Pure Guitar was founded in September 2012 by Jas Obrecht, Ryan Rhea, and Christian Magee – the “J,” “R,” and “C” in the magazine’s parent company, JRC Media, LLC. A longtime music journalist and guitar magazine editor, Jas Obrecht oversees the printed words and editorial staff. Our Director of Online Technology, Ryan Rhea, visualizes what the magazine could and should be, and directs the tech wizards who make it happen. Christian Magee, Executive Director of Business and Finance Operations, handles our day-to-day business decisions. Charles Montgomery is our Ad Director. Creative Director Claudia Lopez Rhea provides the magazine’s look and gets credit for coming up with the name “Pure Guitar.”
From the start, our mission has been to create a new breed of guitar magazine that blends literate, in-depth journalism with the technology available to internet and mobile app users. Longtime followers of guitar magazines will recognize several of the names on our masthead. Tom Wheeler, Tom Mulhern, Jon Sievert, Joe Gore, and Jas Obrecht were all staff editors during what’s affectionately called the “golden era” of Guitar Player magazine, from 1977 through the early 1990s. Wayne Goins, Director of Jazz Studies at Kansas State University and first-call studio guitarist Tim Pierce round out our editorial staff. Our headquarters is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Pure Guitar’s founders: Christian Magee, Ryan Rhea, and Jas Obrecht.
