Gary Pihl

Gary Pihl
Gary Pihl performing with Boston on June 13, 2008 in Hinckley, Minnesota
Background information
Born	(1950-11-21) November 21, 1950 (age 66) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Rock
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, bass guitar
Years active	1963 - present
Labels	Epic, CBS
Associated acts	Boston, Sammy Hagar
Notable instruments
Steinberger Guitars PRS Guitars Gibson Guitars Roland Synthesizers

Gary O. Pihl (pronounced "peel") (born 1950) is a guitarist best known for playing with Sammy Hagar and his membership in the band Boston.

Gary Pihl was born on November 21, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois, where he lived the first 12 years of his life. In 1963 his family relocated to San Mateo, California, where Pihl would become active in music and a participant in a number of local bands. Gary graduated from Hillsdale HS, San Mateo CA.

At his home recording studio, Pihl worked with the founding members of a band that would eventually be called "Night Ranger." They recorded demos for their first and second albums (Dawn Patrol and Midnight Madness, respectively) at his home studio. Night Ranger was initially called "Ranger," but the band found that the name was already being used by another band and changed it prior to the first album release.

He also played with several other bands including Day Blindness, Crossfire (Steve Jones, Mitchell Froom, David Froom, Phil Marshall with Jeff Dorenfeld as manager; Crossfire also performed with Norman Greenbaum as lead singer for several years.), Stark Raving Mad (Gary on lead vocals and guitar, Donovan Stark, Paul Taylor (later of Winger), Jay Causbrook, and David Payne, with Eric Martin of Mr. Big joining after Gary left, among other players), and Alliance. (Note: There have been several different bands named Alliance.)

Crossfire featured an ARP Odyssey and ARP String Ensemble played by Mitchell Froom (who would later become known for the soundtrack to "La Bamba" and other films while also producing bands in LA). Crossfire's seminal moment was their performance at the Stop the Dam Concert held at Sonoma State College, (now Sonoma State University). The concert was to raise awareness and funds to stop the Army Corps of Engineers construction of the Lake Sonoma Dam project in Geyserville's Dry Creek Valley.