teddy kumpel

Teddy played guitar on the Grammy winning album “Home” by Tim Kubart, sang backgrounds with Nine Inch Nails on the MTV music awards, toured and/or recorded with Joe Jackson, Rickie Lee Jones, Goodie Mob, Feist, Toots Hibbert, played on many soundtracks including Anchorman and Talladega Nights, produced, engineered and helped develop many artists all while nurturing his own art and unique vision over his 30 year + career.

Teddy was born and raised in Port Jefferson, NY, into a musical family. Teddy’s mom was a classical pianist and church organist who had perfect pitch and could play any instrument. His father was a mathematics professor who enjoyed singing, playing piano and ukulele with The Great American Songbook. His family was always playing music together, which inspired Teddy to write his first song at 4 years old. At around the same time, he began playing baritone ukulele as well as playing any instrument his parents had lying around the house,…violin, flute, piano, organ and guitar. 

During his teen years, Teddy studied with world renown music teacher Richard Rabatin at the Stony Brook School of Music. After reading the book “For Guitar Players Only” by Tommy Tedesco, at 13, he announced to his parents that he was going to be a professional studio guitar player. Teddy played in school bands, orchestras, choirs and as well as taking classical guitar private lessons.

After Teddy attended University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, he was hired by Grammy Nominated jazz vocal group Rare Silk to be a part of their touring band. They toured for a year in 1986, during which time Teddy also spent some time in New York City to study with guitar legends Steve Khan, Dean Brown and Mick Goodrick. After the tour was over, Teddy returned to Miami to be a part of the legendary Concert Jazz Band directed by Whit Sidener at the Frost School of Music.

In 1988 Teddy moved to New York City to settle into being a professional musician. He spent a lot of time in the trenches, toughing it out with the rest of the NY musicians doing whatever he could to get by. In 1989, he interned at a studio on 45th St. in Manhattan where he learned how to cut tape, run midi from a computer in sync with tape and work a mixing console. 

Teddy always had a passion for making his own music. When he wasn’t working at studios or doing gigs, he was working on developing a voice on the guitar and as a writer. He put out his first record, NOME SANE? in 1994. His band did a European tour and recorded another record called “The Lost” in Montreal at Studio Piccolo. Teddy started writing songs with developing artists and helped catapult two record deals on Warner Brothers in the late 90’s. This earned him a publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing. After successes with songwriting, Teddy decided to try his hand at writing songs for a rock band he would then front. He called it “Teddy But” and put out two records.

In 2008 Teddy was creating a funk band with two guitar players, but couldn’t find another guitar player who was happy playing only rhythm guitar. Around this time, the first multi-track looping pedal came out and Teddy spent a couple of years figuring out how to loop with a live trio. This created, LOOPestra which played over 300 gigs at a Monday at midnight residence at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC between 2011 and 2018. LOOPesta live performances became a NYC institution and community building experience.

In fall 2019, Teddy decided to resurrect ‘NOME SANE?’ with the original drummer, Matt Miller and amazing bassist, Bob Stander. Then the pandemic hit, but that didn’t stop them from creating their album TIME WILL SHINE and their latest Kevin Wonders OF THE SQUIRREL.

photo by Marcus Wolf