Doyle Bramhall II | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | December 24, 1968 Dallas, Texas [1] |
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| Years active | 1984–present |
| Website | db2music |
Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) [2] is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Bramhall was born in Texas and lived half of his life in Northern California. His father, Doyle Bramhall Sr., played drums for the legendary bluesmen Lightnin' Hopkins and Freddie King and was a lifelong collaborator with his childhood friends Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan.
When Bramhall was 18, he toured with Jimmie Vaughan's band the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
He co-founded the blues rock band Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton and members from Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon.
He released his first solo album Doyle Bramhall II in 1996.
Bramhall received phone calls from both Roger Waters and Eric Clapton [3] following the 1999 release of Jellycream . Bramhall joined Waters on his In the Flesh tour, playing guitar and providing background and lead vocals. His performances were recorded on the subsequent live album and DVD In the Flesh – Live . Bramhall also played guitar on Clapton's Riding With the King, a collaboration with B.B. King. This album included Clapton's and King's songs and covers of blues songs (including two Bramhall-penned tracks originally from Jellycream.)
Bramhall released Welcome with his new band Smokestack in 2001. The album's lead single "Green Light Girl" was somewhat of a hit in the blues world. [4] Bramhall and Smokestack released a live DVD entitled Live at the Great Wall of China in 2006. [5] Two audio tracks from the DVD were released on iTunes as Doyle Bramhall II (Live at the Great Wall of China). [6]
Bramhall has collaborated with artists such as T Bone Burnett, Elton John, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Gary Clark Jr., Gregg Allman, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Billy Preston, Erykah Badu, Questlove and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Bramhall has produced several records including Sheryl Crow's 100 Miles from Memphis . [7] He also joined her on a tour in 2011. [8]
He was featured in the 2006 music industry documentary Before the Music Dies .
Bramhall co-produced Eric Clapton's 2013 release Old Sock and played guitars on his 2014 release The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale . He joined Clapton on his 50th anniversary tour as an opening act and backing musician. [9] He appeared at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival and was recorded for the subsequent live album and DVD. [10] Bramhall played lead guitars on Elton John's 2013 album The Diving Board . [11]
He played with the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings on the "Wheels of Soul" tour across the United States in 2015. [12] He performed both as an opening act and as a rhythm guitarist in the Tedeschi Trucks Band, performing songs ranging from his days with the Arc Angels to unreleased songs. [13]
He performed a tribute concert to honor Joe Cocker along with the Tedeschi Trucks Band and alumni from the 1970 Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour including Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Bobby Torres, Claudia Lennear, Chuck Blackwell, Pamela Polland, Daniel Moore, Matthew Moore, Chris Stainton, and photographer Linda Wolf in 2015. [12] [14] He also performed at the Mahindra Blues Festival in India alongside Buddy Guy and Quinn Sullivan in 2015. [15] [16]
Bramhall released his fourth studio album, titled Rich Man on September 30, 2016. This album consists of 12 originals and a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Hear My Train A Comin'". [17]
Bramhall signed with the Mascot Label Group in 2018 with expectations for a new album in the fall. [18] Entitled Shades, the album was planned to be released on October 5, 2018, following the lead single "Everything You Need", a duet with Eric Clapton. In addition to Clapton the album was to feature collaborations with Norah Jones, Greyhounds, and Tedeschi Trucks Band. [19]
In 2022, the Arc Angels reformed for a small tour of the southern United States.
In 2023, Bramhall took part in a tribute concert to Jeff Beck over two nights (May 22 and 23) at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Gary Clark Jnr, Joss Stone and many others. [20]
Bramhall is one of the many lefthand guitarists who plays with his instrument strung upside-down. [21] [22] He plays left-handed but the instrument is strung upside-down with the high E on the top. This unusual arrangement of the strings gives his playing a unique sound because he bends the strings by pulling them downwards rather than upwards, the customary approach. Others who have bent strings in this direction include Elizabeth Cotten, Albert King, Eric Gales, Otis Rush, Barbara Lynn, Coco Montoya, Edgard Scandurra, Dick Dale, and the late blues guitarist Jeff Healey (who played with his instrument flat on his lap for stability and increased string flexibility). [23]
During the mid-2010s, Bramhall was reportedly in a relationship with American actress and fellow native Texan Renée Zellweger. [25] [26] [27]
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". In 2023, Rolling Stone named Clapton the 35th best guitarist of all time. He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
In the Flesh was a series of worldwide concert tours by Roger Waters that spanned three individual tours over the course of three years. Returning from a 12-year-long hiatus from the road, In The Flesh was a showcase of his best known work from his days with Pink Floyd, with that material dominating shows. Songs were also performed from Waters' most recently released solo album, 1992's Amused to Death, being played live for the first time. The tour's name is an allusion to the 1977 Pink Floyd tour for the Animals album, as well as the two songs so titled on the album The Wall.
Susan Tedeschi is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks’ band, and other musicians.
Derek Trucks is an American guitarist, songwriter, and founder of The Derek Trucks Band. He became an official member of The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. In 2010, he formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, blues singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi. His musical style encompasses several genres and he has twice appeared on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He is the nephew of the late Butch Trucks, drummer for the Allman Brothers.
Tommy Shannon is an American bass guitarist, who is best known as a member of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Shannon moved to Dumas, Texas when he was nine, where he originally started as a guitarist, though he started playing bass at the age of 21. He appeared with Johnny Winter at Woodstock in 1969. He later joined Double Trouble in 1981 and became a permanent member of Double Trouble until Vaughan's death in 1990. Shannon and bandmate Chris Layton later formed supergroups such as the Arc Angels.
Susannah Melvoin is an American vocalist and songwriter. Melvoin is best known for her association with Prince in the mid-1980s. Melvoin comes from a musical family and is the twin sister of musician Wendy Melvoin, sister of the late Jonathan Melvoin, and daughter of jazz pianist Michael Melvoin.
Charles Wayne Sexton is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Sexton is best known for his years as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band, though also has become well known as a music producer. Sexton co-founded Arc Angels and created the Charlie Sexton Sextet. He was still a teenager when he gained fame for his 1985 hit, "Beat's So Lonely", from his debut album, Pictures for Pleasure.
Arc Angels is a blues rock supergroup formed in Austin, Texas in the early 1990s. The band came together after the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan and was composed of Vaughan’s friends Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton and two of the band members from Vaughan’s band Double Trouble, drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon.
Bitter is the third album by Meshell Ndegeocello. It was released on August 24, 1999, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #105 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1999. The album also peaked at number 13 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart and number 40 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart.
Comfort Woman is the fifth solo album by Me'shell Ndegeocello. It was released on October 14, 2003, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #150 on the Billboard Top 200 list that year. The album also peaked at #43 on Billboard's R&B Album chart. The LP was the final record released by Maverick, ending her ten-year contract.
Already Free is the sixth studio album by The Derek Trucks Band. It was released in the United States on January 13, 2009 by Legacy Recordings. A European release followed on February 20, 2009. The album has received very positive reviews, and debuted at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 reached #1 on the blues chart, #1 on the Internet chart, and #4 on the Rock chart. This marks the band's highest debut on the Billboard Top 200 chart to date. The album won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, marking the band's first Grammy award.
Jellycream is the second studio album by the blues/rock guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. It was originally released in the US on September 14, 1999. The album is produced under the label RCA Records.
Clapton is the eighteenth solo studio album by English rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Eric Clapton. It was released on 27 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States.
Made Up Mind is the second studio album from blues-rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band. It was released August 20, 2013 by Masterworks Records.
Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 is a music DVD, concert film and eleventh live album by the British rock musician Eric Clapton and was released on November 18, 2013, through Warner Bros. Records. It features recordings by various artists that performed during the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013. The release reached international album, DVD and Blu-ray charts and was certified by various organisations with gold and platinum awards.
Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 is the Rhino Entertainment and Warner Brothers release to the 2007 Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival. The concert was recorded on July 28, 2007 at the Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois. The recordings were released on both Compact Disc and DVD on November 28, 2007 in the United States. The CD and DVD releases sold more than two million copies worldwide and reached various international charts.
Let Me Get By is the third studio album from blues-rock group Tedeschi Trucks Band, released in 2016.
Live in San Diego is the thirteenth live album by British rock musician Eric Clapton. It was released through Reprise Records as a live album on 30 September 2016 and as a 2-hour live DVD on 10 March 2017.
Living in a Dream is a live album by the Texas blues rock band Arc Angels. The first disk of the album contains the majority of a show recorded on March 26, 2005, at Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas. The show which proved to be historic for the band. They played the entirety of their debut album, a then unreleased song "Crave and Wonder" and a cover of Muddy Waters' "She's Alright." This show also proved to be the Arc Angels' final with original bass guitarist Tommy Shannon. The second disk contains 3 studio tracks recorded specifically for this album as well as the remainder of the 2005 show—along with the song "Spanish Moon." The DVD contains the Stubb's show and interview footage directed by Kyle Ellison and produced by Mark Proct and Charlie Boswell.
The live and video album Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019 is the sixth release in the series of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festivals to support his rehabilitation centre in Antigua, the Crossroads Centre, documenting the 2019 performances from two concerts held on September 20 and September 21, 2019 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The album was released on November 20, 2020 through Warner and Rhino Records.
Doyle Bramhall II.
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