Brian Hughes (musician)


Brian Hughes is a Canadian guitarist whose work draws from smooth jazz and Latin music. Hughes also plays oud, bouzouki, and balalaika. For over twenty years, he has worked in the studio with singer-songwriter Loreena McKennitt. He co-produced many of her recordings and leads her touring band.

Music career

Hughes grew up in Alberta, Canada and studied at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton and the Banff School of Fine Arts with jazz guitarists Ed Bickert and Gene Bertoncini. In 1981 he moved temporarily to Los Angeles where he studied at the Guitar Institute with Pat Martino, Joe Diorio, and Robben Ford.
In 1987 Hughes moved to Toronto where he began working with harpist Loreena McKennitt. In 1991 he recorded Between Dusk...and Dreaming, his first album as a leader, for Justin Time Records, followed by Under One Sky the next year. He started his label, Sylvan House Music, which was distributed by Warner Music Canada and licensed to Higher Octave Music/EMI in the U.S. and abroad. He recorded three more albums under this arrangement before releasing Along the Way with A440 Music Group in 2003. He returned to his Sylvan House Music imprint for the release of Live, No Reservations, and Fast Train to a Quiet Place in 2011. He moved to Los Angeles in 2000. Many of his works can be heard on The Weather Channel's Local on the 8's and on Sirius XM's Watercolors channel.

Awards and honors.

Hughes received the Society of Canadian Authors and Composers Jazz and Instrumental Composer of the Year award from 1997–2001 and in 2006 and 2008. He was nominated for a Juno Award as Producer of the Year in 1991 for Loreena McKennitt's album The Visit.

Discography