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.
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that reflect characteristics of the human singing voice. It typically involves playing the guitar in the traditional position with the use of a slide fitted on one of the guitarist's fingers. The slide may be a metal or glass tube, such as the neck of a bottle. The term bottleneck was historically used to describe this type of playing. The strings are typically plucked while the slide is moved over the strings to change the pitch. The guitar may also be placed on the player's lap and played with a hand-held bar.
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the rock band Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States with Santana, which pioneered a fusion of rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured his melodic, blues-based lines set against Latin American and African rhythms played on percussion instruments not generally heard in rock, such as timbales and congas. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s.
A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The pedal sweeps a band-pass filter up and down in frequency to create a spectral glide. The wah-wah effect originated in the 1920s, with trumpet or trombone players finding they could produce an expressive crying tone by moving a mute in, and out of the instrument's bell. This was later simulated with electronic circuitry for the electric guitar when the wah-wah pedal was invented. It is controlled by movement of the player's foot on a rocking pedal connected to a potentiometer. Wah-wah effects may be used without moving the treadle as a fixed filter to alter an instrument’s timbre, or to create a "wacka-wacka" funk-styled rhythm for rhythm guitar playing.
Jon Gordon Langseth Jr., known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, and rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has made five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the Billboard 200 chart and won a Grammy Award for Turn Around.
Edwin H. Kramer is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Kinks, Kiss, John Mellencamp, and Carlos Santana, as well as records for other well-known artists in various genres.
Freddie King was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar". Mostly known for his soulful and powerful voice and distinctive guitar playing, King had a major influence on electric blues music and on many later blues guitarists.
Otis Rush Jr. was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s artists Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and was an influence on many musicians, including Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton.
"White Room" is a song by British rock band Cream, composed by bassist Jack Bruce with lyrics by poet Pete Brown. They recorded it for the studio half of the 1968 double album Wheels of Fire. In September, a shorter US single edit was released for AM radio stations, although album-oriented FM radio stations played the full album version. The subsequent UK single release in January 1969 used the full-length album version of the track.
Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Doyle Bramhall II 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.
The Word is an American instrumental/sacred steel/gospel blues jam band. The supergroup includes well-known musicians: Robert Randolph, John Medeski (keyboards), both members of North Mississippi Allstars- Luther Dickinson, Cody Dickinson, and ex-North Mississippi Allstars bassist Chris Chew.
"Tales of Brave Ulysses" is a song recorded in 1967 by British group Cream. It was released as the B-side to the "Strange Brew" single in June 1967. In November, the song was included on Cream's second album, Disraeli Gears. The song features one of the earliest uses of a wah-wah pedal, which guitarist Eric Clapton plays throughout the song. Cream's song "White Room" copies the chord progression to a large extent.
Philip Sayce is a Welsh-born-American-Canadian guitarist, singer, songwriter, performer, and producer.
Sacred Steel is a musical style and African-American gospel tradition that features the steel guitar as part of religious services. The style developed in a group of related Pentecostal churches in the 1930s, and is associated in particular with some branches of the Church of the Living God.
Colorblind is an album by Robert Randolph & the Family Band. It is the group's second studio album.
Matt Schofield is an English blues guitarist and singer. His band, the Matt Schofield Trio, play their own material, a blend of blues, funk and jazz, as well as covers of blues classics such as Albert Collins' "Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home".
The Lee Boys are a funk and gospel band based out of Miami, Florida. The band plays in the Sacred Steel tradition that arose out of the musical stylings of the House of God Church. The band plays a mixture of funk music and gospel lyrics, staying true to their roots as a religious group. The band is similar in style to other House of God bands, such as Robert Randolph & the Family Band.
Michael Williams is an American guitarist. Mainly a Texas blues-style player, he has opened for Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Jonny Lang, and others. His 2011 self-released album, Fire Red, was produced by Eddie Kramer. Williams learned to love the blues from his father, who played with an Austin-based band called The Cobras, and was influenced early on by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. He uses Divided by 13 amplifiers, and his wah-slide tone on one of Fire Red's songs was made using two Tube Screamers, a wah pedal, and a Bic lighter.
Matthews Southern Comfort (MSC) was originally a British country rock/folk rock band, formed in 1970 by former Fairport Convention singer Ian (later Iain) Matthews. The original line-up consisted of Matthews, lead guitarist Mark Griffiths (who would later become the bass player with both The Shadows and The Everly Brothers), rhythm guitarist Carl Barnwell, bass player Pete Watkins, drummer Roger Swallow and pedal steel guitarist Gordon Huntley. Watkins and Swallow, however, left the band after just a few weeks and were replaced by bass player Andy Leigh and drummer Ray Duffy.
