Ted Sablay

Ted Sablay is a Las Vegas–based singer-songwriter, musician, and teacher, and the Musical Director for The Killers. His focus is practical musicianship: melody, harmony, structure, parts, and intent. He joined the band during the Sam's Town era as a guitar and keys utility player and became its Musical Director in 2022, the seat responsible for turning approved arrangements into a working live show, night after night.

That work has run through the world's biggest stages, the White House South Lawn, Madison Square Garden, Wembley Stadium, and Glastonbury, sharing them with icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Elton John. Two decades of executing under that kind of pressure is what shapes his teaching: fast diagnosis, clear musical decisions, and repeatable systems that hold up when the stakes are real.

His approach didn't come from music school alone. He holds a dual bachelor's degree in anthropology and Asian studies, and a master's in accounting, all from UNLV. He turned down a full-time offer at Ernst & Young, one of the world's largest accounting firms, to play. That framework-building instinct runs through everything he teaches. He works with students around the world over Zoom, including players at Berklee and Columbia, using the Lyric Stack, a songwriting system he built over a decade of private lessons.

He also writes and records his own music. As a solo artist he has opened for The Killers, The Wallflowers, and Chris Isaak. During the 2020 shutdown he made You'll Be Back Here Soon, a set of guitar-driven songs built for replay value. His new record, State & Motion, arrives September 25, 2026.