Bill Hudson (born January 13, 1983) is a Brazilian-American heavy metal guitarist, currently serving as the main composer, lead guitarist and founder for power metal supergroup NorthTale. He worked with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra as well German heavy metal bands U.D.O. and Dirkschneider, both fronted by former Accept vocalist Udo Dirkschneider and American death metal band I Am Morbid, featuring former Morbid Angel frontman David Vincent and drummer Pete Sandoval. As of 2021, he is the guitarist for German heavy metal legend Doro Pesch, after acting as a fill in guitarist since 2017.
Hudson started playing guitar at the age of twelve. He was mainly influenced by Slash. His first teacher was Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro, ex-member of Megadeth.
After finishing high school, he attended the FAAM music college in his native Brazil, in pursuit of a classical composition degree.
A few years later, he attended the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA and has been mentioned among the success stories on their website several times.[1]
Career
His first work of note was for a studio project called The Supremacy.[2] The project featured well-known European musicians, such as drummer Mark Cross (ex-Firewind and ex-Helloween), as well as keyboard player Joost Van den Broek, of After Forever, Ayreon, Star One, among others. This project has not done much other than the recording of two songs in 2004.[3]
In 2005, Hudson auditioned for German power metal band Freedom Call, after being referred by longtime friend Cede Dupont, who had just quit said band. However, his "big" break did not come until later that year, when he auditioned for and joined the American power metal band Cellador, on Metal Blade Records.
Between 2006 and 2008 he remained in Cellador's lineup as a lead guitarist, traveling through all of the US and Canada both headlining and supporting acts such as Bullet For My Valentine, All That Remains and Trivium. Hudson was featured at the July 2007 issue of Guitar World magazine and in the Betcha Can't Play This series. His last show with the band was in Japan, at the Loud Park Festival, sharing the stage with such acts as Heaven And Hell, Marilyn Manson, Blind Guardian and Arch Enemy. He announced his departure from the group in January 2008.
In June, 2008 in a press release from UK based melodic power metal band Power Quest announced that Bill Hudson had joined as co-lead guitarist alongside Andrea Martongelli.[4] Bill had to leave the band ten months later, with band member Steve Williams citing Bill's current location and costs as practical problems for the band.[5]
Hudson was then contacted by Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens about joining his band Circle II Circle for a US tour alongside Jon Oliva's Pain. He remains in the band's lineup to date, having toured with them through throughout the US, Europe and Dubai including the world's biggest heavy metal festivals and several headline dates. A 2012 appearance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, resulted in the live album "Live At Wacken", out via earMUSIC. Hudson's contributions in the studio can be heard in the albums "Seasons Will Fall" (2012) and "Reigh of Darkness" (2015).
In 2012, while in Dubai with CIIC, he was contacted by longtime friend and Vital Remains vocalist Brian Werner about joining the band for a few shows. This resulted in Hudson joining the band as lead guitarist for an appearance at the 2012 Metal Cruise through the Bahamas Barge To Hell, as well as a tour of 6 shows in his home country, Brazil. It would be the first time he performed there as a professional musician.
He was soon after contacted by producer Logan Mader about recording guitars for the soundtrack of the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance video game. Hudson's guitar can be heard on the tracks "The Only Thing I Know For Real" and "Red Sun". An ongoing relationship with Mader has also led Hudson to record lead guitars on the producer's own band Once Human's, debut album "The Life I Remember", out on earMUSIC.
In 2014, he becomes Jon Oliva's Pain new lead guitarist. The group headlines the 2014 edition of the ProgPower USA festival, playing the Savatage album, "Streets" in its entirety.
That same year he begins working with former SNOT and Divine Heresy vocalist Tommy Vext in what would become the band Westfield Massacre. Hudson and Vext wrote six songs in partnership, all of which are included in the band's debut album, out via Urban Yeti in 2015. Hudson appears in the music video for his composition Darkness Divides as the band's lead guitarist. The video also features former Morbid Angel and Divine Heresy drummer, Tim Yeung.
In 2017, Hudson was announced as the new guitarist for U.D.O. and Dirkschneider, the German bands led by former Accept frontman, Udo Dirkschneider. Around the same time, former Morbid Angel frontman has announced that he would be starting a new band with the band's former drummer Tim Yeung and would be taking Hudson as co-guitarist alongside Ira Black.[6] On April 24, 2018, it was announced that Hudson left U.D.O and Dirkschneider after only a year due to individual differences with no hard feelings on both sides.[7]
Savatage is an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album Sirens (1983), they changed their name to Savatage, as Avatar was already taken by at least one other band. Savatage is considered to be an integral part of the American heavy metal movement of the early-to-mid-1980s and has been cited as a key influence on numerous subgenres of metal.
Accept is a German heavy metal band from Solingen, formed in 1976 by lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, singer Udo Dirkschneider and bassist Peter Baltes. Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s when the band got its earliest start under the name Band X. Their current lineup consists of Hoffmann, vocalist Mark Tornillo, guitarists Uwe Lulis and Philip Shouse, drummer Christopher Williams and bassist Martin Motnik. Accept has undergone numerous lineup changes; Hoffmann is the last remaining original member, and the only band member to appear on all of their albums. As of 2024, the band has released seventeen studio albums, five live albums and nine compilation albums.
Udo Dirkschneider is a German singer who first rose to fame with the heavy metal band Accept. After leaving the band in 1987, he formed the band U.D.O., in which he has also enjoyed commercial success.
Warlock was a German heavy metal band founded in 1982 in Düsseldorf by members of the underground bands Snakebite and Beast. The band gained popularity and some commercial success in Europe in the mid-1980s, due to the personality and stage presence of lead vocalist Doro Pesch. Warlock supported successful heavy metal bands on tour, such as W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Dio and Megadeth.
U.D.O. is a German heavy metal band founded by lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider in 1987.
Jeff Plate is an American hard rock/heavy metal drummer. He plays with the group Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He is best known as drummer for American heavy metal band Savatage on their albums since Japan Live '94, and was also a member of Metal Church from 2006 to their break up in 2009 and again from their reunion in 2012 to 2017.
John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva is an American singer and musician. He is best known as the co-founder, keyboardist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage, which he co-founded with his younger brother Criss Oliva. Since 1996 he has also been a songwriter, musician and vocalist in Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Producer Paul O'Neill referred to Oliva in numerous interviews as the single greatest vocalist/musician he has ever worked with.
Christopher Michael Oliva was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Savatage. During his lifetime, he released seven studio albums and one EP with the band.
Zachary Trussell, known professionally as Zachary "Zak" Stevens, is an American singer, best known as the second lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage. He currently performs with the heavy metal bands Circle II Circle and Archon Angel. Stevens has a degree in psychology, but is not a practicing psychologist.
Circle II Circle is an American heavy metal band from Tampa, Florida. The band was formed by former Savatage lead vocalist Zachary Stevens and longtime friend and band manager Dan Campbell in 2001. They play varied genres of metal including traditional heavy metal, power metal and progressive metal.
Jon Oliva's Pain was a musical project of Savatage co-founder Jon Oliva.
Christopher Caffery is an American heavy metal guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Caffery has been releasing solo records singing and playing guitar for almost 20 years, releasing nine albums and many singles since 2004.
Cellador is an American power metal band based in Denver, Colorado. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, the band was founded in 2003 by Chris Petersen, the band's primary songwriter, as a direct contrast to the overcrowded metalcore and death metal scenes of the American Midwest. The band has had multiple lineup changes since its inception, but is now rounded out by founder Chris Petersen, drummer Nick McCallister, keyboardist Diego Valadez, and guitarist Eric Meyers. In 2005 the band signed to Metal Blade Records after playing a show with The Black Dahlia Murder.
Machines of Grace is an American hard rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band features two former members of Savatage, namely vocalist Zachary Stevens and drummer Jeff Plate. Stevens is also the vocalist for Circle II Circle and Jeff Plate is the drummer for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Metal Church and violinist Mark Wood. The band plays varied genres of hard rock including heavy metal, acoustic rock, and melodic metal.
Classic Diamonds is the ninth studio album by the German female hard rock singer Doro Pesch. It was released worldwide in 2004 by AFM Records. The album presents new acoustic and symphonic arrangements for songs from Doro's repertoire, as well as some new compositions. The music is mostly played by the Classic Night Orchestra, an ensemble of young classical musicians that accompanied Doro in the following European tour.
Dorothee Pesch, known professionally as Doro Pesch or simply Doro, is a German heavy metal singer and the former frontwoman of heavy metal band Warlock. Doro's contributions to music and culture made her a global figure in metal culture for over three decades. The name Doro has also been associated with the touring band accompanying the singer, whose members have continuously changed in more than 20 years of uninterrupted activity, the most stable presences being those of bassist Nick Douglas and drummer Johnny Dee.
Andy Susemihl is a German guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He began his career in the 1980s and gained international success since 1987 in hard rock bands such as U.D.O. and Sinner.
Man and Machine is the eighth studio album by German heavy metal band U.D.O., released on 24 July 2002. A music video was made for "Dancing with an Angel" featuring a duet performance with Udo Dirkschneider and Warlock vocalist Doro Pesch.
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