Writer

For those who only know of Alex as a musician/virtuoso guitarist, it may come as a surprise to learn is a respected writer and thinker (although less surprising if they know of his background as the son of respected PhD academics). His 2021 extended essay for the academic current affairs journal Newlines, “Shut Up and Play Your Guitar,” became the second most shared article in the magazine’s history. His widely read Substack newsletter (Alex Skolnick’s Substack) includes longform essays exploring the work of Thomas Pynchon, as well as Jeff Beck. His social media posts are often picked up and debated on mainstream music and culture websites, from Yahoo to Pitchfork to NME. Over the years, he has contributed numerous articles to other nationally distributed publications from Guitar Player, Guitar World, The Talkhouse, and other widely read publications.