“I’D STUDIED THE DUDE NOTE-FOR-NOTE!”

Blues master Eric Gales remembers his jam with SRV

- Amit Sharma

Stevie Ray Vaughan’s spirit lives on through the power of his music, and even outside of the blues genre, it doesn’t require much effort to find musicians who will name check SRV as a primary influence. If you’ve ever listened to any recordings by John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa, Josh Smith, Dan Patlansky or Philip Sayce, you will have definitely heard a line or two, or perhaps even 100, copped straight out of the SRV lick book. It’s something any of those players would happily admit to and have done time and time again.

But if there’s one musician who seems to capture the great man’s essence and courageous flair for gutsy improvisation, as well as continually delivering the kind of impeccable tones that leave other players red-faced in envy, it’s Magneto Guitars and DV Mark endorsee Eric Gales.