The Ritchie Blackmore Story 2015

Ritchie Blackmore is beyond doubt one of the all-time great guitar players. From his pop roots with The Outlaws and his many session recordings in the sixties, through defining hard rock with Deep Purple and Rainbow in the seventies and eighties and on to the renaissance rock of Blackmore s Night, Ritchie has proved that he is a master of the guitar across a multitude of styles…

If you consider the songs on Voodoo Circle’s new album Raised On Rock to be an indicator of the current emotional condition their most important protagonists find themselves in, there seems to be no reason to worry about band founder, guitarist and main composer Alex Beyrodt in particular. Thanks to Beyrodt’s excellent songwriting – as usual inspired by renowned sources such as Whitesnake, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix – and his outstanding guitar performance which brings to mind icons from Ritchie Blackmore through Jimmy Page to John Sykes, this recording oozes pure, unadulterated fervour.

Deep Purple are remembered by most folks as the Ian Gillan-fronted hard rock band that recorded the iconic "Smoke on the Water," but as is the case with most recording artists, there's a whole lot more to the story, and in this case, the preamble part of Deep Purple's career might arguably actually be more exciting and interesting. The first incarnation of the band featured Rod Evans as the lead singer, and of course the guitar playing of Ritchie Blackmore, and if there's a better opening single for a band than Deep Purple's classic cover of Joe South's "Hush," well, there's little doubt "Hush" would hold its own.

Anthony Lawrence Carey is an American-born, European-based musician, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter. One of his earliest musical experiences was in a band called Blessings, in which he played until 1974 when Ritchie Blackmore hired him as keyboardist for Rainbow…