Who are your biggest musical influences?

Billy Gibbons early stuff
David Gilmour
Dana Key
Thin Lizzy
The Beatles
Carlos Santana
Elvis, for attitude
SRV
Neal Schon's melodic lines
Steely Dan
Peter Frampton
Robin Trower
Don Felder, The Eagles
and on and on....
 
My biggest guitar influences:

Ace Frehley
Ritchie Blackmore
David Gilmour
Alex Lifeson
Uli Jon Roth
Randy Rhoads
Billy Gibbons
Chet Atkins
Django Reinhardt
 
Well Phil Collen's playing on the '88 Def Leppard Live video sparked my interest in playing

Then Steve Clark and Vivian Campbell helped build those foundations, add in some early 90's Steve Rothery and Megadeth and Metallica, a huge amount of Chris Degarmo's playing in peak ear Queensryche, van halen and Satch taught me how to do the flashy stuff with style, then the 1994 Pink Floyd Earls Court concert, aka Pulse, added a huge dollop of Gilmour, then US session guys like Luke, Dan Huff and Micheal Landau, through in a lot of listening to and playing along with 80's to 90's Rush

I then discovered the Rev Billy Gibbons, who taught me the blues. And Robin Trower continued the lesson. Eric Johnson got me interested in adding colour with me chords

The next big things in the late 90's was discovering UK session legend Alan Murphy, Mr Misters Steve Farris, Be Bop Deluxes Bill Nelson, the mega Andrew Latimer of Camel, and The Sensation Alex Harvey bands Zal Cleminson,, and legends Jeff Beck and Allan Holdsworth

I've been playing in a Chic/Disco band for a couple of years so Nile Rogers has been a recent influence, not just his funky grooves but his approach to chord inversions.

Add it all together, and that's the way I play!
 
Pink Floyd (a huge influence)
Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson
Led Zeppelin
Hendrix
King Crimson
Tool
Deep Purple
The Doors (first songs I learned on guitar)
Nirvana (same as above)
Muse (early albums)
System of a Down
 
Chronologically:
Ritchie Blackmore
Francis Rossi & Rick Parfitt
Pat Travers
Ronnie Montrose
Michael Schenker
Randy Rhoads
Eddy Van Halen
 
@unix-guy:
Roland Orzabal
Criminally underrated!
I was wondering if anybody else in the world would feel the same way! (And I'm still hearing crickets about Dave Bainbridge of Iona, but, whatever.)

Orzabal's work on Songs From The Big Chair was, I think, some of the most innovative pop-playing electric guitar of that whole era. Certainly no shredder, but that's not what pop songs usually need. Orzabal's playing always supported the song, sometimes in wildly unexpected ways. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is the usual citation, of course, and that song would be utterly different (and far less interesting) if you subtracted Orzabal and replaced him with some other guy merely strumming and arpeggiating the chords. But "The Working Hour" always amazed me with just its mere note selection, and of course the melodic counterpoints in "Broken/Head Over Heels" are sheer beauty.
 
@unix-guy:

I was wondering if anybody else in the world would feel the same way! (And I'm still hearing crickets about Dave Bainbridge of Iona, but, whatever.)

Orzabal's work on Songs From The Big Chair was, I think, some of the most innovative pop-playing electric guitar of that whole era. Certainly no shredder, but that's not what pop songs usually need. Orzabal's playing always supported the song, sometimes in wildly unexpected ways. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is the usual citation, of course, and that song would be utterly different (and far less interesting) if you subtracted Orzabal and replaced him with some other guy merely strumming and arpeggiating the chords. But "The Working Hour" always amazed me with just its mere note selection, and of course the melodic counterpoints in "Broken/Head Over Heels" are sheer beauty.
But he can shred quite nicely! There are a few songs where he lets rip with great results. And a really good sense of tone.

I got to see them at the SF Music Hall (a small-ish venue in San Francisco) 20+ years ago and Roland and the whole band was excellent. This was the no-Kurt days... I believe it was the Raoul and the Kings of Spain tour.
 
Michael Gurley (Dada)

Dean DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots)

David Rawlings (Gillian Welch)

Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)

James Honeyman Scott (Pretenders)

Andy Partridge & Dave Gregory (XTC)

Ty Tabor (Kings X)
 
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