About Tony Memmel

Tony Memmel is a songwriter and performer with unique charisma and creativity. Though he was born missing his left forearm, he taught himself to play the guitar by constructing a self-made cast out of Gorilla Tape that secures a guitar pick to his arm. Flawlessly, he picks and strums his guitar, and sings his songs with his subtle, yet powerful voice. Even in a busy room, people will pause to listen and take a photo of the man on stage.

With powerful, personal lyrics and well-crafted melodies, his music stands alone. Memmel often says, “I don’t want to be a good guitarist with one hand, I want to be a great guitarist and songwriter, period.” Applying this attitude to his craft earned him the 2013 WAMI Award for Singer-Songwriter of the year, where he joined the ranks of fellow WAMI winners: Bon Iver, Les Paul, Cory Chisel, and the BoDeans. The press has also taken notice as he’s earned write-ups in the Associated Press, CNN, Boston Globe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Chicago Tribune.

Between 2009-2014, Memmel independently organized and financed eleven national tours, performing in forty-four states. He works tirelessly to maintain a genuine, grassroots following, and he is a highly sought after performing musician, speaker, and clinician. Artist Relations at Martin Guitar Co., Kyser Musical Products, Gorilla Glue Co., Lucky Fin Project, Heid Music, and Kopf Percussion have teamed up with Memmel in sponsorship, and/or partnership capacities.

A Bachelor’s Degree in music, training as a classical vocalist, and his aforementioned accomplishments as a singer-songwriter have generated exciting, rare collaborative opportunities, and performances. Memmel was commissioned to compose symphonic and choral orchestrations of his music. In March of 2014, he debuted his work “Opus 1 – Five Songs for Symphony, Chorus, and Rock ‘n Roll Ensemble” to a crowd of 700+ in the historic Weill Center for the Performing Arts, accompanied by the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. He’s also been an Artist in Residence with the Madison Youth Choirs, and performed at the Superdome in New Orleans for 35,000 people at the ELCA National Youth Gathering.

Tony Memmel has a work ethic, talent, and personality that you do not see every day. Get on board now, as many already have, and be on the lookout for great things from this bright, up-and-coming artist.