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John Goodman is best known for comic roles, including Roseanne Barr's husband in the TV sitcom Roseanne, the voice of Sulley in Monsters, Inc., and Fred Flintstone in the movie The Flintstones. He has appeared in many roles in movies by The Coen Brothers. Goodman is frequently cast as the main character's sidekick, for example in Sea of Love, as Al Pacino's police partner, in The Big Lebowski as Walter Sobchak, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski's best friend, and Fallen, as police partner to Denzel Washington. He portrayed Babe Ruth in the 1992 movie The Babe. John Goodman has a long history of appearances on late night comedy shows, being the first guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and receiving the "First Guest Medal". The actor has also been one of the most popular guest hosts on NBC's Saturday Night Live, having hosted the show twelve times. He also played someone who unexpectedly became a head of state in the film King Ralph, after the royal family of the United Kingdom dies in a freak electrical accident. Goodman replaced John Belushi (Jake Blues) as Dan Aykroyd's partner in the latter's popular Blues Brothers Band. He first appeared as "Mighty" Mack Blues on Saturday Night Live on March 25, 1995 and went on to star in the film Blues Brothers 2000. He continued to perform alongside Aykroyd (Elwood Blues) and Jim Belushi (Zee Blues) through 2001. |
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Widely respected as one of the country's foremost guitarists, Muriel Anderson is the first woman to have won the National Finger picking Guitar Championship. She is host and originator of the renowned "Muriel Anderson's ALL STAR GUITAR NIGHT®" and founder of the Music for Life Alliance, to support music education in schools and grassroots programs nationwide. Muriel fell in love with the guitar at an early age and learned every style available to her, culminating in classical guitar study at DePaul University. She went on to study with classical virtuoso Christopher Parkening and with Nashville legend Chet Atkins. She has composed music since about age six, and has written music for guitar and strings as well as songs, solo compositions, choral and orchestral works.
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Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, has one of the most distinctive voices in music today. Known as one of the most influential guitar players of all time, Betts has mastered a seamless style of lyrical melody and rhythm -- marrying country, jazz, blues, and rock into one unparalleled sound. The New York Times has called Betts "one of the great rock guitarists…[who thinks like a jazz improviser, in thoughtfully structured, cleanly articulated, intelligently paced phrases…[when] Mr. Betts was tearing into one of his improvisations, the music was about as exciting as rock and roll gets." Playing since he can remember, Betts joined several bands in the sixties and eventually formed a band with bassist Berry Oakley. One fateful night in 1969, Betts and Oakley's band jammed with another local group featuring Duane and Gregg Allman, marking the birth of the Allman Brothers Band. In addition to matching band leader Duane Allman lick for lick, Betts also wrote such memorable songs as "Revival" and the instrumental tour de force "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." After Duane Allman and Berry Oakley were killed in accidents a year apart in 1971 and 1972, the ABB worked through their sorrow, with Betts writing and singing the group's biggest hit, "Ramblin' Man".
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From a Southern California stage at the age of three, with a loosely strung ukulele, to one of the many great concert halls in the world today, armed with his two sided Langejans "Super Dualette" guitar (he refers to it as "My Band"), Thom Bresh, the 2001 inductee into the "Thumbpickers Hall of Fame" and his six string friends have been entertaining people for a lifetime. He is equally at home on stage in a stadium or on a couch in someone's living room. Add to this scenario a deep, witty and gritty singing voice set in the middle of that relentless, powerful groove and you have a genuine force to deal with.
The Breshman was born in Hollywood, California and raised in the middle of guitar royalty. Roy Lanham, Thumbs Carlisle, Jimmy Bryant, Curly Chalker, Joe Maphis and Leo Fender. Not to mention the members of this elite guitar court who, in life, would become his close friends and peers. Chet Atkins, Ernie Ball, James Burton, Marcel Dadi, Nokie Edwards, Scotty Moore, Les Paul and Jerry Reed. The list keeps going and growing. Now let's put in part three of this equation; the genes. His father, Merle Travis, was the most influential American guitarist of the 20th Century. With this sort of heritage and upbringing, what do you have? As Chet Atkins put it, "Thom Bresh is a guitarist that deserves to be heard." On every performance Bresh pays tribute to his father when he straps on his custom D'Angelico "Thom Bresh Special". When he lays into his father's thumbpickin' classics, he and that guitar will leave the Travis style pickers hungry and the rest of us breathless. Buster B. Jones sums it up like this.. "Bresh is a drop-top version of his daddy with a souped up engine and a whole lot more chrome." But there is even more in the Bresh entertainment arsenal than singing and playing a guitar. His quick comedic timing and sharp ear has made him an incredible impressionist. That led to two HBO Specials. Thom hosted his own TV show and has guest starred on numerous others. Behind the scenes, as a producer, he has received two Grammy nominations and one for an Academy Award. In Bresh's own words.. "The guitar is my first love, my partner in life. We grew up together and we'll most likely die together. Everything I've accomplished was with it. Every great moment in my career was because of it. Remember my heritage. To me, playing the guitar is not about licks and speed. That's only for the insiders. Playing it makes music and music is an emotion. Emotions are stimulated by feelings and sounds.. That works on everybody. When the sound and feel are right... Wow.. I never really learned how to play the guitar.. I was born with it.. I'm an entertainer... Who happens to play the guitar.." VISIT THOM'S WEBSITE...CLICK HERE |
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The singing Cox Family from Cotton Valley, LA, is comprised of father Willard, son Sidney, and daughters Evelyn and Suzanne, who derive their sound from combining country, bluegrass, and gospel styles. They first began performing together in 1976 and were a popular draw at fairs and festivals, but their career was given a big boost when in the early '90s they met Alison Krauss, who brought them to the attention of Rounder Records. They gained massive exposure when in 1994 they caught the ear of Adam Duritz, frontman of Counting Crows, who was so impressed with the Cox Family that he invited them to open for the band during its North American tour. Krauss -- who produced all but the family's very first release, Quiet Storm on Wilcox Records -- recorded several of Sidney's songs, which appeared on both of her Grammy-winning albums,. The Cox Family recorded two records of their own on Rounder Records: Everybody's Reaching Out for Someone (1993) and Beyond the City (1995), which earned them a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. They also collaborated with Krauss on an album entitled I Know Who Holds Tomorrow, which won a Grammy in 1994 for Best Country/Gospel/Bluegrass Album. The Cox Family shared a Grammy for their participation in the various-artists project Amazing Grace: A Country Salute to Gospel. Their major-label debut, Just When We're Thinking It's Over, was released on Asylum Records in 1996.
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Rick Derringer was just 17 when his band "The McCoys" recorded the No.1 hit "Hang On Sloopy" in the summer of 1965. Rick merged his talents with Johnny Winter in 1969 forming "Johnny Winter And" ("And" referring to "The McCoys"). He produced all of the gold and platinum Winter Brothers recordings. Eventually the Derringer joined Edgar's White Trash full-time and produced the gold LP, "Roadwork". Derringer's solo album, "All American Boy" was released in '73 with the hit single "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo". In the mid-80's, Derringer discovered Weird Al Yancovic and wrote Hulk Hogan's theme song, "I Am A Real American". In 1999 Rick and Edgar were back together again for "Winter Blues" CD. Rick recorded four blues CD's starting in '93 with "Back To the Blues" followed by "Electra Blues", "Blues Deluxe" & his 2000 release "Jackhammer Blues". Derringer released his destined-to-be-classic "Tend the Fire" in Europe to rave reviews. In 2001 he ventured back into Rock & Roll with Vanilla Fudge superstars Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert producing "D B A" (Derringer, Bogert & Appice). Rick and his wife Brenda Jean(Jenda Hall)released "Aiming 4 Heaven", it brought forth their devotion to God and put it into song with help from their children, Lory & Martin. In 2002, Rick ventured into - Smooth Jazz. Interest in "Rick Derringer Free Ride" grew quickly on radio, and the second single "Hot And Cool" showed Derringer at home in the format. As he explains, it's the kind of music he's been waiting to do his whole life.
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Doyle Dykes is a guitar legend. Although influenced by a wide variety of musical styles and musicians from the country of Chet Atkins to the rock and roll of Duane Eddy and the Beatles, Doyle has developed a distinct, recognizable sound that amazes audiences with skill while capturing hearts with sincerity and soul.
Doyle’s music has been heard on United Airlines, Air Canada, NPR’s Morning News and All Things Considered, Disney’s California Adventure, and even the Space Shuttle Atlantis in September, 2000.
Doyle’s early years as a guitarist took him around the world as he toured with The Stamps Quartet and later with Grand Ole Opry Star, Grandpa Jones. Doyle has since returned to the Grand Ole Opry for numerous performances, many appearing live on national television. As an endorser and clinician for Taylor Guitars, Doyle has designed a very successful signature guitar. Doyle also helped design his signature Rivera amplifier, called the Sedona, designed to accommodate both electric and acoustic instruments. Doyle’s signature instruments and equipment have influenced the musical instrument industry on a global basis.
Doyle performs in venues ranging from Theatres, Bluegrass festivals, and churches, to major Conventions, such as the NAMM Show (Anaheim, CA and Nashville, TN), the Musikmesse (largest music trade show in the world; Frankfurt, Germany), Music Live (UK), and the National Executive Institute, which is made up of honored FBI Agents, major city Police Chiefs, and Law Enforcement Officers from around the world. Internationally, Doyle attracts record audiences in many Continents around the world. Whether to a guitar player or music enthusiast, Doyle’s music will make a lasting impression on anyone given the opportunity to listen.
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Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956 in Stockton, California) is an American indie rock, pop and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and occasional actor.
Isaak's music can be described as a blend of country, blues, rock and roll, pop and surf rock.
He signed a contract to Warner Bros. Records in 1984 for his first album Silvertone. Isaak's contract was renewed in 1988 when Warner Bros. moved him to their Reprise Records label.
His best-known song is "Wicked Game." Though released on the 1989 album Heart Shaped World, an instrumental version of the song was later featured in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart (and also years later in the 2000 film The Family Man). Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director who was obsessed with David Lynch films, began playing the full version and it quickly became a nationwide top ten hit. The music video for the song was directed by Herb Ritts and was a big MTV and VH1 hit; shot in black and white, it starred Isaak and model Helena Christensen rolling on the beach, embracing and whispering in each others' ears.
In 1999, Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
Isaak also composed a theme song for US late-night television variety/talk show, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.
In 2001, Chris Isaak starred in his own television show, The Chris Isaak Show. It aired from March 2001 to March 2004 in the United States on the cable television network Showtime. This adult comedy show featured Chris Isaak and his band playing themselves with the episode plots based on fictional accounts of the backstage world of Chris Isaak--the rock star next door.
In 2004, his track "Life Will Go On" was featured on the Chasing Liberty soundtrack, which starred Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode.
Isaak has also appeared in numerous films, mostly playing minor cameo roles, though he starred with Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda in the 1993 Bernardo Bertolucci-directed Little Buddha, and also played a major role in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Other motion pictures include Married to the Mob (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), That Thing You Do! (1996), and A Dirty Shame (2004). He also guest-starred on the Super Bowl Sunday (1996) edition of the television sitcom Friends and on the HBO miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon .
Isaak is also an amateur boxer, a former Golden Gloves champion and an avid surfer.
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I am mainly known as the one who verbally counted off "Sweet Home Alabama" then played the infamous Stratocaster riff as well as the solos in that tune. I am the luckiest guitar player that ever lived. Who could've guessed that song would pay the rent for over 30 years.
At the age of 12, I was inspired by the Southern California surf bands - so I began playing the guitar. I am self-taught. The 6 months of lessons I took at the beginning barely count. My guitar teacher couldn't play Dick Dale's "Surf Beat", so I quit taking lessons. I sat for hours in front of a turntable with records by Duane Eddy, Lonnie Mack & James Burton.
By the time I was 17, I'd joined a band in L.A. that eventually became The Strawberry Alarm Clock. We had a #1 record in November, 1967 called "Incense & Peppermints" and did two tours with The Beach Boys. While on tour with the "Clock", I met a band from Jacksonville, Florida that had just changed its name to Lynyrd Skynyrd. I told the lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, that if he ever needed another guitar player I would really like to play in his band.
In late 1972, Skynyrd's bass player, Leon Wilkeson, quit the band and Van Zant called. Though I had a difficult time fitting in at first, within a few months Skynyrd had completed its first album "Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd". With standards like 'Gimme Three Steps', 'Simple Man' and "Freebird", the band began its rise.
Before the release of the first album, Van Zant took me aside and told me I was the worst bass player he had ever played with. Thinking I was out of the band, Van Zant said he wanted me to switch to guitar so that the band could recreate the intensity that had been captured on the recording of "Pronounced". I agreed and Ronnie was able to persuade Wilkeson to rejoin the band. "Sweet Home Alabama" was written at the next rehearsal and the material for the "Second Helping" album was completed in a few weeks.
I left Skynyrd in June, 1975 (after the release of the "Nuthin Fancy" album) and was asked to re-join for the Tribute Tour in 1987. Lots more details are contained in my website - I hope you've got the time to page through it. I've been happily retired since 1996 and now live in Nashville, TN.
Click Here for Ed's Website |
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Monte grew up immersed in music, playing professionally since his teens and is currently one of the hottest draws on the talent-packed Austin, TX music scene and throughout the U.S. where he is well know for his electrifying performances.
Monte was the first ever to be named by Guitar One Magazine on their list of Top 10 Best Undiscovered Guitars in America and is the only winner of the "Best Acoustic Guitar Player" for 7 Years in a Row at the Austin Music Awards.
As Acoustic Guitar Magazine notes, "Monte Montgomery is not your typical up-and-coming guitar god. His exquisitely crafted, melodically and rhythmically sophisticated pop songs suggest the best of Fleetwood Mac, Squeeze and The Police, while
just happening to integrate the most mind-bogglying guitar work in the state of Texas."
Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, Monte first learned piano and trumpet, and was an avid listener to pop radio. After moving to Texas at the age of 12, he joined the legendary musical scene around the restored town of Luckenback and began
his impressive rise as a musical talent. Performing with his mother at a popular Hill Country picking parlor he
quickly absorbed everything he could. By his mid-teen, Monte was playing gigs on his own around Austin and San Antonio, both with bands as an electric guitarist and in a variety of acoustic configurations.
Monte's considerable musical talents have come to fruition. As leader of his own band, he continues as a national touring act and has shown a side that's more than a new found "Texas Gun Slinger". His electrifying live shows deliver a dynamic rock n roll
experience with rich, stunning guitar work and powerful song deliveries. Monte sings and write songs that are concise and contemporary and although his music contains a lot of guitar it's more
than just a guitar show.
"I never woke up and said, what am I supposed to be doing with my life? I always knew, even before I played guitar, that I was going to be doing music, one way or another."
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LUCA OLIVIERI
was born in 1962 in Verona, Italy. He started playing the guitar at a very young age, studying classical guitar from the age of 8 until he was 14 years old. This training was very beneficial to his growth as a musician. Luca's music style was greatly influenced by Elvis Presley. Luca's own style developed and he found his own way in the music scene. Leaving his classic guitar behind, Luca dove into the "Memphis sound". It was during this time that he was influenced by Scotty Moore, Arthur Smith and Duck Baker. Later Luca was completely captivated by the talents of James Burton, Albert Lee and Brent Mason. These were the years of hard study, passion and evolution, which led Luca from the high class of James Burton, through the licks of Albert Lee, ending with the foolish complexity of Brent Mason's language. In 1997 Luca was called by his friend and mentor Pierpaolo Adda to back Albert Lee at the Soave Guitar Festival. Then, in 1998, he followed Albert Lee in a short European tour, joining The Hogan's Heroes, Albert's European band. In 1999, he met and backed James Burton at the Soave Guitar Festival, and on a short tour in Veneto. Here is what James said about Luca:"...it's hard to find a guitarist of this level, who is a great Country and Rock & Roll singer as well. At the end of 1999 he was called as special guest at the European Convention of the A.D.G.P.A. (Atkins-Dadi Guitar Players Association) in Issoudun, France, where he also performed with Tommy Emmanuel and was showcased in a clinic on "hot pickin'". Presently, Luca performs solo with the "T.C. Band", his own group and also plays for various artists. Luca is a great European country guitarist with a unique technique and his own sound. |
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Lee Roy Parnell (born December 21, 1956) is an American country music singer, most famous for his 1992 hits "Tender Moment" and "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am."
Parnell was born in Abilene, Texas in 1956. His parents were friends of country superstar Bob Wills, and Parnell began his music career on Wills's local radio show at the age of six. During his teens, he played drums and guitar in some local bands, and he played in Kinky Friedman's Texas Jewboys band during the early 1970s. He continued to play in local clubs throughout Texas until 1987, when he moved to Nashville and became a regular performer at the Bluebird Café.
Parnell recorded his first album, Lee Roy Parnell, for Arista Records in 1990. His second album, 1992's Love Without Mercy, was the most successful of his career, containing three Billboard top-10 hits, namely the title track, "Tender Moment," and "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am." 1993's On the Road also produced two top-10 hits, the title track and "I'm Holding My Own." The album also contained a rendition of the Hank Williams classic "Take These Chains from My Heart," as a duet with Ronnie Dunn.
Parnell collaborated with Trisha Yearwood, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, and Flaco Jimenez in his 1995 album "We All Get Lucky Sometimes," which contained the hits "A Little Bit of You" and "Heart's Desire." 1997's, Every Night's a Saturday Night, a commercially lackluster album, was his last orignal album for Arista Records.
Parnell recorded an album titled Tell the Truth for Vanguard Records in 2001, and he released Back to the Well for Universal Records in 2006.
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Music is the language of the Gods that can bring all people together and, for this reason, music is an important part of my life. - Steven Seagal Steven got his first guitar at the age of 12 and has been playing the blues since. He has honed his craft over the years sharing his love for the blues and jamming with the most prolific blues legends in the industry. But it was not until Steven’s mother influenced him to "let the world hear his music", that he released his first album, "Songs from The Crystal Cave", in 2004. Like "Songs From the Crystal Cave", his latest release, "Mojo Priest", celebrates the power of many of the musical influences that have compelled Steven to write and bring the art of story telling to his songs. Critically acclaimed as one of the best blues albums released this year, "Mojo Priest" captures the essence of not only Steven’s smooth yet gritty guitar style, but also the essence of blues greats such as Muddy Waters, BB King, Bo Diddley, Robert Lockwood Jr, Ko Ko Taylor, James Cotton, Willie "Pine Top" Perkins and Hubert Sumlin. Steven is an accomplished guitar player and his style of classic and modern blues is personified in a way that only Steven Seagal can accomplish. Even the amazing BB King was quoted as saying "Steven is great at Guitar". His natural talent and commitment to capture blues in a traditional and meaningful manner is evident in the music he writes and plays. |
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Rick distinctly remembers the impact of the early years of Rock & Roll and the effect it had on his interest in playing the guitar. "Everyone, of course, was crazy about ELVIS and I was too. Also, I was a faithful watcher of the "BANDSTAND" TV show which was broadcast every day from Philadelphia. This started even before DICK CLARK hosted it. Bandstand was the center of the universe as far as Rock & Roll went for me. Most of the classic rockers made their debut on this show before they got to Ed Sullivan, and I remember being fascinated with guys like JERRY LEE LEWIS, FATS DOMINO, and LITTLE RICHARD. But it was the guys with the guitars that really got to me. My mom had played Hawaiian lap guitar as a young girl and we still had her old Oahu acoustic. We have a videotape (transferred from 8mm film) of me about six years old going nuts with that guitar doing my Elvis bit in the living room. It's proof that I'm a bona-fide 50's rocker!"
Rick tried lessons a few times around this time but soon abandoned them preferring instead to work things out by ear. Another weekly TV show had a great impact on the young Vito. "THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET" usually featured the teen-age RICKY NELSON with his band every week at the close of each episode performing one of his hit Rockabilly tunes. Playing in Nelson's band at the time was lead guitarist JAMES BURTON, who most often would be given the spotlight to flash out a dazzling solo on his vintage Telecaster, an impression which mesmerized Vito. "I couldn't wait to see that show. Everybody called me Ricky at the time, so naturally I imagined myself as Ricky Nelson up there on the stage. Except I also wanted to be James Burton too! To me, along with SCOTTY MOORE, these were the first real Rock & Roll lead guitarists, the first ones to mix Blues and C & W together. James probably influenced the electric guitar more than anyone ever realized back then, and you can still hear his style in many, many players today."
Catch the rest of Rick's bio on his website....Click Here |
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