Chip Newton

Chip has taught guitar and music history at the university level for more than 20 years. Presently, he is an Assistant Professor of Guitar at East Carolina University and teaches classical and jazz guitar, directs the jazz ensemble-B, and teaches beginning guitar courses for students studying music therapy and education.

His recorded work spans many genres, though primarily classical and jazz. His recordings include the Dave Fox Group’s If These Songs Could Talk (2007), Swing Triade’s self-titled gypsy-jazz album (2012), Undermanned String Band’s self-titled Americana album (2013), Tony Thompson’s JAZZ! (2016) and In Velvet (2024), Keenan McKenzie’s A Bull City Holiday (2019) and Lakewood Jump (2024). The latter album featured Chip’s solos, and the track “Trashcat Shuffle” was heard internationally in a Sicilian music video. In the classical style, his solo guitar piece “A la Luz de las Estrellas,” was featured and broadcast on WPVM 103.7 The Sounds of the Carolinas in 2021. Chip was the featured performer on the premier recording of Four Pieces for Guitar by composer Jonathan Romeo in 2020. The movements of this suite draw on Renaissance and folk music languages with a modern harmonic sensibility. Chip’s new classical album, Echoes of Seven Worlds is set for release in April 2026, and will feature music from great composers like Albeniz, Giuliani, York, and Brouwer.

Chip has performed in many festivals across the state of North Carolina, and appeared as a featured soloist for the Elon University Jazz Festival and the Blowing Rock Jazz Society. International credits include concerts in Mexico, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. In 2019, Chip studied with world-renowned guitarist Martin Taylor, participating in a week-long workshop and playing in duet with Mr. Taylor on the final concert. 

Chip continues to actively perform throughout North Carolina and other states. His playing emphasizes clear phrasing, precise time, and functional harmony. His classical instrument was built by Gioachino Giussani in 1999 and was purchased from the collection of Maestro Pepe Romero. His jazz instrument is a vintage Gibson ES-175 that was described as “a jazz machine” by Martin Taylor.