Two-Rock Artists

John Mayer

John Clayton Mayer (born October 16, 1977 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA) is a singer-songwriter who plays pop music. In 2003 he won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the 2002 release of the single ‘Your Body Is a Wonderland.’ In February of 2005, he also won a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Grammy for his song ‘Daughters’ of the album ‘Heavier Things’. He beat out, Elvis Costello, Josh Groban, Prince and Seal. He also took home the Grammy Award for Song Of The Year which is awarded to song writers, for the song ‘Daughters’. He dedicated that award to his Grandma, Annie Hoffman, who passed away in May of 2004.

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayer grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut and attended Fairfield High School. Mayer listened to pop music, but it was not until the age of thirteen that his inspiration for playing the guitar began. When a neighbor gave him a Stevie Ray Vaughan tape, Mayer discovered the blues and learned how to play the guitar. After two years of practice, he started playing at blues bars and other venues in the area. While in high school, he was in a band called Villanova Junction with Joe Beleznay, Tim Procaccini, and Rich Wolf.

After playing the guitar for several years, Mayer enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts at the age of 19. He soon realized that instead of studying music, he was more interested in writing and playing it, and chose to cut his studies short in favor of moving to Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career in earnest there, quickly making a name for himself in the local coffeehouse and club circuit.

Mayer has toured with many groups, including Maroon 5, Guster, Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, and Teitur. Some of his most popular and well-known songs include ‘Clarity’, ‘Bigger Than My Body’, ‘No Such Thing’ and ‘Your Body Is a Wonderland’.

Although John has maintained a reputation for being a sensitive singer-song writer, his real talent lies in his excellent guitar playing. Influenced by Jimi Hendrix and SRV, it has been argued that John’s electric guitar playing is truly what makes him a musical genius and what makes him gain respect from his peers.


Eric Gales

Guitar World Magazine's Reader's Poll named Eric as “Best New Talent,” in 1991. After recording a second record for Elektra, all three brothers teamed up for ³The Gales Bros. “Left Hand Brand” which was recorded for the House of Blues label in 1996. Through the years, it would not be unusual to look out in the audience and see artists like Carlos Santana, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, B. B. King, and Eric Clapton, looking on with interest as Eric took his God-given talent and worked crowd after crowd into a frenzy. The new Millennium presented new opportunities for Eric and he was signed to a deal with Nightbird Records which was affiliated with the Hendrix family and distributed through MCA/Universal. Under this deal, Eric recorded the critically acclaimed record “That's What I Am” in 2001 and hit the road, mesmerizing fans around the world with his uncanny connection to his guitar. Two years ago Eric recorded the critically acclaimed CD “Crystal Vision” for Blues Bureau and set the stage for his incredible Blues Bureau follow-up, “The Psychedelic Underground.” As both an African-American left-handed guitarist of extraordinary ability and an expressive vocalist, it is natural for people to compare Eric to Hendrix but Eric has developed a unique hybrid blues/rock sound that also draws upon influences as diverse as Albert King and Eric Johnson. A unique amalgam of styles, Eric Gales stands head and shoulders among other guitarists in his genre. “Relentless” is the next logical step in this prolific artist's career as it it is deeply centered in the blues but played with the edge and aggression of a young guitar hero.


Steve Kimock

Steve Kimock is one of today's most talented guitarists and composers, a master musician known for his uncanny ability to balance passion and power with soaring grace. Relix magazine recently dubbed him "The Guitar Monk" for his relentless pursuit of Zen and the art of guitar.

Kimock has been immersing himself in music since he first picked up a guitar at age 16 and his devotion to his music is evident in every note he plays. His inimitable tone and distinctive sound is the result of endless experimentation with customized equipment, amplification and speaker design.  He's a musician's musician who has shared the stage with artists like Bruce Hornsby, The Allman Brothers, Steve Winwood, Bonnie Raitt , Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Trey Anastasio and Jorma Kaukonen, to mention just a few. He's played rock, blues, folk, country and salsa, but it's his work with the Steve Kimock Band that has honed his own music, an indefinable blend of all his past influences. It's rock, but with a free improvisational approach that is open to anything and everything that has ever been, or never been, played. It's a familiar, yet far-reaching sound that keeps both players and listeners on their toes with its unexpected shifts in rhythm, mood and mode.

Steve and Bill recently teamed up to develop the Kimock Signature amplifier, an incredible tone machine that contains a mix of new, old, out of production, and custom components each individually chosen to produce the most toneful, responsive, articulate and musically inspiring Two-Rock amp to date. Only 25 units will be available due to parts scarcity. See the main page for details.


Matt Schofield

Matt Schofield is widely regarded as the finest blues guitarist to have emerged from the UK is several generations. Guitar & Bass magazine rate him in their Top Ten British Blues Guitarists of All Time - putting him the company of Eric Clapton & Peter Green, though 30 years their junior!

Britain's Guitarist magazine describes Schofield¹s guitar playing as "Dynamite", picking him as the only non-American in their review of the future of Blues guitar; while America's Vintage Guitar remarks "his feel for the music is incredible."

In 2006, just two years after his debut CD, Schofield gained the distinctionof being one of only two living British artists to be given a four star (excellent) rating in the Penguin Book of Blues Recordings. His 2009 CD 'Heads, Tails & Aces' gained a four star main review in MOJO magazine, a rare distinction for blues release.


Joe Bonamassa

Born in upstate New York, Joe Bonamassa started playing guitar, on a short-scale Chiquita, at the age of four. By seven he had graduated to a full-scale model and a year later, he was playing the blues like a veteran. Says Bonamassa, “My father was a guitar dealer and player, so guitars were always around the house and part of my life. They were like chairs or tables, in that they were just as everyday.”

At ten, Joe began performing at local venues and at twelve, he was asked to open for B. B. King. The blues legend, after hearing Joe play for the first time, declared, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind.” King’s high regard for Joe would be echoed by other guitar greats the young performer would go on to work with, including Buddy Guy, Danny Gatton, Robert Cray and Stephen Stills.

While still in his teens, Joe met musician Berry Oakley, Jr., and together they put together the group Bloodline. Signed to EMI Records, their self-titled debut CD on EMI produced two chart hits, “Stone Cold Hearted” and “Dixie Peach,” both hard-driving fusions of blues, boogie, funk, and southern roadhouse rock. Following initial success, Bloodline eventually disbanded. Joe, realizing that he would need to do more than play guitar, began studying with a vocal coach.

Brad Whitford
Chris Hicks
Thaddeus Hogarth
Clay Cook
Joe Bonamassa
Madison Easter
Barry Sless
Greg Petronzi
Rob Harris
Hunter Hendrickson
Jack Zucker
Terry Haggerty
Arthur Colombino
Mitch Stein
Mark Karan
Bob Stirner
Keith Andrew
Joey Love
Patrick Droney
Henry Kaiser