> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bubandpop.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Episode 14: Vahe Sarkissian! - URL: https://www.bubandpop.com/episode-14-vahe-sarkissian-2/ - Published: 2026-08-07T17:34:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-07T17:34:01.000Z - Description: Episode 14 is live: guitarist Vahe Sarkissian on Armenian rhythms in 10, stupidly low action, and two performances recorded at The Boom Room. - Author: Matt Hoffman - Tags: podcast, guitarist **Bub & Pop | Episode 14: Vahe Sarkissian** (recorded March 3, 2026) Our guest this week is Vahe Sarkissian: Philadelphia-based guitarist, rock and jazz player, and Stanley Jordan-esque two-hand tapper. [Episode 14: Vahe SarkissianBub & Pop | Episode 14: Vahe Sarkissian (recorded March 3, 2026) Vahe Sarkissian will tell you he’s terrible at fretless instruments, so he doesn’t even try. What he does instead is imitate a clarinet on a Stratocaster with the action set stupidly low — one of several ways a jazz guy with a UArts degree ended up playing Armenian folk music on an electric guitar.Bub & PopMatt Hoffman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/96/b9/96b93614-6cf3-4171-9c3d-fd372ff27e5a/content/images/2026/08/ep14_thumb_youtube_1280x720-1.jpg)](https://www.bubandpop.com/episode-14-vahe-sarkissian/) Vahe is Armenian, and one of the ways he honors that is by arranging traditional Armenian music for electric guitar. The record that got me is *Curcuna*, named for a Middle Eastern rhythm that he will argue, at length and convincingly, is in 10 and not 5\. He walks us through exactly why, and I could have listened to that part all day. I first crossed paths with him when he opened for Matteo Mancuso at Ardmore Music Hall. He played a tune or two solo, and I was impressed enough that I had to reach out after the show. This conversation is how he got there: a rock player in a jazz school, leaning into two-hand solo arrangements, action set stupidly low, playing around tendonitis, and learning he doesn’t have to be a hero on every gig. He plays twice for us: an Armenian original, and an arrangement of “Eleanor Rigby” that owes a direct debt to Stanley Jordan. And stay for the NAMM story, where Stevie Wonder sat down in front of his band and listened for twenty minutes. Look out for a new trio album early next year! --- It's been a busy week of music! I saw Murray's Law last Friday (review forthcoming) and Stanley Jordan Plays Dead on Saturday (both at Dharma Bums) – earlier on Saturday I was out at Ardmore Music Hall for Mitch-a-palooza, celebrating the birthday of my friend and future Bub & Pop guest Mitch Beer. Tuesday was an awesome Dungeon Crawl with two Bub & Pop alums, [Jonathan Colman](https://www.bubandpop.com/episode-1-jonathan-colman-march-4-2026/) and [Cotter Ellis](https://www.bubandpop.com/episode-10-cotter-ellis/) (and future Bub & Pop guest, Eli Winderman, DJing) – convinced my friend and former guitar teacher Chris Shepherd (the best guitarist I know – literally, like the best) to join me. Wednesday, as always, was the Invitational at John & Peter's in New Hope. (Surely the subject of some future content I release.) And somewhere along the way, I finished my first *Guitar World* piece that will appear in their October issue. Busy busy busy over here – and more cool stuff in the works, so stay tuned!