In a very short period of time Dory Lobel has made a name for himself as a hot L.A guitarist, songwriter, bassist, composer and producer. His stylistic diversity and technical prowess, coupled with his strong musical instincts and soulful approach enable him to seamlessly fit into any musical situation. He has performed all over the world playing for multi-platinum selling artists Jesse McCartney, the Backstreet Boys, Colbie Caillat and Enrique Iglesias. He has played on television shows including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Good Morning America”, MTV’s “Total Request Live”, “The View”, “Ellen”, “Regis & Kelly”, “U Pick”, “All That”, “Access Hollywood” and “The Megan Mullally Show”. He also had the honor of performing an acoustic show for President George W. Bush on ABC’s 4th of July “Salute for the Troops” and was featured in countless TV specials, radio shows and magazines all over the world. As a composer and songwriter he has worked for companies such as NBC, Sony, Hollywood Records and EMI. In 2006, Dory co-wrote and played on 11 of the 12 songs on Jesse McCartney new record “Right Where You Want Me” (Hollywood Records), which debuted at number 15 on the U.S Billboard 200, scoring top 10 spots in Europe and Asia. Amazingly, he has accomplished all of this within three years of his move to U.S.

Born in Boston and raised in Israel, Dory Lobel has had a bit of a different musical upbringing than most musicians. He asked his parents to buy him a guitar when he was only 3 years old (“I still own that little guitar”). Throughout his formative years, he studied piano and attended the Tel-Aviv School of the Arts where he focused mainly on the visual arts. At age 13 he began taking lessons with a local guitar instructor and quickly showed formidable facility on the instrument. After several years of private lessons he decided it was time to take his musical education into his own hands and started learning music directly from the source: his record collection. “For as long as I can remember, I could always easily pick up melodies and chords by ear, so every time I would listen to a record it was almost like getting a private lesson from the performer.” He spent countless hours studying and analyzing the styles of guitar greats such as Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Albert King and artists such as Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire and Pink Floyd. “Stylistically, I’ll listen to anything, as long it’s intelligent, heartfelt and honest.”

By age the ago of 18, Dory was already gigging around town at local rock clubs and teaching privately 5 days a week. Living in Israel at the time, he was drafted to the Israeli army (the I.D.F) for the mandatory service period of 3 years, hand-picked to serve at the research department of the Military Intelligence Corps. “That was definitely a trip: being a soldier by day and a musician at night, trying to keep growing as a player with practically no time to practice.”

Surprisingly, those years turned out to be a blessing in disguise: “while I couldn’t sit down and play for hours like I did before, I could still listen to different styles of music all day, which turned out to be exactly what I needed.” Towards the end of his military service, he landed the guitar spot in the house-band of a successful R&B club. “Those were crazy times. I used to do the soundchecks with my uniform still on, then sleep in my car outside the club until showtime in order to make up for the late hours, since I was still a soldier at the time”. That gig proved to be well worth the lost sleep, as the musicians in the band were some of the most successful and well-known session musicians in Israel who kept him working and gigging in countless different projects throughout the following year. During that time, Dory had played with some of the top artists in the Israeli music scene, performing all over the country and making a name for himself. During that time he also wrote music for various projects including the independent film “Lizardman” which was featured in major film festivals across Europe.

But while things were going great, it still wasn’t enough. “I felt like I was ready to take my career to the next level, and move back to the U.S.”. Shortly thereafter he was on a plane to L.A and enrolled to the world renowned guitar program in Hollywood’s Musician’s Institute. “Going to Musician’s Institute has been a lifelong dream of mine. It’s like a rite of passage for guitar players “. On his first day at Musician’s Institute Dory took his placement tests and tested out of the first 12 months of the 18 month long program and started his studies directly in the Professional Guitar Program, which allowed him to finish the courses in only six months. While attending Musician’s Institute, Dory also won the first place in the school’s Guitar Contest and was awarded first prize- a vintage Marshall half-stack. “Musician’s Institute was a great experience. I got to meet and study with many of my guitar heroes such as Scott Henderson, along with some truly amazing teachers such as Jean-Marc Belkadi, Dan Gilbert and Allen Hinds. I also got to really focus on my own playing and the direction I want to take it. I expect to have a long lasting friendship with the school.”