Little Faith", and "Tumbleweed Rob & Southwest Junction". The 2015 Arizona State Mandolin Champion is also a successful songwriter and composer licensing instrumental music into over sixty television shows. His song “My Retro Weekend” won 3rd place in Folk/Americana in the 2014 Austin Songwriters Group Songwriting Contest and was a Top 20 Finalist out of 1700 songs for 2014 The Great American Song Contest.
As an educator, Craig's students have won 1st place in instrumental contests, received scholarships to San Diego State University and Berklee College of Music, excelled in school jazz bands (including the honorable LAUSD All-City Jazz Band), and have gone on to perform at local venues like The Whiskey A Go Go. Craig has been a judge at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest for six consecutive years and he has also judged at the Cloverdale Fiddle Festival in Northern California. He was also a guest speaker and panelist at the 2012 SEA conference in Chicago, IL and returned again as a panelist and lecturer in February 2016. He's taught the "Flatpicking Kenny Baker Tunes" guitar workshop at Father's Day Festival, Parkfield Bluegrass Festival and the "Flatpicking Sally Ann" workshop at the Old Time Fiddler's Convention in Goleta, California.
Looking forward to 2017, Craig is excited to endorse Sorensen Mandolins, ProPik Finger Picks and work with the new bluegrass outfit Hot October and his own solo project FERGHEART.