"Play That Damn Guitar", the appropriately titled, mega-awesome 3rd solo studio disc from this amazing, gifted blues/rock axeripper features 11 tracks (58 minutes) of Classic, mind-blowing, over-the-top, bad-ass, killer, bluesy, Hendrix-inspired, heavy guitar power trio riffage from a true axemaster that will rock your world into the next musical dimension. Jay Jesse Johnson (Triple J) reigns supreme on the guitar and proves that he is the real deal as he takes his "Damn Guitar" to new levels of insanity and beyond on this tremendous Grooveyard Records disc. A truly remarkable and prolific, hard-hitting bluesy heavy guitar masterpiece.
One of the most time-honored blues legends is that of how Robert Johnson gained his mastery of the guitar: he sold his soul to the Devil for it. Los Angeles native and now Springfield IL resident, James Armstrong, however, communes with a different source for musical inspiration – four “Guitar Angels,” namely his father James Armstrong, Sr., Coco Montoya, Joe Louis Walker, and Mike Ross. On this second release through Catfood Records (his fifth CD overall), the incredible Armstrong pulls out all the stops when it comes to contemporary electric and soul-influenced blues. Armstrong’s veteran guitar work is consistently lively, creative, and interesting. He has crafted along with his fellow artists ten stellar original songs and two covers (The Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit” and a stellar and Soulful take on Johnny Copeland’s “Blues Ain’t Nothin’”), their upbeat and crowd-pleasing energy never fails to uplift listeners. At Armstrong’s side are seventeen remarkable musicians, including producer Michael Ross on guitar and percussion, Dan Ferguson on keyboards, and drummers Richy Puga, Rick King, and Warren Grant.
Wiek Hijmans (1967) has played the electric guitar since the age of eleven. His interest in both classical and popular music instilled a lifelong passion in him for integrating the electric guitar in classical music. Hijmans has been featured at the Holland Festivals Night of the electric guitar, and at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, as ‘the specialist in contemporary composed music for electric guitar’. Hijmans holds a Performing Musician’s Diploma from the Sweelinck Conservatory of Amsterdam and a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City where he studied with David Starobin.