MONDAY Q&A 11/11/19

Q: Who was your biggest guitar influence starting out?

A: Its hard to really name one… it all started watching those great late-night concert shows. Seeing Bowie, T. Rex, The Dolls … my path was etched in stone! I still love football to this day… but I wasn’t going to be big or fast enough … and girls loved guys in bands! So as far as early influences .. definitely Mick Ronson. So fluid with bursts of aggression. His solo on ‘Moonage Daydream’ is the best ever. Johnny Thunders is the embodiment of cool. I guess I get my ‘sloppiness’ and hair from him! :) Marc Bolan … wow. I know seeing him strut, prance and pout cemented the deal for me. Such an underrated guitarist and songwriter. I guess his flamboyant striking good looks overshadow his talent and influence on rock n’ roll. Probably on the other 3 guitarists I mention here too. Including Ace on this list might surprise some … but Kiss was a big band to me in my teen years. His vibrato and ability to ring so much from a single note is probably second only to Rono. I must also add Glen Buxton (Alice Cooper) and Dave Hill (Slade) to this list. I certainly widened my scope as I got more into the darker side of music … but the above mentioned are all responsible for why and how I play…. good and bad :)