In this episode of My First Gibson, Toshi Yanagi, the guitarist for Cleto and the Cletones, the house band for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, shows us his first Gibson and describes how he found his “go-to guitar”—a beautiful 1969 Les Paul Custom. 
In his early years in Los Angeles, Japanese-born guitarist Toshi Yanagi gained local notoriety when he became a regular performer at the renowned The Baked Potato jazz club. Toshi subsequently gained extensive worldwide touring experience, getting hired by several national acts, including an opening act for one of Sheryl Crow’s European tours as well as Bryan Adams’ Italian tour, Taylor Daine’s North American tour, the 2001 Men at Work tour, and several others. As Toshi’s status quickly rose as one of the top guns in LA, he made his first appearance on national network TV on the show VIBE, produced by Quincy Jones. Bandleader Greg Phillinganes immediately added Toshi as the regular guitarist in his band. Toshi further honed his craft on this show, playing alongside such musicians as Herbie Hancock, Tower of Power, Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, and many others. Currently, Toshi is the house guitarist for the ABC late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! Notably, Toshi also played guitar for David Lee Roth at the 2017 and 2018 Brent Shapiro Foundation shows.