Buzz Campbell is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. He plays anything that is close to

Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

music, Blues, Swing, Country & Rock & roll. Campbell is also a songwriter. He has played with numerous "rockabilly acts", including

Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961) is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinetist of the New Yo ...

Slim Jim Phantom James McDonnell (born March 21, 1961), known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s. Phantom currentl ...

and

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

, all original members of the

Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles ...

. Campbell and his group have also backed up and performed with such artists as

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined a ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song " Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...

, and numerous others and has become a mainstay on the California rockabilly scene. He is now touring all over the American soil, in Canada and has a solid international reputation.

The early years

Campbell was born on January 19, 1969,in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

. He was first introduced to 1950s

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

by his father’s old cassettes. He soon thereafter picked up the guitar, and with the influence of his uncle, began to learn 1950s-style rock and roll. At first it was just a hobby, but in 1991 at his twenty-first Birthday, he saw the

perform live at the Bacchanal in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, Calif. The show had such an impact on him that he dropped out of college, to concentrate on the music.
Campbell has named

as his first real influence and later came

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 19 ...

Cliff Gallup Clifton E. Gallup (June 17, 1930 – October 9, 1988) was an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for the rockabilly group Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps throughout the 1950s. Biography In February 1956, local radio DJ Sheriff Tex Davi ...

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic D ...

James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also been recognized ...

and the one he said was his biggest influence would be

, of the Stray Cats.

Career

In 2001, Campbell was approached at a gig by Jocko Marcellino, one of the founding members of the 1950s group,

Sha Na Na Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll doo-wop group. Formed in 1969, but performing a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs, it simultaneously revived and parodied the music and the New York street culture of the 1950s. After ga ...

(2000–2004). This group is internationally known for their debut at Woodstock, their TV show in the mid-‘70s, and their cameo in the movie ''

Grease Grease may refer to: Common uses * Grease (lubricant), a type of industrial lubricant * Grease, any petroleum or fat (including cooking fat) that is a soft solid at room temperature ** Brown grease, waste vegetable oil, animal fat, grease, e ...

''. Campbell became the lead guitarist for

, and still occasionally performs with them. In 1995 Buzz also participated in the groupe called " The Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash(They are now called: Mark Stuart and The Bastard Sons)", on the lead guitar. More than 10 years ago, Buzz was given the opportunity to open for

.(Present on both albums: Racin’ the Devil and Black Cat Bone.) Buzz even wrote the track, “Crazy When She Drinks” for the Black Cat Bone album. Buzz and Lee met and a long-standing friendship started. Lee was impressed and produced Hot Rod Lincoln’s critically acclaimed CD titled "Blue Café.” Campbell completed his largest tour to date by opening for the Stray Cats European Farwell Tour in the summer of 2008. The band warmed up audiences in seven countries and by the end of the tour, were seen by over 100,000 people.

The Gear

Campbell is sponsored by

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsc ...

. He uses mostly a 2007, 6136 Gretsch White Falcon .
Also has a 1958 Gretsch Country Club(mostly for recording on the RHL and Lee Rocker albums).
On live performances, he has used a 90s red Gretsch Hot Rod.
When writing songs, he also uses a Gibson acoustic.

Albums

Hot Rod Lincoln

Blue Cafe(1999)
Astraunaut Girl(2001)
Tokyo Bop(2003)
RunAway Girl(2006)
The Best of Buzz Campbell & Hotrodlincoln(2008)

Lee Rocker

Racin’ the Devil(2006)
Black Cat Bone(2007)

Buzz Campbell Band

Buzz Campbell: Shivers & Shakes(2010)

References

External links

www.buzzcampbell.com
www.leerocker.com
www.straycats.com * http://www.hotrodlincoln.net/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Buzz American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters Living people Lead guitarists American male singer-songwriters American rockabilly guitarists American male guitarists 1969 births Singers from Dallas Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Texas 20th-century American male musicians