Rock Music and Electric Guitar: Young Artist from Wiesbaden Releases First Instrumental Tracks
WIESBADEN – “My first song came to me while I was brushing my teeth,” recalls Wiesbaden-based guitarist Vanessa Jung. She wrote her very first piece four years ago. However, it was only a few weeks ago that she officially released her first songs, accompanied by music videos.
What sets her music apart: there is no singing. This is intentional, as Jung focuses on instrumental rock. Her compositions follow the structure of a typical vocal song rather than just presenting a melody. “There are verses and choruses, but they’re expressed through instruments,” she explains.
A Love for Rock Music from an Early Age
Jung discovered the guitar around 20 years ago, at the age of eight. “I was just plucking at the strings, but I couldn’t put the guitar down after that,” she says. Her parents soon enrolled her in music lessons. Although she plays both acoustic and electric guitar, her passion has always leaned more toward the electric side. This is hardly surprising, given her affinity for classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Guns N’ Roses. “That’s something I owe to my father—he’s always had a huge vinyl collection.”
At 13, Jung played her first live show in Nordenstadt, performing in a confirmation band that occasionally appeared at small local events. Since then, she has been active in various bands, gradually building a network of fellow artists who support one another. This community also played a key role in the production of her recently released songs and videos: local creatives from around Wiesbaden contributed to recording, editing, and promotion. She also received funding from Initiative Musik to help bring the project to life. For Jung, music is far more than a hobby—it’s what she wants to pursue professionally. “I used to be unsure whether that was realistic, so I first studied media studies and economics to have something solid to fall back on,” she explains. She later followed her passion and enrolled at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg in Mannheim, where she completed a bachelor’s degree with a focus on electric guitar. Notably, she became the first female guitarist to graduate from the program. “Unfortunately, there are still too few role models—there’s this persistent cliché that women are more likely to take up instruments like the piano,” says Jung, who is currently continuing her studies in a master’s program at the same institution.
Performing and Teaching
“Being a musician is a great job because it offers so many different possibilities,” Jung emphasizes. Looking ahead, she plans not only to continue performing live and touring, but also to share her knowledge through teaching.
Anyone curious to hear her music can find her songs on all major streaming platforms. “There’s more to come—we’re already working on new material.”
© Emily Davies, Wiesbadener Kurier, September 24, 2022
