More Obscure Artist Spotlight

I know I've gone over blues-rock guitarist Brian Kahanek, but after a great deal of research on last.fm (read:I looked at similar artists to SRV, and BK), I think I have found a trifecta, a holy trinity, of blues-rock guitarists of our generation, excluding Johnny Mayer, because of aforementioned reasons. The two additions are Joe Bonamassa, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

First we shall get into the boy from Louisiana, Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Just as Albert King was Stevie Ray Vaughan's idol, as you could hear constant "Mr. Blues" licks being laid down by Stevie, you hear constant signature SRV licks being laid down by Kenny. This kid even got SRV's tone, which, to say the least, eludes most players (Protip: guitar tone isn't the amp and effects, it's in your fingers, SRV would sound like SRV even on my 15 watt practice amp). As customary, YouTube serves as the medium to which you'll be able to see this prodigy go to work. Now, if this kid can break off from sounding like SRV, and start to find his own sound, then children, we're going to have something to behold.

Here he is jamming with Double Trouble. Just an FYI, the official name of Stevie Ray Vaughan, was Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. So yes, these two guys, Chris Layton on drums, and Tommy Shannon on bass, played with Stevie. I'd say Kenny holds up well, with these two blues greats.



Finally, Joe Bonamassa, who has his own signature blues sound of his own. While he does reach into the SRV bag of tricks sometimes, it's expected, because since Robert Johnson (the original blues guitarist), everyone just takes from the guy before them. Joe is a bit more like Brian Kahanek, except he throws in some neat slide guitar. I would say Joe is a combination of SRV, BB King, and Eric Johnson.



Finally, I found this awesome live set of Brian Kahanek, self described, "it's ugly, it's nasty, and it's wonderful." This man can play.