Happy Birthday Stevie Ray

Today is the birthday of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan, who would be 65 years old today had he not passed away.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas and began playing guitar as a young teen, following his older brother Jimmie.

He quickly surpassed his brother's skill level and turned out to be an amazing guitarist. After playing in the bar/cub scene for years, Stevie's big break finally came in 1982 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Although much of the audience actually boo'd the performance(all previous acts were acoustic only whereas Stevie played electric guitar very loudly of course), there was one audience member who recognized the pure talent of Stevie Ray when he saw it. That person was none other than David Bowie, who would sought out Stevie Ray to play guitar on his next album, "Let's Dance" which ended up being Bowie's best selling album.

Stevie was on top of the world for the next 7 years, as he gained more notoriety and helped bring blues music back into the mainstream. Practically anyone who plays electric guitar knows Stevie Ray and his sound. He was one of hte mots influential guitarists of all him, but his style was itself heavily influenced by Albert King and Jimi Hendrix.

Stevie died tragically in a helicopter crash in 1990, and the music world has been mourning the loss ever since. He is absolutely one of my favorite guitarists, and any time I hear a song of his in the car I am sure to crank it up! RIP Stevie, your music has touched and continues to touch so many of us. His music truly lives on forever.