Nine Questions

Acoustic guitarist Michael Gulezian was born in Newark, N.J., but grew up in Tucson and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship from the UA. For more than 25 years, he has toured the country, performing in a style that has been likened to those of John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Alex DeGrassi and Michael Hedges. He saw the release of his debut album, Unspoken Intentions, at 19 on Fahey's Takoma Records. These days, he owns his own label, Timbreline Music (www.timbrelinemusic.com), from which his most recent CD is 2005's Concert at St. Olaf College. Gulezian returns to Tucson to play at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16, at Old Town Artisans, 201 N. Court Ave. Tickets cost $17 in advance; $20 at the door. Call 297-9133 for more information.

What was the first concert you ever saw?

Mahavishnu Orchestra, at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall.

What CDs are in your changer right now?

Reset, Mute Math; Temporal Analogues of Paradise, Shawn Lane, Jonas Hellborg and Apt. Q-258; 6- and 12-String Guitar, Leo Kottke; Medicine Music, Bobby McFerrin; Oracle, Michael Hedges; The Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett; Takk ..., Sigur Rós; One Size Fits All, Frank Zappa.

How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?

937.

Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?

Never.

What was the first album you owned?

Blind Joe Death by John Fahey.

What song would you like to have played at your funeral?

"Montana" by Frank Zappa.

Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

Watching the video of Ashlee Simpson getting booed off the stage at the Orange Bowl. It's a gleeful reminder that the vast majority of people have better taste than the record-company weasels who try to control what we get to hear.

What band or artist changed your life, and how?

I'll always be grateful to Leo Kottke for flushing my fingerpicks down the toilet backstage after we appeared together on A Prairie Home Companion. In terms of my technical approach to the instrument, it was the best thing any musician ever did for me.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

Exploded View by Steve Tibbetts.