Stephen Dadaian

{{Short description|Armenian guitarist}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Stephen Dadaian

| image = Steve d guitar.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name = Stephen Charles Dadaian

| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|May 3, 1987}}

| birth_place =

| origin = Cresskill, New Jersey, U.S.

| occupation = Guitarist

| genre = Rock, classical, progressive rock, heavy metal, progressive metal

| years_active = 2005–present

}}

Stephen Charles Dadaian (born May 3, 1987) is an Armenian electric and classical guitarist from Cresskill, New Jersey.Batipps, Mylin. [http://tcnjjournal.pages.tcnj.edu/2013/04/13/dentist-by-day-musician-by-night/ "Dentist by Day, Musician by Night"], TCNJ Journal, April 13, 2013. Accessed December 23, 2013. "Stephen Dadaian is an electric and classical guitarist from Cresskill, New Jersey." He is also a general dentist.{{cite web

|url = http://www.riftrock.com/reviews.php?c=321

|title = Rock music news and views

|first = Ben

|last = Fitterman

|publisher = RIFTrock.com

|date =

|access-date = November 12, 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130201103757/http://www.riftrock.com/reviews.php?c=321

|archive-date = February 1, 2013

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.tcnjsignal.net/2009/03/25/collegeduoplaystopackedhouse/

|title=College duo plays to packed house

|publisher=The College of New Jersey Signal

|date=March 25, 2009

|accessdate=November 12, 2011

}} He attended Cresskill High School, where he graduated in 2005 and later graduated from The College of New Jersey in 2009. He graduated and earned his DDS degree from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine in 2013, where he was part of The William Jarvie Research Society.{{cite web

|url = http://dental.columbia.edu/jarvie/members.html

|title = The William Jarvie Society of Columbia University

|publisher = Dental.columbia.edu

|date =

|access-date = November 12, 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111003224030/http://dental.columbia.edu/jarvie/members.html

|archive-date = October 3, 2011

}}

Dadaian began playing electric guitar at the age of 14 then classical thereafter at the age of 16. In his teenage years, Dadaian studied with electric guitarists such as Ron Thal and classical guitarists Antigoni Goni as well as Jorge Caballero. In 2008 and 2009 he was a top prize earner in the Philadelphia Guitar Society Competition – Collegiate Division.{{cite web

|url=http://www.phillyguitar.org/0809season.html#finalists

|title=2009 Annual Guitar Festival Winners

|publisher=Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society

|date=April 18, 2009

|accessdate=November 12, 2011

}} During this time, he won first prize in Music Nation's "Slash's Ultimate Guitar Showdown", a national guitar competition with 2,500 entrants. The grand prize was chosen by Slash.{{cite web

|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/musicnation

|title=Musicnation channel

|publisher=YouTube

|date=May 20, 2006

|accessdate=November 12, 2011

}} Stephen was a top prize earner in Guitar World's "Shred the Web" competition. He has also opened for notable acts such as Third Eye Blind at The College of New Jersey in 2008, which was one of the largest turnouts seen at the College in the past five years.{{cite web

|url=http://www.tcnjsignal.net/2008/04/23/thirdeyeblinddrawslargestcrowdinfiveyears/

|title=Third Eye Blind draws largest crowd in five years

|publisher=The College of New Jersey Signal

|author=Russomanno, Caroline

|date=April 23, 2008

|accessdate=November 12, 2011

}}

In 2013, Stephen won a national guitar competition hosted by Jammit and judged by Dean guitars in addition to a representative of Pantera. Jammit allowed contestants to play a note for note cover or create their own rendition for the Pantera song "Drag the Waters", where Stephen performed the latter. The rhythm guitar was the same as the studio recording while the solos consisted of a mixture of his lead style with the style of Dimebag Darrell. It also made use of the features on his signature model guitar by Jason Lee guitars such as the arcade style killswitch button and the 27 fret fretboard. The judging for the contest was unanimous in Stephen's favor.{{cite web

|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WAYoIT-3qc

|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/5WAYoIT-3qc |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Jammit Contest Winner

|publisher=YouTube

|date=February 7, 2013

|accessdate=January 3, 2013

}}{{cbignore}}

In 2014 he was selected as a finalist and won the Jon Donais Guitar Battle Royale, which was judged by Jon himself.{{cite web

|url=http://www.jondonais.com/contest.htm

|title=Guitar Battle Royale Contest Winner

|publisher=Jon Donais

|date=March 24, 2014

|accessdate=March 24, 2014

}} Other accolades include an invitation to perform at the Guitar Gods festival with the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, and Nick McBrain as well as a top nomination by a guitar competition hosted by Rolling Stone.{{Cite web|url=https://www.truthinshredding.com/2016/01/steve-dadaian-pareidolia-guitar-gods.html|title=Steve Dadaian: Pareidolia – Guitar Gods Festival competition|access-date=February 11, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.metalmeyhemradio.com/news/solo-guitar-virtuoso-steve-dadaian-to-release-new-full-length-album-follow-the-light-on-february-1-2019-3579|title=Solo Guitar Virtuoso STEVE DADAIAN to Release New Full-Length Album, "Follow The Light", on February 1, 2019|website=www.metalmeyhemradio.com|language=en|access-date=February 11, 2019}}

Dadaian released his debut solo album "Follow the Light" in 2019, which was an instrumental concept album. The record received positive reviews{{Cite web|url=http://deadrhetoric.com/reviews/steve-dadaian-follow-the-light-self-released/|title=Steve Dadaian – Follow the Light (Self-Released)|last=McGinn|first=Kyle|date=February 4, 2019|website=Dead Rhetoric|access-date=February 11, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/steve-dadaian-follow.htm|title=Metal-Temple.com :: Steve Dadaian – Follow The Light (Review)|last=bkarr272|website=www.metal-temple.com|language=EN|access-date=February 11, 2019}} and the title track was premiered with Guitar World where Dadaian is a contributing guest artist.{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/steve-dadaian-premieres-new-follow-the-light-music-video|title=Steve Dadaian Premieres New "Follow the Light" Music Video|first=Jackson|last=Maxwell|date=November 28, 2018|website=guitarworld|language=en|access-date=February 11, 2019}}