A HARD WORKING MAN
I gotta have it!
Jani Wickholm is a hard working musician, gigging a lot around Finland. Years ago he called me up: “Hey, I’m standing at your shop door but I guess you’re not open today? I wanna try guitars!” – I knew Jani was a really talented player, and I was curious to hear if he’d like my work, so I drove to the shop and showed him what I had. He kept going back to a blue velvet Mojo Grande we had built for some guitar show, and after a while he said had to have it. It means a lot to me every time a professional player chooses my guitar – it confirms to me that we’re doing our job right.
Music since very early age
Jani’s family got a piano when Jani was 4 years old. His exceptional musicality came forth in very early age, and he started studying classical piano at the age of six. Jani started playing guitar a few years later, and it stole his heart completely.
From pop to prog rock
Jani played actively in local bands, influences changing from Finnish sang pop/rock all the way to Dream Theater. His technical skills as a guitarist developed further, partly to adapt his keen interest to prog rock. Jani continued to explore different fields of music scene on amateur basis, getting his living from various “real jobs”.
His life changed for good
A turning point for Jani’s music career came with the Idols television show. At first sceptical about such competitions, Jani decided however to check it out – and this was to change his life for good! Jani came in second place on the Finnish Idols 2003, and he has released a number of albums since, all of them enjoying great success on the Finnish album and single charts.
