Douglas Blair Lucek, better known as Doug Blair (born February 11, 1963) is a heavy metal guitarist and member of W.A.S.P. Blair's early development as a musician took place in his home state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

. His focus on technical ability with the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

quickly saw him gaining a reputation locally in the Tri-State area of (NY, NJ, CT).

Music career

His early band, Run 21, played small club dates in the Tri-State area (NY, NJ, CT) and recorded some original material during that time. One of the songs, "Baby It's Your Face" was recorded at Presence Studios in Weston, Connecticut and released on the ''Metalstorm'' compilation produced by Jamie Bircumshaw and Tom Boyd in 1985. This early Doug Blair band, Run 21 also included Stet Howland on drums who would later join W.A.S.P., as would Blair. Run 21 was especially known for its outlandish show (compared to other Connecticut acts) that would see Blair jumping up on the bar and playing while running in between glasses and bottles. The act had an element of comedy with drummer Stet Howland's dialogue with the audience. This early "over the top" style of performance were precursors to what Blair and Howland would be doing with the internationally known W.A.S.P. He initially played in W.A.S.P. for a short time in 1992. During this time Blair authored a guitar column for Mixx Magazine where he gave instruction and advice on the general subject of guitar playing and guitar instruments which he was known to design. He was also a quick replacement during W.A.S.P.'s Unholy Terror Tour in 2001 on two festival gigs when Chris Holmes left the band. In 2006 he was hired by W.A.S.P. for the third time. His other current band is Signal2Noise with percussionist/vocalist John Anthony. Their debut album, ''Fighting Mental Illness'', has seven songs: "Generica", "Contrast", "Hear", "Disown", "Out", "Corner" and a bonus acoustic version of "Wall". From time to time, he also appears as a guest musician at gigs of other artists such as Barbe-Q-Barbies. In May 2016 Blair announced an upcoming collaboration with American

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

vocalist and musician

Melissa VanFleet Melissa Ann VanFleet (born 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 2012, her piano covers of American heavy metal band W.A.S.P.'s ballad "Sleeping (In the Fire)" and "Too Late" by Black Sabbath garn ...

. In October 2017, VanFleet released "Raven," a single featuring Blair on lead guitar.

Music Instrument Inventions

Blair is known for inventing the innovative instrument "GuitarCross" which blend five guitar strings with three

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

strings (guitar strings sent to one amplifier, bass strings to another) to make a unique sound. He uses this invention in s2n and also uses a unique 12-string acoustic named "Asia."

Discography

W.A.S.P.

*'' Dominator'' (2007) *''

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

'' (2009) *''

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early medie ...

'' (2015) *'' Re-Idolized'' (2018)

Other work

*''

Dreams in the Witch House - A Lovecraftian Rock Opera A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

'' (2013) *"Raven" -

(2017)

References

External links

Doug Blair, Interview: "Fighting Mental Illness" February 23, 2013Official Doug Blair Home PageBlair's Blade II Guitar Signal2Noise
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Doug 1963 births Living people American heavy metal guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians