The dream goes something like this: You were born into a family with roots that can be traced back to Lightning Hopkins. You were a regular collaborator with both Vaughan brothers, as well as an active member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Arc Angels. If that wasn’t enough, you have co-written and/or recorded with rock legends like Eric Clapton, Roger Waters and B.B King. A dream? Hardly–this has just been the past 18 months in the life of Doyle Bramhall II. And he’s only getting warmed up! Returning home from a European tour with Clapton, Doyle sat down to discuss the past, present and future of the man known as Bramhall.
The journey to find one’s self can often be a long and arduous task; the path to acknowledging who you are and what your contribution is can be even harder. Such has been the voyage for drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, collectively known as Double Trouble. Stevie Ray Vaughan once said he was just a member of a band, a band called Double Trouble…and with his death came a void in the act that had revived blues/rock for a whole new generation.
The journey to find one’s self can often be a long and arduous task; the path to acknowledging who you are what your contribution is can be even harder. Such has been the voyage for Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton, collectively known as Double Trouble. Stevie Ray Vaughan once said he was just a member of a band, a band called Double Trouble…and with his death came a void in the act that had revived blues/rock for a whole new generation.
The journey to find one’s self can often be a long and arduous task; the path to acknowledging who you are and what your contribution is can be even harder. Such has been the voyage for drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, collectively known as Double Trouble. Stevie Ray Vaughan once said he was just a member of a band, a band called Double Trouble…and with his death came a void in the act that had revived blues/rock for a whole new generation.
His sound is unmistakable, his stance unforgettable. Notes stream from his guitar in metallic waves, occasionally softening into a feathery whisper. His voice is that of the six-string; as if being ripped from his throat, he screams tales of love, betrayal, hope, despair and all-night bacchanalia. It’s the blues at its most raw-nerved and ferocious–but look into the musician’s face as he gyrates and bends almost in half, doubling over to the floor. He breaks into a smile, eyes glistening with childlike joy.
Inspiration is a funny thing. Some guitarists, like Jimi Hendrix, claim their music comes to them in waves, as if you’re being struck by a lightning bolt right out of thin air. Others, like Buddy Guy, Carlos Santana and Robben Ford, play from the heart and not the head. It’s instinctual and not something that’s tangible or can be reasoned out. A true musician really has no method for what he plays, just a passion to share and an ability to communicate clearly through music.
Not since the late Stevie Ray Vaughan has anyone burned up the blues like Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The “Tornado” from Shreveport, LA, who has, with his long blonde hair and Stratocaster in tow, rekindled blues in the 90s much like Clapton, Page and Beck did in the late 60s and 70s. With his own band, as well as the additional support of Double Trouble, Kenny Wayne simmers, steams and rocks the blues so as to attract a crowd of serious concert-going fanatics. His unadorned guitar lines alternately caress and blister, easily whipping the unassuming into a mass frenzy. His sophomore album, Trouble Is…, continues the high-octane deluge he started on Ledbetter Heights by echoing the influences of B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix, all the while updating the blues for a new generation of guitar fans.
Americans like their guitar-based blues-rock to have some sort of geographical identification. Whether it’s New York’s underground, Los Angeles’ club scene, the Jersey shore or even Chicago’s house music–these are all places that can easily be located on the map. Lately, though, bluesy guitar rock has started pouring out of places not normally associated with those that are part of the cultural mainstream, cities like Seattle, Athens, GA, and Shreveport, LA, to name a few. The latter of which, to be sure, is an unlikely place to find any type of major trend (that is, unless you consider places like the Mall Of America a relevant and major trend in today’s society.) In general, though, most guitarists tend to think of the traditional places like LA, New York or even Austin as the strongholds of good old, guitar-driven, blues-rock.
Not since the late Stevie Ray Vaughan has anyone burned up the blues like Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The “Tornado” from Shreveport, LA, who has, with his long blonde hair and Stratocaster in tow, rekindled blues in the 90s much like Clapton, Page and Beck did in the late 60s and 70s. With his own band, as well as the additional support of Double Trouble, Kenny Wayne simmers, steams and rocks the blues so as to attract a crowd of serious concert-going fanatics. His unadorned guitar lines alternately caress and blister, easily whipping the unassuming into a mass frenzy. His sophomore album, Trouble Is…, continues the high-octane deluge he started on Ledbetter Heights by echoing the influences of B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix, all the while updating the blues for a new generation of guitar fans.