Krystal S
Krystal Khali is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and entrepreneur. A classically trained guitarist, she began playing guitar at age 12 and joined several garage bands in Orange County, California. Krystal was accepted into the guitar program (GIT) at The Musician’s Institute, a private music university in Los Angeles, at age 19. During college, she started the Musician Institutes first ever student-led weekly blues jam, which is ongoing until today, more than 15 years later. During the same period, Krystal founded a local live music booking and promotions company, Zion Lion Events, which had a partnership with The House of Blues on Sunset Blvd before its closure in 2015. After graduating from The Musician's Institute, she expanded her live performance and business skills by playing in cover bands both locally and in surrounding states.
Krystal's breakthrough came in 2015, when blues hall of fame legend Guitar Shorty saw her performing with the decades-long running avant-garde jazz show The Toledo Show, and decided to hire her on the spot. She likens the experience of getting hired by Guitar Shorty as a “dream come true,” as she is an avid Jimi Hendrix fan, and Guitar Shorty was one of Hendrix's main influences. Krystal toured locally and nationally with Guitar Shorty for 7 years. After several years of teaching music as well as business classes at academic institutions in California, Krystal began to build her own student roster from her home studio so that she could have more freedom to tour with Guitar Shorty and with her own bands. In 2021 she was scouted to play guitar for rockabilly icons The Red Elvises on their 25th Anniversary Tour.
Krystal's curricula focuses on foundations and fundamentals such as the GIT method of fretboard organization, music theory, and sightreading, while also making sure to always incorporate a "real world" element such as helping students perform songs confidently in front of audiences, analyzing songs in order to "back-engineer" them for a student's own songwriting growth, how chords and scales should not be viewed as separate, and how to communicate effectively with other musicians. Lessons are typically broken up into sections such as dexterity exercises and warmups, scales/improv, chords/rhythm, theory, sightreading, and repertoire.
Krystal moved to Austin, Texas in 2024 after the passing of Guitar Shorty at the age of 87. Khali hopes to refocus on teaching and on the blues community that is so vibrant in Austin, and to take the skills gleaned from the life changing opportunity of gracing stages with some of the best artists of all time and to keep them alive for new audiences all over the world.
Krystal is available for in person lessons on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Saturdays for guitar, voice, and piano. Call for scheduling.
