Few guitarists have achieved the level of notoriety that Derek Trucks has at such an early stage in their career. Born in 1979, the Grammy nominated guitarist began playing at age 9 and by age 11 was performing gigs. It was at this time where he was invited to sit in with The Allman Brothers Band, in which his uncle Butch Trucks was a founding member. Derek received a genuine music education through touring and sitting in as a special guest with the band. Throughout his teens Derek was introduced to some music’s finest, sitting in with legends such as Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. In 1999, he officially became a member of the Allman Brothers Band.
Derek is a truly gifted guitarist who toured extensively through his twenties. In 2006 he juggled schedules with The Allman Brothers Band, The Derek Trucks Band, and a world tour featuring him alongside Eric Clapton. Through his dedication he has emerged as one of the finest guitarists in contemporary music. A master of the bottleneck slide guitar, Derek incorporates blues, jazz, and world music into his southern rock style. Both with and without the slide he produces incredibly pure and vocal sounds on the guitar. Derek commonly plays with only his fingers, which allows him to create naturally flowing phrases with a distinctive rich tone.
This is a clip of Derek Trucks performing with the Allman Brothers Band in New York City in 2003. It’s an outstanding example of his playing and the expressive power of the guitar.
On July 19th of last year at about 11:30PM, an idea was born. That idea was to build a place, this website, which would present excellent writing across a wide range of topics. A place that would not feature sensationalism, but that would always strive to be sensational. A place that would endeavor to provide help to people who need it through a practical philanthropic effort.
Within a week of that idea, our team was built, and we have been working hard ever since to turn that idea into something real. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with this vibrant and dedicated team. Six months later, this is the fruit of their labor. It’s February 1, 2010 and our doors are finally open.
Born in Auburn, Maine to a musical family, Lenny Breau began playing the guitar at age 8. His parents were both professional musicians who played together in their touring country band, “Lone Pine and Betty Cody”. By age 14 he was the lead guitarist in their band where he first performed and recorded professionally. The family eventually moved to Winnipeg when Lenny was 16, where he branched out on his own and developed a keen interest in Jazz music. Throughout his career, Lenny worked in many aspects of the music industry, teaching and writing for Guitar Player Magazine. However, live performance was always a focus as it allowed him to be artistically expressive and develop his depth of guitar techniques. Lenny also received significant exposure through his session work with CBC radio and television, even landing his own television show. It was a recording of The Lenny Breau Show which caught the attention of guitar legend Chet Atkins. Their mutual respect and ensuing friendship led to two Lenny Breau albums released thought RCA records.
While Lenny never attained success on a mainstream commercial level, his virtuosic jazz fingerstyle technique was groundbreaking. A player with an eclectic taste, Lenny incorporated country, flamenco, and jazz into his creative and unmatched sound. His highly developed picking hand and left hand facility allowed him to comp chords and play melodies for himself simultaneously. He also developed the ability to produce complex passages using harmonics.
Lenny’s life was tragically taken on August 12, 1984. The circumstances surrounding his death were unclear as his case still remains unsolved. These two clips are an example of the growth and diversity in Lenny’s playing. They truly show why he still remains a strong inspiration to some of the world’s greatest guitarists.
Born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, Sonny Landreth is revered among guitarists as a true original. The influence of the south is reflected is his guitar playing, singing, and compositions, through growing up with Blues, Zydeco, and Rock music. Through being immersed in various styles Sonny became a sought after session guitarist and has recorded with artists such as Junior Wells, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Buffett, John Hiatt, and Mark Knopfler. In Sonny’s latest release From the Reach, he composed songs specifically for the musicians he invited to play on the album. Within the album are collaborations with some of the greatest guitarists in music today, including Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, and Vince Gill.
While Sonny’s style remains rooted in the blues, his approach to the guitar is extremely unique. The backbone of most of his playing is the slide, but by adding fretted notes behind the slide he opens up many possibilities sonically. Sonny also possess a highly developed right hand where he uses a thumb pick and fingers for intricate picking, muting, and tapped harmonics. His melodic sense combined with these techniques produces a superb sound on the instrument.
The first video clip features Sonny Landreth sharing the stage with Eric Clapton in Chicago at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2007. It captures him singing and trading some extremely tasteful musical ideas with Clapton. The second features a backstage solo performance of his composition Next to Kindred Spirit.
Steve Morse is potentially one of the most diverse and virtuosic guitarists alive today. A true master of the guitar, Steve is an extremely versatile guitarist. His style and compositional skills draw from classical, jazz, country, blues, folk, and rock. As a founder of the fusion band Dixie Dregs, Steve has been playing and touring since the 1970’s. He has also released over ten albums between his solo efforts and The Steve Morse Band. In 1992 he replaced the legendary guitarist Richie Blackmore in the rock band Deep Purple. Steve currently plays in Deep Purple where he continues to record and tour extensively.
Steve’s approach on the guitar is one of extreme precision. He has the ability to play extremely complex lines and still remain musical. He is known for producing an exceptionally clean sound through double picking a majority of his notes. Through his dedication to the instrument he has also been a recipient of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Best Overall Guitarist” over five consecutive years.
This is a live clip taken from a Deep Purple performance in Australia in 1999. This is Steve’s solo in the concert. In this 8:37 clip, he plays through an eclectic mix of style and technique demonstrating his immense ability on the guitar.
(This clip is available in HD! If it plays to slow, click the red HD button above to turn that off and it should load faster.)
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