Testimonials
Heartfelt thanks to these outstanding people for their support and encouragement.
Originally recruited to Line 6 in a Product Marketing role, Barry quickly demonstrated his extensive product and industry knowledge and the depth and strength of his relationships within it. As our responsibilities expanded Barry seamlessly transitioned into a Marketing Communications role, ensuring that we created efficiencies in driving all of our brands’ messages.
Simon Jones
VP of Marketing, Yamaha Guitar Group
Writer and guitarist Barry Cleveland has been writing articulate and perceptive pieces about music and culture for decades. In his role as scribe of guitar-centric things, he covered the various efforts of yours truly back when few knew or cared much about my activities. Beyond his accomplishments in the world of journalism, Barry is also a skilled guitarist, painting lush sonic panoramas with his atmospheric electric guitar and effects. It comes as no surprise that Barry is inaugurating a new project, wherein he helps artists and inventors in the worlds of music and sound tell their stories. He is perfectly suited for such an endeavor.
Nels Cline
Guitarist, Composer, Sonic Adventurist (Wilco, Nels Cline Singers, Consentrik Quartet)
Barry has decades of excellent technical, marketing, and creative writing experience and writes in a friendly style that distills the technical down to something all levels can understand. He also possesses first-hand knowledge of what he writes about. Any team will be very lucky indeed to have someone as knowledgeable, personable, and innovative on their bench!
John Loose
Director of Audio Production, Dolby Laboratories
As Product Marketing Manager for Line 6, Barry led launches for some of the brand's most successful and influential products. Additionally, his Model Citizens blog—filled with compelling articles and interviews with artists, producers, and engineers—became a critical component of the brand's marketing efforts. Barry's ability to strategize, create, and write is complemented by his ability to collaborate and foster positive working relationships, while always staying focused on the best-possible outcome for the brand.
Matt Furguson
Director of Content Marketing, Yamaha Guitar Group
Barry’s real-world musical experience and educated research—as a recording musician, as a composer, as a published author, and as the best kind of guitar+tech nerd—certainly mark him as uniquely qualified to advise and help other musicians. Like a few other guitarist friends of mine, I’ve not only enjoyed his insightful and relaxed repartee in the media interviews he’s conducted with me, my own music has benefited greatly from his articles that reflect his quite deep interest and, critically, sincere love of music. Yes, we’ve also become friends over these many decades, and even occasional partners-in-(good) musical “crimes,” lol.
David Torn
Guitarist, Composer, Texturalist, Producer (David Bowie, k.d. lang, Tim Berne, John Legend)
I’m happy to have known and worked with Barry for more than 25 years. He literally changed my life when he wrote the very first review of our EL8 Distressor and effectively put it and our fledgling company Empirical Labs on the map. Most recently, Barry wrote a press release, web content, and an email for a new product launched at the 2025 NAMM show. In addition to his extensive knowledge and experience, Barry also has great ears—and I always find his views and technical details to be right on the money. What’s more, he is a pleasure to work with!
Dave Derr
President/Chief Engineer, Empirical Labs Inc.
During my tenure as Senior Director, Product Management, I had the pleasure of working with Barry for several years prior to my departure from Yamaha Guitar Group (Line 6) in 2023. He successfully developed go-to-market plans for a large variety of products, including Helix LT, HX Effects, HX Stomp, Powercab, Relay G10S, Spider V MkII, Shuriken Variax, Helix Native, and Echo Farm v2. Aside from being an awesome human being and fantastic team player, Barry has consistently surprised me with his vast experience and deep insights into the minds of musicians and MI consumers.
Adrian Haselhuber
VP Product Management, Presonus Hardware, Fender
I had the wonderful privilege of working with Barry on numerous pieces for Line 6's Model Citizens blog. As an editor, Barry was kind, thoughtful, and gracious while simultaneously providing a nuanced critical lens that elevated my writing to a higher level of clarity and focus. He possesses a vast knowledge of music and recording—and one of his greatest strengths is his ability to help others clearly communicate their vision to a potential audience. Without a doubt, Barry is a valuable asset within the contemporary musical landscape.
Jeff Schroeder
Guitarist (formerly with Smashing Pumpkins)
Even after two decades in this industry, it’s exceedingly rare to find someone with more talent or creativity than Barry Cleveland. As Product Marketing Manager for Line 6, he oversaw the launches of many successful products including Helix LT, HX Stomp, HX Stomp XL, and Relay G10S—and he singlehandedly created Model Citizens, a wildly popular brand-agnostic blog with 750,000 readers worldwide. Barry is also a pleasure to work with. He consistently fosters a collaborative and supportive environment and is always willing to lend a hand or offer guidance to colleagues. It also doesn’t hurt that his guitar playing and production skills drop jaws.
Eric Klein
Chief Product Design Architect, Yamaha Guitar Group
I knew of Barry through various groups of people we both worked with in the MI industry, and his articles with Guitar Player magazine and other publications. However, I finally met Barry when Yamaha Guitar Group purchased Ampeg in 2018 and I was brought into the marketing team. At that time, Barry was the Product Marketing Manager for Line 6, so I relied quite a bit on his knowledge and expertise. While he was the Marketing Communications Manager, we worked together in creating marking messaging for multiple Ampeg products. Barry is an asset at every level.
Dean “Dino” Monoxelos
Ampeg Brand Marketing Manager, Yamaha Guitar Group
Barry is one of the most talented and multi-faceted individuals I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
I've served as editor for two international music publications, and I can attest that Barry is one of the today's finest music journalists. He is knowledgeable, precise, and extremely hardworking. He excels at writing for consumer publications, yet he's equally adept at crafting corporate content. While at Line 6, he created the Model Citizens blog, perhaps the finest consumer-facing corporate music publication I've ever encountered. He successfully promoted his company's products while offering readers truly compelling music journalism.
Joe Gore
Musician, Writer, Music Tech Geek
Barry Cleveland has got a serious brain on him, a miles-wide streak of (and appreciation for) innovation and creativity, a true Renaissance Man palette of available skills, a ferociously reliable work ethic, and is an eternally loyal friend/collaborator to anyone lucky enough to work with him. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him for basically anything.
Mike Keneally
Guitarist, Keyboardist, Vocalist, Composer (Frank Zappa, Devin Townsend, Joe Satriani)
I’ve known Barry since 2002, when we were both on the Guitar Player magazine team, and we have worked together on various projects ever since. During this time, I have relied on Barry’s deep knowledge about audio recording and guitar tools and applications. His ability to educate and communicate with musicians—and members of the media—has been a hallmark of his career. And, of course, I admire his talents as guitarist, writer, and producer in his own right. Any company seeking a knowledgeable, experienced voice for their marketing and product development would benefit from Barry’s insights and communication expertise.
Jon Levy
Publisher, Premier Guitar Magazine
I first met Barry years ago, when I was the Editor of Mix magazine. In 1996, I was intrigued by a new sound processing product—The Distressor—that debuted from a then-unknown company (Empirical Labs) and asked Barry if he was interested in writing a review. He did an amazing job, and even speculated that the unit might someday become a studio classic, which, of course, it did—and nearly 30 years later Barry's review is recognized as one of the key factors in the success of this small company. Not bad for his first shot at being a journalist!
George Petersen
Editor, Front of House Magazine
I was thrilled to be asked to do an interview for Guitar Player about a forthcoming album of mine, and even better, the piece was authored by Barry. The questions Barry posed to me were different in nature from those of the many previous interviewers I’d spoken with. His ideas are formed from the point of view of a music practitioner who happens to be able to use words to describe the indescribable. Barry delivers professionalism from all sides!
Rez Abbasi
Guitarist, Composer, Educator, Guggenheim Fellow
Barry and I worked together when I was a Product Marketing Manager at the Yamaha Guitar Group (2018-2022), as part of a team developing global marketing strategy. Barry is a generous collaborator with broad expertise in music and music production. He has a keen eye for detail and meticulous standards to get things right. He stays calm and diplomatic in a high-pressure environment with tight deadlines. Every asset on which I worked with him was improved through the process. I’m a better writer for having had the opportunity to learn from him, and I’ve been fortunate to know him as a colleague, mentor, and friend.
Dave Miner
Brand Manager, Yorkville Sound
Barry is a fantastic writer and editor whose research skills are formidable and comprehensive. He's also a self-starter who handles new challenges with vigor and drive. This trait served him well when I put him in charge of quality control for the Guitar Player website. Without significant prior experience, he worked with our web team, researched everything he needed to know, and, ultimately, became so good at website management and creative strategies that he'd give the ‘experts’ a run for their money. Barry was a prime creative driver of original web stories, curated content, online business opportunities, ferreting out CMS glitches and problems, and maintaining a high-quality level for the website and all of the integrated social networking initiatives. He was a valued member of the team at GP.
Michael Molenda
Former Editor in Chief, Guitar Player Magazine
In the more than two decades that I’ve worked in music publishing, Barry Cleveland is a name I’ve always recognized. During his time at Guitar Player magazine, Barry proved that he was not only an exceptional writer and editor, but also an incredible guitarist and musician. Throughout the years, I’ve been able to communicate with him in his different roles and he’s always been a pleasure to talk to. His work ethic while he was at Line 6/Yamaha made my job that much easier because of his promptness in responses as well as his knowledge of Line 6’s many products. All you need to do is look at his body of work online, and just ask the many former colleagues who know the professionalism Barry is capable of. I’m honored to call him a friend and have the utmost respect for him.
Paul Riario
Tech Editor, Guitar World Magazine
I've worked with dozens of editors over the past half-century, and Barry is my all-time favorite. He's responsive, reliable, respectful, insightful, and a pleasure to work with. In addition to being a superlative editor, he's a highly skilled and much-respected writer with a deep knowledge of the music industry. I recommend him without hesitation!
Jas Obrecht
Author, Editor, and Music Journalist
Barry worked for and with me in several capacities at Primedia, first taking on the massive job of organizing the listings for directories and technical buyer's guides, then as associate editor of Electronic Musician magazine, and after that as associate editor of Onstage magazine. In addition to being a very hard worker, dedicated to doing the job right, he's a talented writer and an exceptionally good interviewer who can handle musical and technical stories with equal ease. Barry was a pleasure to work with and supervise and worked very well with all members of the team. He was an excellent hire for a team that was, at the time, one of the best editorial staffs in music-tech publishing.
Steve Oppenheimer
Former Editor in Chief of Electronic Musician Magazine
Barry interviewed 13 artists for my book Stompbox: 100 Pedals of the World's Greatest Guitarists, including John Frusciante, Tom Morello, Nels Cline, Steve Hackett, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Howe, and Allan Holdsworth. He also helped shape the book's concept and set the editorial bar at a very high level early on, before he accepted a full-time job at Line 6 and could no longer continue with the book. Besides being a top-tier journalist, editor, and idea man, Barry possesses exceptional organizational and ‘people’ skills, making him both a dependable collaborator and a pleasure to work with. I cannot recommend him highly enough.
Eilon Paz
Creator of the Stompbox Books and Founder of Dust & Grooves