My influences are vast and include many great composers and instrumentalists of several styles of music. My main guitar influences are...
Russ Townsend
Russ is my lifelong friend
and first guitar teacher. He taught me not only how to play the
guitar, but how to "love" playing the guitar and how
important it is to share what I learn with others.
Randy Rhodes
Whenever I listen to Randy,
I get goosebumps. He was such a class act. A real craftsman with
heart and one of my biggest influences. The day Randy died has to
be one the saddest in all of guitar history.
Yngwie Malmsteen
The God of Shred!
Technique! Tone! Attitude! Speed! Feel! The God of Shred! I have
spent more hours trying to play his stuff than anybody.
Steve Vai
The first time I heard Vai
was while listening to Frank Zappa's song "Stevie's
Spanking". What a strange style that really freaked me out.
Then as I heard his more mature stuff...whoa! Techniques,
innovation, expression, creativity and sound are ALL there.
Joe Satriani
Joe is really the coolest
guitarist ever. Definitely one of my favorites. He comes up with
such great melodies, sounds and tricks and fuses them with such a
rocking groove. Huge variety of music from ballads to borg sex. I
really dig the way he delivers for his dedicated fans. His book
"Guitar Secrets" should be in your library. What a
treat it was to see him, Vai and Malmsteen in Montreal for the G3
concert!
Jason Becker
Grab anything you can find
of his, scour youtube.com, and prepare to be floored. Jason and
his buddy Marty Friendman were totally insane in Cacophony and
Jason's solo stuff is touched. Jason is truly a shred hero.
Vinnie Moore
The best hair in 80's
guitar. Seriously, one of my dreams came true when I got to meet
Vinnie at a clinic. It was a real thrill. He was a great guy and
he is by far one of my all time favorite shredders. His tone is
pure and clean, his techniques is precise and his ideas logical
yet fresh.
John Petrucci
Spotless. Precise. Pristine
sound. Creative, holy crap this guy is wicked. The more I listen
to Suspended Animation, the more I want to practice. It is a good
thing he wrote the technique books "Rock Discipline"
and "Wild Stringdom". Go buy them!
Micheal Romeo
I love Symphony X. They are
doing exactly what I hoped Yngwie would end up doing instead of
his wussy arena love tunes. The leads are wicked and his rhythm
tone is unreal.
Page
Jimmy's studio work with
layering and alternate tunings is very inspiring, and his totally
stoned solo in the live "Dazed and Confused" from
"The Song Remains the Same" makes me want to just pick
up my guitar and wail.
Eddie
Eddie Van Halen did a lot
of really neat stuff first. Great tunes, smoking creative solos
with such a great signature tone.
Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Mercyful Fate
Any of the great 80's metal
riff-master bands really. I just love that stuff. I grew up on
it. And of course godfathers of Metal...Black Sabbath
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Stevie's tone, soul, groove
and the way he "digs in" has left such a massive impression on me.
I've played the crap out of all his albums.
George Harrison
I learned to play guitar
strumming Beatles tunes. It wasn't until later, as a professional
musician did I come to realize how significant his guitar
identity was to the sound of the greatest band on earth.
Hendrix
Well, who isn't influenced
by Jimi. If you are not, you should be dammit! One of my
favorites is "Machine Gun" from the live "Band of
Gypsies".
Steve Howe
Name me a rock guitar
player with a more unique style than Steve Howe... Fragile, Close
to the Edge, Tales from Topographic Oceans...if you don't know
what I am talking about, and claim to like prog rock, get the
hell to your local used record shop and buy some early YES CDs.
Do it! NOW!
Ritchie Blackmore
Deep Purple did some great
tunes. Also, you must hear RAINBOW's "Gates of
Babylon". Before Yngwie, there was Ritchie.
Uli John Roth
And also before Yngwie,
there was Uli Jon Roth. He did some crazy operatic solo stuff. If
you can find the old SCORPIONS album with the song
"Hellcat". Check out the solo!
Dave Gilmore
I've had to sit in my car a
few times getting home late at night because I could not bring
myself to shutting off the radio in the middle of the Comfortably
Numb ending solo. The Bendmaster! Also, his studio layering work
is unreal.
Angus
He makes open chords sound
great with distortion! His tone is so driving and awesome.
Classic Riffs! His mixed use of major and minor pentatonics is
really intuitive.
Micheal Hedges
Some people are just truly
clever. This guy happened to be both clever and very, very
artistically creative. A sad loss to guitar when he passed away.
Preston Reid
When I first heard Preston
Reid's cd and read that there were no overdubs, I couldn't believe
my ears. The next day I had to order his instructional video just
so I could try and figure out what I was hearing. His is an
innovative, melodic, rhythmic, alternate tuning, percussive style
that builds upon the foundation laid by Micheal Hedges.
Al DiMeola, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin
All three are monster
players. I have grouped them together here because one of my all
time favorite guitar albums is a trio project by these guys
called "Passion, Grace and Fire". Jaw dropping stuff.
John Doyle
This dude makes chording an
irish fiddle a higher art. His understanding of the "tune
under the tune" and ability to express it with chord
voicings is original and perfect.
Roy Buchannan
I remember listening to Roy
with my friend Jon when we both realized that the seagull sound
we heard in the middle of the solo was his tele. I still don't
know exactly how he does it.
Lindsey Buckingham
In addition to being in one
of the most popular bands in the world, this cat is one hell of a
great guitarist. He has a neat right hand technique and his live
execution of his tricky studio parts is flawless.
Mark Knopfler
He has played so many great
guitar lines. He fingerstyle electric sound is pure tone and
"Sultans of Swing" is an encyclopedia of tasty guitar
licks.
Rosenberg Trio
The fiery, passionate sound
of the gypsy swing music is very appealing to me. Technique
wise...Hey Mr. Rosenberg, I'll challenge you to a note per minute
race, never mind, you win, and on an acoustic. I stand humbled
and embarassed.
Django Reinhardt
When most people give up,
Django took an unforunate and serious accident and turned it into
a guitar legacy. Do a Google search on this guy!
Chet Atkins
He was called "Mr.
Guitar" for a reason. Fingerstyle innovator and master,
plus, he was doing freakin' sweeped arpeggios in the 50's.
Tommy Emmanuel
One of the best all-around
acoustic players that I have ever seen. What a great and fun
entertainer!
Plus there are a whole bunch more, these are
who I've thought of for now. | 
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