Buddy Guy

What can you say about this Bluesfest favourite and absolute blues legend? Buddy Guy is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a chief guitar influence to rock titans like Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, and Vaughan, a pioneer of Chicago's fabled West Side sound, and a living link to that city's halcyon days of electric blues. While firmly ensconced in his blues roots, Guy has always tried to keep his music looking forward - even at the risk of alienating lovers of traditional blues sounds. His last album, Bring 'Em In, found Guy trading licks with the likes of Carlos Santana and John Mayer on a set of songs featuring covers of classic soul songs. On his latest album, Skin Deep, Guy offers an endorsement to such younger players as pedal steel virtuoso Robert Randolph and husband-and-wife guitar slingers Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. These musicians serve as a living response to the question Guy raises on the song "Who's Gonna Fill Those Shoes," featuring pre-teen guitar whiz Quinn Sullivan, in which he reflects on the future of the blues beyond his revolutionary generation. "I just try to get the best players, and hope I can pop the top off this can and show that the blues are back," he says. "I learn from them-bring them in and see what they can do. And these guys got me feeling like when I was 22 years old and went into the studio with Muddy Waters." Buddy has received five Grammy Awards, 23 W.C. Handy Blues Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard Magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. Yet despite this long list of achievements, Buddy Guy and his music remain as vital as ever.

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