Dean Lobas

Dean Lobas was a member of Landslide, my first serious band. Dean has continued to compose, record, and perform music through all of the years since Landslide. That's over 25 years for those counting.

Dean is locally best known as a talented performing artist, playing and singing solo, as well as with prerecorded tapes and drum machines. Dean is also a gifted composer, who has produced material in a wide range of styles. Late in 1997, Guitar Player Magazine, the primary publication for guitar-based musicians, announced a competition in honor of their 30th anniversary. Dean submitted an original acoustic finger-style performance composition, and was awarded first place in that category.

For those of us who have heard Dean and his work, this award is no surprise at all. In fact, Dean could probably win in a number of categories. The following picture and story were taken from the Sunday, May 17th, 1998 issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

*From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 17, 1998*
	First entry, first win for light-fingered guitarist. Some fancy fingerwork has earned a Seven Hills man first place in an international guitar competition. Dean Lobas, 47, entered a contest in Guitar Player magazine last July, in honor of the magazine's 30th anniversary. Lobas won in the acoustic finger style competition. "It was surprising and exciting", Lobas said. The song entered, "The Winds of Change" is an original. 'It's melodic, and it has a lot of nice rolls and finger-picking things on it," he said. "It's kinda neat [to win] you know after playing in the area for over 25 years. It's the first time I entered anything. I was playing so much I never really had time." Lobas has played in several Cleveland area groups, including Landslide and Fly By Night, but has been primarily playing on his own for the last 15 years. He said he first picked up the guitar when he was in middle school, "when the Beatles were hot and every kid wanted to play guitar. You saw them, and said 'Wow, I gotta play.'" Lobas is in the process of working on his first CD, but his award-winning song is going to be released prior to his CD. Guitar Player Magazine is putting out a 30th anniversary CD with Lobas' work, and the winners of 10 other categories.