Guitarist Clay Melton’s roots lie in the worked lands of Louisiana and Texas where traditional and rock blues grew with the making of the old Chitlin’ Circuit with the likes of BB King, Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, as well as newcomers, Johnny and Edgar Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan
A stampede of both music legends and one hit wonders have risen from Austin’s music clubs and corner bars to reach national fame and stardom. This long list of pickers, singers and others includes Janis Joplin, the 13th Floor Elevators, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Fred and His Playboy Band, as well as Texas blues brothers Edgar and Johnny Winter, just to name a few.
Guitarist Robben Ford began his musical journey at age ten as an alto sax player. A keen interest and understanding of the woodwind instrument, as well as a fondness for the ‘cool jazz’ sounds of Paul Desmond and his legendary recordings with guitarist Jim Hall, helped fuel his musical aptitude at a young age. It proved to be an attraction that only intensified, as the sounds of Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane became elements within the same fascination. Integrate that scenario with an interest in the blues and a flair for emulating Mike Bloomfield and other blues guitar favorites, and one can easily understand Robben Ford’s fondness for both instruments.
Laura Lee is on her own inimitable journey, that demands financial assets in hand to get to the first big milestone, their debut album. Laura Lee is now working on her third album. Enter crowd sourcing platforms where friends, family and fans support songwriters’ dreams by donating bucks to help those talented folks realize their dreams.
Rocker, singer-songwriter, award winning author, music workshop leader and more, Debra Devi, hits all cylinders with her hi-test drive that’s made her talents highly sought after for on-stage performances and presentations. And her ASCAP award winning book, The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu (foreword by Dr. John) is an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award winner, that has grabbed the attention and accolades of some of the best blues masters of our day.
Guitar International followed up our earlier interview with vintage guitar expert, George Gruhn, in Nashville shortly after the economy folded and within a few weeks of the Nashville flood. Luckily George’s shop was saved from the disaster, but other businesses and homes in Tennessee took catastrophic hits.
You’ve got to hand it to Ben Brookes Belcher, the man works hard rolling out some of the coolest country songs we’ve heard in a long time. Belcher nails down some fancy guitar licks while singing a mix of gritty hard tack down home spins to some of the sweetest heart wrenching ballads.
As a follow-up to our Tal Nacarrato interview, here’s PART 2! We found Tal’s insights into performing, practicing, lessons learned to keep focused very helpful and one of our interviews that’s helpful to return to periodically to remind us of how to raise our games as musicians and on-stage performers.
Classically trained, Naccarato clearly knows his way around the fretboard as illustrated on his new album, Ten and Two Blues, to be released on April 27th 2022, as well as on his last three albums, Hot House Flowers, Piedmont Black & Blue, and Dreamflower Sessions…
Not only is Teddy Richards a seasoned session musician, he is also a well-accomplished singer-songwriter and performer, and as a result has opened with his original compositions for artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Seal and The Verve Pipe. He’s also co-written some great songs with the likes of Andrew Farriss (INXS), Carlos Alomar (David Bowie), and Marcy Levi (Natalie Cole, Joe Cocker) and the legendary, Al Green.
Steve Vai is a creative and innovative composer, guitarist and musician. Okay, that’s an obvious statement if I’ve ever written one. He’s changed the way people write within the instrumental guitar genre, his use of rhythm, effects and melodic development have helped to shape the modern guitar vocabulary and his Jem guitar series and Carvin amps have reshaped the custom gear market for the past 25 years. one
