Eric Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. His 1990 album Ah Via Musicom was certified platinum by the RIAA, and the single 'Cliffs of Dover' won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Ruthie Cecelia Foster is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music. She mixes a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. She has often been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin.
Robert William Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards.
Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand, to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. He resides in the Minneapolis area with his family.
Jandek is an American lo-fi music project centered around Sterling Smith, though the pseudonym is often used to refer to Smith directly in the context of this work. Their output is distributed by Corwood Industries, a Houston, Texas record label which is also operated by Smith.
Kourosh Yaghmaei is an Iranian singer-songwriter, composer and record producer, who started his career in the early 1970s. Regarded as one of the greatest Persian psychedelic rock musicians in the history of Iranian rock music, he is known as 'the Godfather of Iranian psychedelic rock', as well as 'the king of rock'.
George 'Buddy' Guy is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues and has influenced guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy played with Muddy Waters as a house guitarist at Chess Records and began a musical partnership with the harmonica player Junior Wells.
Neal Joseph Schon is an American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist, best known for his work with the bands Journey and Bad English. He was a member of the rock band Santana before forming Journey, and was also an original member of Hardline.
James Charles Rodgers was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as 'the Father of Country Music', he is best known for his distinctive rhythmic yodeling. Unusual for a music star of his era, Rodgers rose to prominence based upon his recordings, among country music's earliest, rather than concert performances – which followed to similar public acclaim.
Gregory LeNoir Allman was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Brothers Band fused it with rock music, jazz, and country at times. He wrote several of the band's biggest songs, including 'Whipping Post', 'Melissa', and 'Midnight Rider'. Allman also had a successful solo career, releasing seven studio albums. He was born and spent much of his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, before relocating to Daytona Beach, Florida and then Richmond Hill, Georgia.
Stephen John Hunter is an American guitarist, primarily a session player. He has worked with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, acquiring the moniker 'The Deacon'. Hunter first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin who has said Steve Hunter has contributed so much to rock music in general that he truly deserves the designation of 'Guitar Hero'. Steve Hunter has played some of the greatest riffs in rock history - the first solo in Aerosmith's 'Train Kept A Rollin'', the acoustic intro on Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill' and he wrote the intro interlude on Lou Reed's live version of 'Sweet Jane' on Reed's first gold record.
Joanne Shaw Taylor is a British blues rock singer and guitarist who was discovered by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics at the age of 16. The British music publication Blues Matters! called Taylor 'the new face of the blues'.
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, known for her hits 'Fast Car' and 'Give Me One Reason', along with other singles 'Talkin' 'bout a Revolution', 'Baby Can I Hold You', and 'Crossroads'. She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award–winning artist.
Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green's songs, such as 'Albatross', 'Black Magic Woman', 'Oh Well', 'The Green Manalishi ' and 'Man of the World', appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.
Chris Cain is an American blues musician.
John Ned 'Johnny' Shines was an American blues singer and guitarist.
Tony Spinner is an American rock and blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with Toto and Paul Gilbert. Spinner, who toured with Toto from 1999 until their temporary hiatus in 2008, was personally selected by David Paich as a backup guitarist and backing vocalist and would perform lead vocals on the song 'Stop Loving You,' originally performed by former Toto member Joseph Williams. When Toto reformed in 2010, Williams rejoined the band. As a result, Spinner was not invited to re-join the band for the tour.
Hiram 'Hank' Williams was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he recorded 35 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that reached No. 1.
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer-songwriter who sang rock, soul and blues music. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and 'electric' stage presence.
Quinn Sullivan is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist from New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States.
Raul Santos Seixas was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer. He is sometimes called the 'Father of Brazilian Rock' and 'Maluco Beleza', the last one roughly translated as 'Groovy Nutcase'. He was born in Salvador (Bahia), Brazil, and died of pancreatitis in São Paulo. Every year on Seixas' birthday, legions of fans, including thousands of impersonators, throw a parade in his honor in downtown São Paulo.
Garland Jeffreys is an American singer and songwriter in rock and roll, reggae, blues, and soul music.
Forrest Richard 'Dickey' Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band.
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, guitarist, organist and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band which has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.