Born in Bulgaria, Nikolay Georgiev began playing guitar at the age of 12, inspired by classic-rock players such as Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page.

At 18, he moved on to study modern rock guitar under Martin Goulding at the Guitar Institute of Technology in London, U.K. and later studied classical guitar performance in his native Bulgaria.

In 2006, Nikolay attended the world-renowned Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA where he studied music business and contemporary music styles including jazz, fusion, funk and R&B under Alex Machacek, Ross Bolton, and Scott Henderson, while remaining active in a number of bands.

For the last 10 years, he has been dedicated to teaching full-time to students of all ages and skill levels in the San Francisco Bay Area. He currently plays in the Oakland-based Celtic rock band Tempest, San Francisco original jazz/funk outfit Earth Sound System and the “Appalachian Gothic” trio Kaptain Bottletop.