Just picking five is so difficult but.... I love melodic music and harmonies and have always been attracted to those sorts of artists and writers. In no particular order, here are 5 of the most influential artists in my musical growth through the years.
The Beatles: Great songwriters and performers who were all about the music. They influenced me to want to play guitar and write music. Their music has a certain innocence that we don't see in today's music very often.
The Eagles: Extraordinary songwriters and amazing vocal work. They have always been one of my favorite bands for those reasons from their first album to them most recent work. Their harmony has always been amazingly good.
Neil Young: A prolific writer who loved harmony. He influenced me greatly in my early years of playing guitar and playing music. There was so much about him that I liked. Many of the early bands I played in covered his music. His unique style and approach to music stick with me to this day and influence how I look at music.
Deep Purple: The original hard rock band with Richie Blackmore on guitar is hard to beat. Again, great talent and guitarist as well as writing. And of course they rock hard and with so much energy. Loved their early stuff.... Smoke on the Water, Fireball, Highway Star and of course Lazy..... you owe it to yourself to listen to those songs if you don't know this band that was one of the founders of hard rock as we know it today. The Machine Head album is a classic especially considering how it was recorded and where.
Led Zepplin: Another rock band that wasn't content to just rock. Amazing songwriting ... listen to all their albums.... from the early blues to the Houses of the Holy...... and more. Of course their iconic rock ballad Stairway to Heaven still tops the lists they do yearly of the best rock songs of all times.
I could list many more but if I had to choose albums from only 5 artists to take with me to a desert island .... these would be the artists I'd have in the suitcase.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Glenn Miller Band - I just think he embodies the big band era
Billy Joel - more wonderful original songs than you can shake a stick at
Little River Band - oh those harmonies
Burton Cummings - both with The Guess Who and solo artist. I love the sound of his voice and his piano style.
Maynard Ferguson - from his early days to the more pop oriented songs, have always enjoyed his music, but also the music of his various band members along the way (I think I'm probably one of two people that bought Stan Mark's album).
That's a really strong list, even if a little eclectic! Really awesome to see why you chose them. Thanks for sharing that with us.
All of these were back in my greaser days and prior to my hippy, jazz and new age days!
Greaser days, haha! The artists you mentioned I think are excellent choices. It's cool to hear how many people here have shifted and changed and yet some of their oldest favourites are still their favourites today!
After thinking about this, I decided to change my post.
I listen to all different kinds of music, from 3 chord blues/rock/country to symphonies to "foreign" (to me) and I have many hundreds of CDs and LPs.
And after thinking about this for a while I realized that the most difficult thing to compose must be a great symphony. Establishing themes, developing the themes, and coming out with a work that lasts hundreds of years is a feat most mere mortals cannot do.
1) Antonin Dvorak. I played his 9th symphony in a symphonic band, wore out an LP or two and had a few CDs. One day after hundreds and hundreds of listening I recognized a spot in the fourth movement where he combined big fragments from the major themes of all four movements and combined them into one part using the fragments as melody, countermelody and foundation. Eargazm!!!
2) Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky because he has such a great sense of melody and wove such wonderful parts under them. "Romeo & Juliet", "6th Symphony", and so many others, extremely emotional and even when sad the beauty of the melodies soar above the sadness
3) Sergei Prokofiev. His symphonies are wonderful, but his ballet suites like "Stone Flower" and his take on "Romeo and Juliet" never fail to give me chills. Also his intelligent use of dissonance always sounds like it belongs and was never just stuck in there because he could
4) Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov If he had written nothing else other than the "Russian Easter Overture" and "Capriccio Espagnol" it would have been more than enough, but there is so much more
5) Dmitri Shostakovich one of the most prolific symphony composers and he created so many different worlds with them
For those familiar, I like the dark, brooding "blues" end of the classical spectrum.
Runners up would be Josef Suk, Manuel de Falla, Camille Saint-Saëns, Ottorino Respighi, Leos Janacek, and a few others that will pop into my head as soon as I hit submit.
Now I don't want to dis Muddy Waters, Jeff Beck, k.d.lang, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Terry Kath, Otis Redding or any other pop stars, but what the symphony people can do is definitely super-human to the highest degree.
Just picking five is so difficult but.... I love melodic music and harmonies and have always been attracted to those sorts of artists and writers. In no particular order, here are 5 of the most influential artists in my musical growth through the years.
The Beatles: Great songwriters and performers who were all about the music. They influenced me to want to play guitar and write music. Their music has a certain innocence that we don't see in today's music very often.
The Eagles: Extraordinary songwriters and amazing vocal work. They have always been one of my favorite bands for those reasons from their first album to them most recent work. Their harmony has always been amazingly good.
Neil Young: A prolific writer who loved harmony. He influenced me greatly in my early years of playing guitar and playing music. There was so much about him that I liked. Many of the early bands I played in covered his music. His unique style and approach to music stick with me to this day and influence how I look at music.
Deep Purple: The original hard rock band with Richie Blackmore on guitar is hard to beat. Again, great talent and guitarist as well as writing. And of course they rock hard and with so much energy. Loved their early stuff.... Smoke on the Water, Fireball, Highway Star and of course Lazy..... you owe it to yourself to listen to those songs if you don't know this band that was one of the founders of hard rock as we know it today. The Machine Head album is a classic especially considering how it was recorded and where.
Led Zepplin: Another rock band that wasn't content to just rock. Amazing songwriting ... listen to all their albums.... from the early blues to the Houses of the Holy...... and more. Of course their iconic rock ballad Stairway to Heaven still tops the lists they do yearly of the best rock songs of all times.
I could list many more but if I had to choose albums from only 5 artists to take with me to a desert island .... these would be the artists I'd have in the suitcase.
You have some reaaally great choices here! But I agree, picking just five was really hard. I did not enjoy trying to pick my own.
I enjoyed reading both of your lists, but I especially loved the reasoning behind your latest choices! Thanks for taking the time to come back and make another comment on the thread! I love seeing how much thought everyone puts in to their lists!
I predict the replies on this thread will be quite generational.
My list is surprisingly close to yours. There are a few others but I'll stick to (5).
Chicago Doobie Brothers Styx Alan Parsons Steely Dan
In all my subjectivity, all reflect great song writing & vocals, genuinely original and highly respectable musicianship and great songs to play guitar to. They are my favs and heavily influenced my music preferences over the decades. For the record, NO.....I don't think my song writing is of any similar quality or appeal as the ones I mention above.
Part of this, Ember, is how you define "artist". Most of us here focus on the writing side, with the rare exceptions who have great voices or are strong players. So when you get down to creativity vs performance, these lists can change quickly.
Personal perception of the artists enters into it too. As much as I admit to the performance level of Michael Jackson, I refuse to listen to anything he ever did due to his personal life choices. I once had a band ask me to play keyboards for them. They had 4 of Jackson's songs on their "will play" list. I told them that I refuse to do his songs, because that was paying homage to someone I have a deep revulsion toward. They refused to drop the songs. I declined the invitation to join.
That's just my example of how perceptions play into this as well as generation.
I enjoyed reading both of your lists, but I especially loved the reasoning behind your latest choices! Thanks for taking the time to come back and make another comment on the thread! I love seeing how much thought everyone puts in to their lists!
Thanks Ember.
BTW I forgot the name of my number 1 choice, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. I guess I got too involved in the reasoning
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PDT on May 31st, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.
Check out the Band-in-a-Box® for Mac packages page to find the best package for you.
Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
Order before 11:59pm PDT today (May 15, 2026) to save up to 50% off your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® upgrade and receive a FREE Bonus PAK loaded with great new Add-ons to use with this new version!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
Order before 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th and SAVE up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 for Mac Upgrade packages... and that's not all! With your version 2026 for Mac purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks... that's 222 NEW RealTracks available with version Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac!
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® today for as little as $49! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all available purchase options.
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
The 2026 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2026 49-PAK!
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!
With your version 2026 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
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I love seeing how much thought everyone puts in to their lists!
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