Reggie Boyd, jr.

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Still Proud & Funky.

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Released: May 17, 2011

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Still Proud & Funky.
4:40
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POSSIBLY, MAYBE
2:17
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Chill
4:07
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Goodbye Look_J.Porrazo live
1:14
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Freakypocket
3:06
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Total Plays: 16,755 / Plays Today: 2See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Country / Jazz / Rock
Location San Jose , Un
Profile Views: 30307
Last Login: 3/5/2013
Member Since 11/5/2004
Website www.reverbnation.com/truthofguitar
Record Label Maybe if I practice hard.........
Type of Label Unsigned
Bio
REGGIE BOYD, JR. "THE MAN BEHIND THE MUSIC" by Lilly Aycud ................................................ A towering ﬁgure of a man carefully steps onto the stage. He exchanges his walking cane for an electric guitar and a transformation begins. As soon as the music starts, he becomes a man possessed by the rhythm of the drums and the groove of the bass. The expressions on his face change with every passing note, as if each tone represents one of the many extraordinary experiences in this guitar player's life. In this moment, everyone in the audience connects with his passion and intensity. Discovering the Right Path Reggie Boyd, Jr. was born on the south side of Chicago. His mother was a jazz saxophonist. His father, Reggie Boyd, Sr., was a prominent session guitarist in Chicago. He played on the majority of recordings on the famous Chess records, among other great musical contributions. (just google him ) Al- though they never pushed him, Boyd's parents exposed him to a variety of musical genres and shared their musi- cal knowledge with him. Boyd's father was a guitarist who appeared on many re- cordings for Chess Records. He was also a teacher to gui- tar greats such as Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, and Matt Murphy. Despite his father's abilities, the family experienced hard times due to the poor ﬁnancial rewards of musicians of the day. His mother had to work odd jobs to help pay the bills. As the son of musicians, it might have seemed a natural path for the young Boyd to follow in their foot- steps, but childhood experiences caused him to shy away from it. Instilled with a desire to help others, Boyd decided he wanted to become a priest. He moved to Santa Barbara, California and entered the seminary. However, a day at the beach in Santa Barbara would change Boyd's plans forever. While walking on the beach one day, Boyd heard some live music. He followed the sounds, which led him to a rock band play- ing on a stage. As he watched the guitarist, he knew, instantly, what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a guitarist. Excited by this epiphany, Boyd went back to the seminary and asked the rector if he could study the gui- tar. He offered to write and study music and use it for the church, even though the guitar was an instru- ment used mainly for secular music. "The rector told me I was out of mind," he recalled. He dropped out of school immediately afterwards. "I remember telling my mom on the phone, 'I'm coming home.' She said, 'Oh, God. I thought we had es- caped that,'" Boyd said. Boyd moved back to Chicago and started hanging out at the local record stores. The store owners would talk to him about music and recommend albums of great guitar players. He would return home with stacks of records and practice for hours at a time. Eventually, he began playing in bands. Feedback from bandmates was his only barometer of knowing that he was on the right track. ..............................."GOING ON TOUR"........................................ In 1976, Boyd heard that the Staples Singers were needed a guitarist for their upcoming tour. He showed up the day of the audition, ready to play. They weren't interested in auditioning him because they only wanted professionals, but they told him to wait, anyway. He waited about six hours. After the last guitarist left, Boyd was led into a room ﬁlled with equipment. Surrounded by gear that he had only seen in pictures, Boyd started to play on all the different amps. He continued to play while he waited for someone to come listen to him. An hour went by, but no one came in. Boyd went to see if there was a problem. As soon as he stepped outside, everyone started to clap and cheer. They had been listening on the intercom. Boyd went on tour the very next day. He toured with the Staples Singers for three years and even earned a spot as their featured guitarist. Afer Boyd left the Staples Singers, he spent the next several years touring with other bands, doing sessions, and honing his craft. He now has played with countless major acts and sessions of all styles, and continues to live his dream. ......................................"WANTING TO ROCK"................................... Boyd was getting a lot of experience playing in cover bands and making a living as a guitarist. He was mastering the styles of most genres, but his biggest dream was to be in a rock band. Led Zeppelin and Cream are among his favorite bands and he longed to create music with that kind of energy. In 1987, Boyd moved back to California and started working in a country band. He ﬁnally joined an origi- nal band that played the kind of music that he was passionate about. The band met with some success and had the support of music lawyer, Owen Sloane (Elton John, Reba McIntire, Fleetwood Mac). But mu- sical trends were changing. When bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden came into the scene, everything changed. Eventually, the band broke up. Boyd continued to play on his own. He didn't want to write trendy music. He had an idea of how he wanted his band to be and didn't want to compromise his vision. "I wanted it on my own terms. So, I wrote alone and tried to develop my own sound," Boyd said. ..................................."DEALING WITH DISEASE".................................. In 1993, Boyd began to experience severe abdominal pains. Doctors would tell him that nothing was wrong. But the pains didn't go away. Boyd ended up in county hospital, where he learned that he had ex- perienced an aortic aneurism. Immediate open heart surgery was required. The operation was success- ful, but afterwards, he couldn't remember that he played guitar. Friends would play tapes of his perform- ances but he still couldn't remember. It was when a friend brought him a guitar magazine, that his mem- ory started to return. "I remember recognizing info about gear, ways of playing," Boyd said. After being released from the hos- pital, Boyd went home and realized he couldn't play the guitar. He had to re-teach himself how to play. And he did. By the late 90s, things were going well for Boyd. In 1999, he served as musical director for Roseanne Barr's talk show. In November of that year, on his birthday, the abdominal pains returned. This time they were worse. Boyd was back in the hospital. Tests showed that he had suffered multiple aneurisms on his aorta. Boyd spent about three weeks in the hospital. With the help of his girlfriend, Tina(now wife), who is a nurse, he was admitted into Stanford. They discovered that Boyd had a rare disease called Marphan Syn- drome, which is a disorder of the connective tissue. Victims of Marphan Syndrome are missing a chromo- some called ﬁbrillin, that keeps tissues pliable. As the tissues get rigid, they start to break and crack. Doctor told Boyd that he had only a few weeks to live, but they wanted to perform a rare operation to try and correct his disease. Boyd remembers having to face this news. "What do I have to lose? I heard the news and thought, 'So, this is the way it's going to end.' I was OK with it," he said. Boyd was to undergo three surgeries. The second operation, however, left him paralyzed from the waist down. When he started rehab, he discovered that they weren't teaching him how to walk, but how to live in a wheel chair. He was devastated. Although the doctors weren't expecting Boyd to be able to walk again, he met an orderly at the hospital who gave him hope. The orderly, whose wife was a paraplegic, asked him if he could move his little toe. Boyd told him that he could. The orderly explained that his lowest extremity was still connected to his brain and that recovery was possible. Boyd's determination to completely heal himself continued. He kept exercising his toe. Eventually, he be- gan to feel sensation in his foot. Miraculously, he got to the point where he could stand with a walker. While he was still struggling to rehabilitate his legs, Boyd received a call to do a gig for Aphex's All-Star Jam to promote their products. The idea of needing assistance to perform was too much for Boyd. Ini- tially, he declined their offer. "They wanted me to be the guitarist," Boyd recalled. "I told them I couldn't do it, but my wife told me I needed to play again. My wife and friends egged me on. I called Aphex and told them I would do it." Boyd showed up for the gig a little anxious and hesitant. However, as soon as he picked up the guitar, he realized that everything was going to be ﬁne. He played all night and had the time of his life. After the gig, Boyd returned to northern California where he was living with his girlfriend. He stayed for two weeks before returning to Los Angeles. He knew he needed to get back to playing music again. With friends helping him to carry his gear, Boyd began gigging again. Today, he walks with a cane and car- ries his own gear. Others might have quit long ago, but Boyd continues to follow his passion and is grate- ful for all of life's obstacles. Now married to his longtime girlfriend, he lives in the bay area. Now another obstacle has popped up. His kidneys failed and he is on dialysis and awaiting a kidney. "I'm glad that all happened," he said, "It kind of teaches you exactly what you're made of and how hard you really need to work." I'm still gigging and playing all the time and hopefully growing spiritually and musically. I love my wife, my guitar, and my life. .......................................................... Longtime friend and bassist, Mark Meadows, succinctly describes the man behind the music. "Reggie Boyd is integrity deﬁned. Reggie was blessed with an incredible amount of natural talent and an understanding of the essence of music. Yet, during his life, he has always applied an equal, if not greater, amount of hard work and study, which has made his playing second to none in just about any style of guitar playing. The fact that he has cheated death now, twice, in last few years can be heard in every note he plays. His abilities are best described as 'deep.' Plus, he's just a great human being." ..............................................................I am comfortable with most styles...metal,rock,alternative,funk,r&b,country,blues,jazz,techno.rap. I'm here to meet musicians,friends of music, and network. My life and my wife have been a true blessing and I am sure it will continue. Thanks for dropping by. Feel free to drop me a line! And thanks to my hottie wife, who lets me get away with doing what I love.....I love you like craaaazzzyy!!! And big thanks to all of you for reading this stuff and listening. Be well
Members
Please leave my member out of this........thats personal...good day....I said GOOD DAY, SIR!!!
Influences
Big Jim Sullivan, Terry Kath,EVH, Jimi,Led Zep, ZZ Top,Cameo,Beck,Frampton,Deep Purple,The Allman Brothers,Scofield,Children of Bodum,Metheny,Kings X, Slipnot, Brent Mason, Merle Travis, Roy Clark, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea,Lenny White,Al DimeolaSantana, Neal Schon, In Flames,Alice in Chains, DJ Quick, DJ Shadow,Humble Pie,Pantera,Eddie Hazel,Steve Khan,,Sabbath,Dennis Chambers,Joe Pass,Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King, Pop Staples, Albert Collins,Jimmy Herring,Wes Montgomery,Mike Stern,Mike Campbell,Angus Young,Malcolm Young, Nile Rogers, Tony Maiden,Rufus,E,W,&F,Sweet Louie Shelton, Ken Chaney, Grandpa Jones,Larry Carlton,Tommy Tedesco, Eric Clapton,David Lindley,Ry Cooder,Tuck Andress,Michael Hedges,James Taylor, You, and LIFE!!!! You can learn from everybody. hmmm... I just made that quote up....
Sounds Like
, I steal from everyone..better word, LEARN....and I am also influenced by of all. Just give a listen. My forte is playing lots of styles. I play rock, metal,jazz,country, Latin, funk, rap, r&b, electronica, show tunes, and of course...blues.