The Derek Trucks Band
April 6th, 2008
Child prodigy Derek Trucks is a fiery guitar slinger whose slow-burn slide style owes a lot to the legends of the blues. Like a younger version of Stevie Ray Vaughan (sans the been-at-the-bottle-too-long growl), Trucks' jams duplicate the dips and twists of Buddy Guy and Al King. A kid no more, Trucks now fronts his own band, a formidable blues unit deeply rooted in Southern Rock soil. - Chad Driscoll
Buddy Guy
Eric Clapton calls Buddy Guy his favorite blues guitarist. Put his amazing guitar playing together with a singing voice that is its equal and you have pure blues heaven. Guy went to Chicago in 1957 and hung out with legends such as B.B. King. He put out a series of impressive records on the Cobra label but it is his 60s work that still knocks your socks off to this day. His guitar jams and tortured vocals are so dynamic it makes one wonder why anybody ever bothered with Blues Rock. Guy's career went through a hard stretch in the 70s and 80s, but it came back with a vengeance in the 90s. Buddy Guy's music is as strong as ever and his wild, onstage energy has earned him capacity crowds at venues all over the world. - Eric Shea