Reviews
"Somebody discover him...please" - John Summer (Principal, Central Coast Magazine)
Having been a fan of
Guy’s live playing for many years, I stumbled upon a CD recently (Woke Up
Dreaming) purely by chance at a Pismo Beach gas station…of all places.
So I gassed the car…and then proceeded to get outrageously and
irretrievably gassed myself. Before I reached my destination, I was
screaming “Guy did it!” at the top of my old blues-addled lungs as I listened
to “Heaven’s Front Porch”.
Honestly, I have not been this excited about anyone’s recorded guitar work in a
very long time. Guy has found a way of channeling Hendrix through Jeff
Beck with some spicy seasoning of Stevie Ray, Billy Gibbons, Joe Walsh and
Albert King to generate some of the nastiest, sauciest and gut wrenchingly
inspired fret work heard anywhere. And I’ve heard them all. Lay
Zappa, Hendrix, and Gibbons’ inflected vocals over Guy’s guitar and you’ve got
honey flowing over alabaster. He’s the whole package. Guy’s latest
CD, (Gypsy Souls) with the vocal backing of the wonderful Swearingen ladies on
“War of Wits” and the evocative “Shapeshifter” show that Guy continues to grow
and blaze new trails. The music world needs to hear this man.
Somebody “discover” him, please! He deserves a place on the
high altar of guitar greats.
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"Hendrix as he might have been later in life" - Tim Johns
After growing up trying to copy Jimi
Hendrix, hearing Guy Budd is like listening to Jimi as he might have been;
molding hot guitar riffs with existential lyrics into R&B and even a little
jazz. Awesome, can't wait for his next CD. Since I'm on the east
coast, I probably won't hear him live, but a live CD would be great!
"This man is absolutely incredible" -
D.H. (CD Baby)
Guy Budd displays a complete mastery
of the guitar - a guitarist shouldn't be this good. Every note, tone,
texture, stroke, is just absolute perfection. I can't recommend this
recording any higher. This is the type of recording that after you've listened
to all the "greats" you say, OK, now this is how its done.
There is only one caveat, once you've heard Guy's fret work and the ease of his
playing, it might spoil the rest of your electric blues collection.
You've been warned.
"Take a trip with the
Guy Budd Band" - Steve (Two Guys Music, R.I.)
If you miss the psychedelic sounds
of the late 60's early 70's and really loved Hendrix's bluesy psychedelic stuff
and great guitar tones...you'll love this CD. It's a great guitar record
full of long jamming songs loaded with a lot of vintage sounding guitar solo's
and laid back vocals. Don't confuse this Guy with the rest of the Hendrix
"want-to-be" crowd. Guy has a songwriting style all his own and
leans more towards a laid back bluesy style of singing & playing rather
than wailing off a thousand fuzzed out notes a minute. Apparently Guys
been around almost 30 years and you can hear it in his playing. This is
one great CD I can highly recommend......can't wait for the next one.
"With Gypsy
Souls, Guy Budd delivers" - DJ Smokehouse Brown,
KVRX Radio, Austin, TX.
With his second release
Gypsy Souls, Guy Budd...artist, poet, bluesman...delivers a stunning, beautiful
set of progressive and provocative blues fused with elements of rock, jazz, and
soul.
Budd, a native of rural New Jersey, later moved to Central California and
hit the road in the late 1960s, when he hitched back and forth across the
country for the next eight years. Budd later returned to California and
settled in San Luis Obispo, where he studied music and forged his own space in
the vibrant musical community there, passing up opportunities to record for
major labels in Los Angeles. And thank God for that, because he later
hooked up with Howard Emmons (drums), Wil Anderson (bass), and Ken Burton
(keys), the artists who lent their talents on this new record.
The songs on Gypsy Souls showcase Budd and company's unique vision of where the
blues can go, matched with superb songwriting that's ripe with social
commentary. "Throw Away" (track 3) is a perfect example, as is
the traditional Albert King number "Blues at Sunrise" (track
2). For a nice version of "War of Wits" (the cut
Budd performed solo at KVRX for Local Live in 2005), try track 1.
The real gem on this release, however, is the eclectic "Shapeshifter"
(track 4). It is a haunting song that defies genre categorization:
part blues, part Middle Eastern/African rhythm, it's like something out of a
dream, pure genius!!
