Hiroya is a one-of-a-kind composer, guitarist, and singer-songwriter from Kyoto, Japan. He began playing the five-string banjo when he was thirteen and took up the guitar shortly after. An international and Japanese-born musician will make his way to the Music Box, bringing with him earthy and organic soundscapes that impart a mood of peace and tranquility. He wowed the audience at his last appearance at the Music Box when he played, read poetry to wonderful soundscapes and told stories of many cultures.
A guitarist and composer originally from Kyoto, Japan, Tsukamoto began playing the five-string banjo when he was 13, then took up guitar shortly after. In 2000, he received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and came to the US. Because he thought there are still many things to learn in the U.S. not only in school, but also being in the real music scene and from musicians, he stayed. Around the time he graduated he was focusing on jazz, so he moved to New York.
After moving to New York, he met and played with many talented musicians from all over the world, and that made him think that he can write any style of music and can play it very well. Since then, Tsukamoto has performed both internationally and nationally, with several appearances on major television shows and six albums.
Tsukamoto explains that his show is “a mixture of guitar songs, vocal songs (Japanese folk music and originals) and poetry with audience participation, adding that his music is cinematic guitar poetry that overdubs voice and guitar in real time and improv. “I was looking for a phrase for how to describe my music. When I played in North Carolina about three years ago, I asked my concert organizer how to describe my music, and she came up with ‘Cinematic Guitar Poetry.’ I didn’t intend to make my music cinematic, but maybe [because] I write most of my music when I travel, many people mention that it has cinematic vibe or traveling image thought put to it,” Tsukamoto said.
Find out more, listen to some tunes and watch some videos at www.hiroyatsukamoto.com