JJ Savage Biography
JJ Savage (born as Joey Pettinato) started performing around his hometown of Albany, New York when he was just 12 years old. Music was literally a lifeline for him. Mercilessly bullied over his Tourette Syndrome, Savage left public school after the sixth grade to be home schooled, and when he was ten years old his family noticed during his guitar lessons that his symptoms would evaporate while playing.
“I couldn’t put the guitar down,” says Savage. “I remember playing for hours.”
He recorded his first song at just 13 years old—not surprisingly an anti-bullying message entitled “We Are the Brave”—and distributed it for free. While attending a National Association of Music Merchants convention in Anaheim, California, his impromptu jamming at various manufacturer booths brought him several product-endorsement offers—including one from Gibson Guitars.
On January 25, 2019, Guardians of Guitar founder Michael Molenda and Leighsa Montrose presented Savage with the Ronnie Montrose Rock the Nation Award, which salutes young guitar talent. In March 2019, his latest single, “Junkyard Dogs,” caught the attention of Molenda and Ted Mason, President of Mi5 Recordings, Universal Music Group, who signed the now 19-year-old guitarist and songwriter to a distribution deal. As the executive producer of JJ Savage, Molenda, Editor-in-Chief of Guitar Player Magazine from October 1997 to June 2018, worked with Mason in 2018, to create Guardians of Guitar, a label for guitar-oriented albums and singles. Molenda's also created many live events and programs that helped young and well known guitarists such as Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar Competition, Certified Legend Award, the Ronnie Montrose Rock the Nation Award for Young Guitarists, the revitalized Guitar Player Records (Mi5Recordings), and various book projects for Hal Leonard Corporation (The Guitar Player Book, Guitar Heroes of the '70s, Carlos Santana, Clapton Beck Page), Founder of brand extensions, such as Rumble (for teen guitarists) and MC2 (a music technology publication).
https://www.facebook.com/1JJSAVAGE/
http://jjsavage.com
https://www.sinisterguitarpicks.com/jj-savage/
https://twitter.com/joeypettinato?lang=en
https://guardiansofguitar.com/2019/08/20/guardians-of-guitar-mi5-recordings-releases-digital-single-by-jj-savage/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCTC-sF9O3zh8Z-ffPY3kEg
https://www.instagram.com/jj_savage_official/?hl=en
https://www.amazon.com/Junkyard-Dogs-JJ-Savage/dp/B07VNKHBST
