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Resounds: Alex Nauman

Alex Nauman at the YPR studios
Anna Paige
Alex Nauman at the YPR studios

"I'm just a guitarist trying to make a living in Billings, Montana,” states a very modest musician, Alex Nauman. If you’d ask any musician in the state however, Alex Nauman is considered one of the finest and most versatile guitarists in Montana and Wyoming.

Alex is a regular player throughout the Rocky Mountain Gig circuit and a member of a long list of eclectic music groups including his own Alex Nauman Trio. He plays everything from straight-ahead Jazz, Bop, Funk, R&B, Soul, Rock, Hip-Hop, Big-Band Swing, Acoustic Bluegrass, Avant Garde Experimental music, and even a little country. Nauman is the founder of the Big Sky Gypsy Jazz Festival and lead guitarist for the Rimrock Hot Club.

Raised in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin, Alex began studying guitar with guitarist Jeff Troxel at a very early age. After graduating from high school in Basin, he attended Northwest College in Powell, WY. where he continued studying guitar. A three-year stint in the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Studies program yielded Alex a bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar performance. During his stay in Colorado, he won numerous soloist awards at the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival and was awarded the Walt Francis Jazz Award for outstanding graduating senior.

In 2014 Alex joined the staff of Rocky Mountain College as professor of guitar and currently teaches guitar, bass, and banjo at Allied Music in Billings, as well as maintaining an active performance schedule throughout the West.

He is happily married with two children, a dog, and large collection of avant-garde jazz records. In his spare time Alex is also an avid chess enthusiast, gardener, hot sauce chef, and an active advocate of all things fermented!

Anna Paige is a Montana-based journalist, poet and educator. She is originally from Wyoming and has lived in Billings for more than a decade, where she co-founded Young Poets, winner of the 2021 Library of Congress Award for Literacy.
Corby Skinner is an independent marketing professional with an enormous capacity for assessing issues and creating positive, effective messages.