James Byrd (guitarist)

Last updated
James Byrd
Origin Kirkland, Washington
Genres Heavy metal, Hard rock
Years active Late 1983-present
Associated acts Fifth Angel
Website www.jamesbyrd.com

James Byrd is a guitarist from Kirkland, WA who came to prominence in the metal scene in the mid-1980s with the band Fifth Angel, considered a pioneer of the early Power Metal movement. Since this time he has released numerous solo albums on the labels Shrapnel Records, Mascot, JVC Victor and Lion Music as well as starting his own guitar company Byrd Guitars who market the original design Super Avianti instrument.

Fifth Angel is an American heavy metal band from Bellevue, Washington.

Lion Music

Lion Music is a production company and record label founded in 1989 by composer and artist Lars Eric Mattsson.

Contents

James Byrd plays a hybrid of classic rock, metal and blues with classical influences and possesses an extremely musical vibrato along with perfect relative pitch. [1] He is the only artist to ever receive an official (uncompensated) endorsement from renowned virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen and 'Guitar For The Practising Musician' magazine listed him as one of the "top 10 guitarists you have never heard of" in April 1996.[ citation needed ]

Yngwie Malmsteen Swedish musician

Yngwie Johan Malmsteen is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter and bandleader. Malmsteen first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal playing style in heavy metal, and has released 20 studio albums in a career spanning almost 40 years. In 2009, Time magazine rated Malmsteen as among the 10 greatest electric guitar players of all time.

James Byrd has a strong following in Europe and Asia, where he has appeared numerous times in leading Japanese rock press Young Guitar and Burnn. Fifth Angel saw a free flexi disc appear on the front cover of Kerrang! magazine (Feb 28, 1988 edition), and Byrd has appeared in adverts for Ibanez guitars in Guitar World and GFTPM magazine as well as having a gear spotlight in the Feb 1995 edition of Guitar Shop magazine. Two James Byrd albums (James Byrd's Atlantis Rising and The Apocalypse Chime) were included as recommended titles in the book "The Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal – Volume 3: The Nineties" by leading rock biographer/author Martin Popoff.

Martin Popoff is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, he has additionally written over twenty books that both critically evaluate heavy metal and document its history. He has been called "heavy metal's most widely recognized journalist" by his publisher. Popoff presently lives in Toronto, Ontario.

His 2001 and 2002 releases "Flying Beyond The 9" and "Anthem" (both released on Lion Music) saw Byrd take his music to a more classically structured level with heavy orchestration's working alongside the rock elements.

Since this time Byrd has mainly spent time building up his guitar company as well as several guest appearances on tribute albums.

In 2011, James Byrd released an album of never before heard performances and songs that were recorded in the summer of 1987. The material was discovered when vocalist Freddy Krumins was going through a box of old tapes.

Discography

Solo

with Fifth Angel

<i>Fifth Angel</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Fifth Angel

Fifth Angel is the first studio album by the American heavy metal band Fifth Angel. It was originally released in 1986. Musically, it shows much more resemblance to modern power metal than their other USPM counterparts. After recording a four song demo in late 1983 and early 1984, which they sent to over 100 record labels, Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records signed the band and financed the recording of five additional songs and released the album in 1986. Epic Records re-released it in 1988 with new artwork.

Shrapnel Records record label

Shrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney.

Epic Records American record label

Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic Records has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, The Hollies, Celine Dion, ABBA, Culture Club, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.

Guest Performances

Gear

Since 1998 Byrd has used his own design Byrd Guitar's Super Avianti guitar exclusively, which feature scalloped fretboards and DiMarzio pickups. He uses Marshall amplifiers and 8x10" Marshall cabs, and for guitar effects, a Dunlop Cry Baby and DOD Electronics 250 overdrive pre-amp and FX35 Octoplus.

DiMarzio, Inc. is a United States manufacturer best known for its direct-replacement guitar pickups. The company also produces miscellaneous guitar accessories, such as cables, straps and hardware.

Effects unit electronic or digital device that alters how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds

An effects unit or effectspedal is an electronic or digital device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in electric blues and rock music; dynamic effects such as volume pedals and compressors, which affect loudness; filters such as wah-wah pedals and graphic equalizers, which modify frequency ranges; modulation effects, such as chorus, flangers and phasers; pitch effects such as pitch shifters; and time effects, such as reverb and delay, which create echoing sounds.

Dunlop Cry Baby wah-wah pedal manufactured by Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc

The Dunlop Cry Baby is a popular wah-wah pedal, manufactured by Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. The name Cry Baby was from the original pedal from which it was copied, the Thomas Organ/Vox Cry Baby wah-wah, first manufactured in 1966. Thomas Organ/Vox failed to register the name as a trademark, leaving it open for Dunlop. More recently, Dunlop manufactured the Vox pedals under licence, although this is no longer the case.

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References

  1. ↑ Interview with James Byrd
  2. ↑ Billboard, Allmusic.com
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