Stevie Silver

As a blues neophyte back in 1987 I happened to attend a show by Roomful of Blues at Nightstage in Cambridge, MA and was completely blown away by the passion and skill of their guitarist Ronnie Earl who had just replaced founding guitarist Duke Robillard. With a lot of determination and some luck I was able to hook up with Ronnie for a number of lessons. We spent hours listening to his vast blues record collection as he introduced me to the finer points of many blues greats. I must have spent ...

As a blues neophyte back in 1987 I happened to attend a show by Roomful of Blues at Nightstage in Cambridge, MA and was completely blown away by the passion and skill of their guitarist Ronnie Earl who had just replaced founding guitarist Duke Robillard. With a lot of determination and some luck I was able to hook up with Ronnie for a number of lessons. We spent hours listening to his vast blues record collection as he introduced me to the finer points of many blues greats. I must have spent six months sitting in his living room learning how to properly play Jimmy Reed guitar marches before he let me move on to other blues techniques. After about one year of lessons he told me that I had to learn the rest on my own and I started the slow process of getting my feet wet with local blues bands like The Part Time Lovers, The Sidewalk Blues Band, Driving Sideways and The Black Diamond Band. Finally in 1997 I stepped up to the microphone for my first CD "Can't Get Enough." My new CD "Juke Box Baby" was produced by Grammy Nominated artist Duke Robillard. Duke is featured on many of the tunes on the CD. I've been influenced by many of the great blues masters who have graced the stages of Boston's clubs over the years and also some of those that I have never had a chance to see firsthand but still admired through their recordings. Some of these blues masters include Hubert Sumlin, Gatemouth Brown, Otis Rush, T-Bone Walker, Magic Sam, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins and Lonnie Johnson. The next generation of blues greats also had a strong impact on my playing and they have always been the first to tell me to look beyond them to the players who in turn influenced them. These great players I've been lucky enough to meet and speak to about blues include Ronnie Earl, Duke Robillard, Anson Funderburgh, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I've been lucky enough to get some personal direction from Ronnie and Duke over the years and owe them a lot. Melding all these diverse styles has always been my first love and admittedly my most difficult task. I hope that you like some of what you hear on this page.