Joe Walsh: Bio, Tour, Music, Live, Gear, Store.
From his early hits with the James Gang through to his tenure with the Eagles -- as well as a successful solo career -- Joe Walsh remained one of the most colorful characters in rock & roll, lending his distinctively reedy vocals, off-the-wall lyrics, and expansive guitar leads to a series of AOR staples including "Funk #49," "Rocky Mountain Way," and "Life's Been Good." Born November 20, 1947 in Wichita, KS, Walsh initially studied the oboe and clarinet, later playing bass in local bands the G-Clefs and the Nomads; while attending Kent State University, he finally picked up the guitar, fronting the collegiate combo the Measles from 1965 to 1969. He then joined the Cleveland-based hard rock trio the James Gang, appearing on their debut LP Yer' Album. The trio's 1970 album, The James Gang Rides Again, proved the group's commercial breakthrough, launching the FM radio favorite "Funk #49" and achieving gold status. While the follow-up, Thirds, was another success, yielding the classic "Walk Away," Walsh found the James Gang's power-trio format too confining and left the group soon after ... (source : www.music.yahoo.com)
Official USA Fan Club for world renown instrumental guitarist Nokie Edwards, former lead guitarist of The Ventures.
Nokie Edwards is universally recognized as one of the world’s premier guitarists. He was born Nole Edwards in 1935 in Lahoma, Oklahoma, hence the nickname, "Nokie" which was given to him by his father, Elbert. Nokie’s mother, Nannie, was a Native American Cherokee, and Nokie is proud of his Cherokee heritage.
Nokie lives in Oregon with his wife, Judy. They have four children, two girls and two boys: Tina, Patrick, Kim & Seth. They lost Kim in 1988 in a car accident. There are six grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Judy Edwards is president of the Nokie Edwards Official USA Fan Club.
Nokie’s Roots
Nokie learned how to play guitar at the age of five; by the age of eleven he could play all string instruments. He turned professional at the age of twelve when he performed on a country station in Idaho. Nokie’s family then moved to Washington State where he played regularly at community fairs and festivals, including landing the coveted role as a featured performer at the historical "Ezra Meeker Days" festival in Puyallup Washington. When Nokie turned seventeen, he went to Oregon were he played in dance halls. His guitar virtuosity was unmatched and unprecedented; he was making $300.00 a week while others were making $75.00 a week. Before eighteen he was given a raise to $350.00 a week. For the next few years Nokie was a welcome regular on the regional music circuit, his star appeal ascended immensely ...
Michael Hawkeye Herman:
With over 40 years of performing experience, Michael "Hawkeye" Herman exemplifies the range of possibilities in acoustic blues, and personifies versatile musicianship, originality, and compelling artistry as a blues storyteller. His dynamic performances have won him a faithful following, and he leads a very active touring schedule of performances at festivals, concerts, school programs, and workshops. Hawkeye performs a wide variety of traditional blues, ballads, swing, and original tunes, on six-string and twelve-string guitar, and is an adept and exciting practitioner of slide guitar and slide mandolin. His music has been included in video documentaries and in three hit theatrical productions, and his solo CD, Blues Alive!, released in 1998, was greeted by rave reviews and greatly increased the demand for his live performances at major blues and folk festivals. His newest CD, It's All Blues To Me!, was released in May of 2005 ...
I was born in Pittsburgh Pa. on December 16 1933. I was lucky enough to grow up in an era when the popular composers of the day were the Gershwins (George and Ira), Cole Porter. Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Rodgers and Hart to name a few.
At around 12 years of age, I started doing singing impressions of Billy Eckstine, Nat Cole, Frankie Lane and Herb Jeffries. George Shearing's music, Jackie Cain and Roy Kral (with Charley Ventura) and the Woody Herman band were big influences.
I studied clarinet for a short while. After picking up a guitar in a store one day, my whole life changed.
My first guitar teacher was Jerry Condorato (from Naples Italy). He was a great teacher and a wonderful friend. He taught what was called 'classical plectrum guitar'. (Wonderful for right hand technique.) His influences were Oscar Moore, Django Reinhardt and Andre Segovia. He was also the first teacher of Ron Affif, my nephew, (a wonderfully gifted guitarist based in New York.)
At 18 I started doing little jobs around Pittsburgh and I used to go on Jerry's jobs and sit in for tip money.
In 1955 I became a member of the '7th Army Jazz Band' in Stuttgart, Germany. Upon returning to my home town, I entered Duquesne University (where I now do guitar workshops) majoring in string bass with a piano minor. A year later I became restless with academia and moved to New York.
In 1962 I joined the George Shearing Quintet for 2 years - (I rejoined the group in 1971.) I learned an awful lot from George, and vibraphonist Gary Burton. It was then I started composing ...
Bonnie Raitt:
More than just a best-selling artist, respected guitarist, expressive singer, and accomplished songwriter, Bonnie Raitt has become an institution in American music. The release of Souls Alike, her eighteenth album, marks yet another brave, exhilarating step in a legendary body of work.
Born to a musical family, the nine-time Grammy winner is the daughter of celebrated Broadway singer John Raitt (Carousel, Oklahoma!, The Pajama Game) and accomplished pianist/singer Marge Goddard. She was raised in Los Angeles in a climate of respect for the arts, Quaker traditions, and a commitment to social activism. A Stella guitar given to her as a Christmas present launched Bonnie on her creative journey at the age of eight. While
growing up, though passionate about music from the start, she never considered that it would play a greater role than as one of her many growing interests.
In the late '60s, restless in Los Angeles, she moved east to Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a Harvard/Radcliffe student majoring in Social Relations and African Studies, she attended classes and immersed herself in the city's turbulent cultural and political activities. "I couldn't wait to get back to where there were folkies and the antiwar and civil rights movements," she says. "There were so many great music and political scenes going on in the late '60s in
Cambridge." Also, she adds, with a laugh, "the ratio of guys to girls at Harvard was four to one, so all of those things were playing in my mind" ...