Michael Katon | |
---|---|
Born | 1953 (age 69–70) Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States |
Origin | Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States |
Genres | Blues, rock |
Occupation(s) | Guitarist |
Years active | 1980s-2000s |
Labels | Provogue Records |
Website | www |
Michael Katon (born 1953) [1] is an American blues-rock guitarist and vocalist. He grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States, in a musical family where he was early inspired to take up the guitar. [2]
Katon made his recording debut with his 1984 album, Boogie All Over Your Head. His album Rip It Hard continued in the traditional blues-boogie vein, and while, like many blues men, major commercial success evades Katon, he remains a respected guitarist in the field. [2] Katon released a live album in 1996. [3]
Valerie Potter of Metal Hammer said " Michael Katon plays some of the loudest, toughest, meanest rock & blues on the planet!". [4] Living Blues also said of Katon: "Katon is a virtuoso guitar player with his roots in the right place...[his] sound is a blazing blend of electric blues and roadhouse boogie". [5]
In June 2014, he was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [1]
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, [1] Katon now lives in Hell, Michigan. [2]
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often incorporated other elements, including talking blues and early North Mississippi hill country blues. He developed his own driving-rhythm boogie style, distinct from the 1930s–1940s piano-derived boogie-woogie. Hooker was ranked 35 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of 100 greatest guitarists.
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock music was produced by the Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the late 1960s, bands such as Blue Cheer, the Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Golden Earring, Steppenwolf and Deep Purple also produced hard rock.
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
Eugene Chadbourne is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic.
Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist and since 2000 a member of the rock band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick was a member of the band Kiss (1984–1996). He was also a member of Union with John Corabi from 1997–2002 and Blackjack from 1979–1980.
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock. From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal.
Michael "Cub" Koda was an American rock and roll singer, guitarist, songwriter, disc jockey, music critic, and record compiler. Rolling Stone magazine considered him best known for writing the song "Smokin' in the Boys Room", recorded by Brownsville Station, which reached number 3 on the 1974 Billboard chart. He co-wrote and edited the All Music Guide to the Blues, and Blues for Dummies, and selected a version of each of the classic blues songs on the CD accompanying the book. He also wrote liner notes for the Trashmen, Jimmy Reed, J. B. Hutto, the Kingsmen, and the Miller Sisters, among others.
Foghat are an English rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. The band has achieved eight gold records, one platinum and one double platinum record, and despite several line-up changes, continue to record and perform.
Hirax is an American thrash metal band from Cypress, California. Starting in 1984 under the leadership of vocalist Katon W. De Pena, the band played in Los Angeles and San Francisco with several of their thrash metal peers such as Metallica, Exodus, and Slayer. The band was an early example of thrash metal, speed metal and crossover thrash, yet inspired by cross-genre influences including blues vocalist Sam Cooke, who De Pena once cited as "the greatest vocalist [De Pena] has ever heard."
Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm, better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star side projects, such as Demolition 23 and Jerusalem Slim.
"Boogie Chillen'" or "Boogie Chillun" is a blues song first recorded by John Lee Hooker in 1948. It is a solo performance featuring Hooker's vocal, electric guitar, and rhythmic foot stomps. The lyrics are partly autobiographical and alternate between spoken and sung verses. The song was his debut record release and in 1949, it became the first "down-home" electric blues song to reach number one in the R&B records chart.
Steven Bookvich known as Muruga Booker is an American drummer, composer, inventor, artist, recording artist, and an autonomous Eastern Orthodox priest.
Peter William "Pete" Wells was the founder and slide guitarist in Australian hard rock band, Rose Tattoo, from 1976 to 1983. He was previously bass guitarist with the pioneering heavy metal outfit Buffalo from 1971 to 1976. Wells also had a solo career and issued albums, Everything You Like Tries to Kill You (1991), The Meaning of Life (1992), No Hard Feelings (1993), Orphans (1994), Go Ahead, Call the Cops (1996), It's All Fun and Games 'till Somebody Gets Hurt (1999), Hateball (2000) and Solo (2002). In 2002 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and, on 27 March 2006, Wells died of the disease, aged 59. Rose Tattoo were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame on 16 August of that same year.
James William McCarty is an American blues rock guitarist from Detroit, Michigan. He has performed with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, the Buddy Miles Express, Cactus, The Rockets, the Detroit Blues Band, and more recently, Mystery Train. Since about 2014 Jim McCarty has joined forces with Detroit blues guitarist/songwriter Kenny Parker in The Kenny Parker Band along with several other veteran Detroit blues/rock musicians. He also makes guest appearances with other Detroit bands, most notably for an annual pre New Year's Eve party at one of his favorite clubs, "Callahan's", with The Millionaires, a nine piece jump blues band.
Cactus is an American hard rock band formed in 1969, and currently comprising Jimmy Kunes as lead singer, guitarist Paul Warren, drummer Carmine Appice, bassist Jimmy Caputo and Randy Pratt on harmonica.
Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal, and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. The band is signed to Dutch label Mascot Records and has released eight studio albums and one DVD. Their second album Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil received platinum status, and their 2010 release Beyond Hell/Above Heaven was subject to widespread international critical acclaim, receiving triple platinum in Denmark and Austria, double platinum in Sweden, platinum in Canada, 5x Gold in Germany, and gold in Finland and the United States. Volbeat's seventh album, Rewind, Replay, Rebound, was released on 2 August 2019. Their eighth album, Servant of the Mind, was released on 3 December 2021.
Samuel Lawrence Taylor was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was the younger brother of Mel Taylor, long-time drummer of The Ventures.
Stephen John Hunter is an American guitarist, primarily a session player. He has worked with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, acquiring the moniker "The Deacon". Hunter first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin who has said Steve Hunter has contributed so much to rock music in general that he truly deserves the designation of "Guitar Hero". Steve Hunter has played some of the greatest riffs in rock history - the first solo in Aerosmith's "Train Kept A Rollin'", the acoustic intro on Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" and he wrote the intro interlude on Lou Reed's live version of "Sweet Jane" on Reed's first gold record.
Hi Fi and the Roadburners were a rock band from Chicago whose music has been described as "rockabilly infused with punk" and "bebop and boogie-woogie". They formed in 1984 and have had many line-up changes, with the Kish brothers, Erik and Hans, being the only constant members. They signed with Victory Records in 1993.
J.C. Davis, known as Billy Davis, is an American rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, who is best known for his work with Hank Ballard & The Midnighters.