Arek Religa - born in in Kamienna Góra, Poland, under the zodiac Taurus. Knew very early that his life would revolve around music. In the early 80’s, when he got his first guitar, he began learning basic cords and tunes and soon enough he played along to his favorite songs, his favorite bands, his favorite artists (Carlos Santana, MSG, Black Sabbath, Uli Jon Roth, Toto, Journey, Pat Matheny, to name a few).
During his teenage years (and beyond), Arek began playing in several bands, where he starred as the solo guitarist. With the band “Guliver”, aspiring and becoming more recognized, the band booked gigs and performed locally, touring nearby cities, recording songs, appearing in local magazines and newspapers and even collecting several awards mainly for Arek’s solo guitar. After the band “Guliver” dissolved in the early 90’s, Arek played with well known musicians in Poland, including Robert Janson and Janusz Poplawski. Even though Arek accomplished a lot, he felt he needed to accelerate his career, and being very stubborn (hence his sign), he made some major decisions, one of them being to leave his home country.
In 2000 the artist arrived in Chicago. Within four years of his arrival, he built a small home studio and recorded numerous singles, and began working on his first record, “In Memory of the Greatests”. In 2006, his first works were published as part of an upcoming CD - "It's Going to be Better" and "Into the Future", which were heavily promoted through the Internet. Arek quickly gained recognition from both listeners and individuals connected to the music industry. With these two songs, along with his early 2007 "Hope", he began building a brand for himself via the Internet and the local Chicagoland music market and media. Arek began earning awards from recognized institutions in the music industry, including Dallas Songwritter Association and winning Song of the Year in 2007. (Navigate to page Achievements & awards
for a detailed list).
In 2007, his songs "Viva Carlos!", "Beyond the Horizon" and "Island of My Dreams" gained him international recognition in the music industry as a talented composer, author and instrumental arranger. He signed several contracts with publishers in the United States, Canada and China creating numerous compositions for television, commercials and other multimedia presentations. Additionally, some of Religa’s songs were released as singles ("Real Music" produced by Black Rose Production, "Guitars of Tomorrow Vol.1" produced by KT Records), and some were part of the soundtrack to the film "Rent a Rasta", a Jamaican documentary by J. Michael Seyfert.
Also in 2007, Arek won the Texas Music Project (Guitar Solo Contest) in the category of "Electric Guitar". The main prize was a joint concert with legends such as Eric Johnson, George Lynch, Joe Bonamassa and Paul Red Smith. Later, in October of 2007, Arek recorded a solo album, entitled "In Memory of the Greatest”, including his hit "And the Road Goes On ...". This album sparked even more interest in the music world and Arek was flooded with requests to perform live concerts and appear on talk shows, as well as radio interviews.
Beginning in 2008, Arek began preparing intensively for his upcoming live performances in Chicago at legendary music clubs as the Double Door, Metro, Kinetic Playground and others. He also performed at the Emergenza Music Festival, as well as the renowned Chicago MOBfest.
In mid 2008, Religa was nominated to receive a LAMA (Los Angeles Music Awards) award in the category of "Best Instrumental Album of 2008". He was also nominated by the ISSA (Independent Singer-Songwriter Association) for best "Songwriting/Instrumental." Other nominations and awards soon followed (including "New Age/Ambient", "Instrumental", and "World"). His most proud music achievement so far was received on November 20, 2008 at the legendary Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. Arek won a Hollywood Music Award for "Best New Age Artist". Later, in December 2008, he was nominated by Windy Chicago Radio for a "Polonus 2008" Artist of the Year category. In April 2010, Arek became a member of the Recording Academy (Grammy). In May 2011 Arek has been nominated by the jury at the Hollywood Music in Media Award for his instrumental production Chicago Guitar Knight. In July 2011 Arek took third place in the "Guitar Superstar" - one of the most prestigious guitar competitions in the world organized by the renowned music magazine “Guitar Player”.
When Arek’s not composing or playing his guitar, he spends time with his family, his wife Yvonne with whom he has two daughters: Natalia and Olivia.