Michael John Casswell (18 June 1963 – 30 September 2016) was an English session guitarist, who toured and recorded with numerous artists including

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, Wang Chung, Ronan Keating,

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, Cozy Powell, Tony Hadley, Go West, Dean Friedman, Limahl (

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), Rhinos Revenge Band, Fanfields ( Toto tribute project) and Marcus Malone.

Career

Casswell started playing the guitar from the age of 11. In the mid-1980s he was signed to RCA USA as a part of a band called Heroes. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s he was signed to MCA UK with the British rock band Walk on Fire, which released an album ''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

'' in 1989. In 1992, he joined the Brian May Band for the South America tour. Casswell co-wrote and co-produced Cozy Powell's last solo album, ''Especially for You'', which was released by Polygram Records in 1998. From 2006 to 2008, Casswell played in the West End

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

musical, ''

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''. Casswell also taught guitar through many DVDs from Lick Library with an emphatic focus on classic rock and blues styles. Since 2011, he was regularly contributing to the ''Guitar Interactive'' magazine with columns, gear reviews and interviews. In 2014, Casswell released a solo album entitled ''Complaints about the Noise''. Casswell's last recordings were his submissions for the Toto tribute Fanfields project, which were released on October 1, 2016, a day after his death.

Equipment and style

Casswell was a keen user of the guitar's tremolo bar. He was often seen playing pre- Samick Valley Arts guitars, equipped with Floyd Rose and EMG pickups. He also frequently played a Music Man (Luke) guitar, as well as various

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

s and James Tyler guitars. For amplifiers, he mainly used Mesa-Boogie, or

Marshall Amplification Marshall Amplification is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, Guitar speaker cabinet, speaker cabinets, and effects unit, effects pedals. Founded in London in 1962 by shop owner and drummer Jim Marshall (businessm ...

Death

In September 2016, Casswell drowned whilst swimming off Las Negras beach in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park in Níjar, Spain. He was 53 years old.

Discography

Solo *''Complaints about the Noise'' (2014)

References

1963 births 2016 deaths English session musicians English rock guitarists English male guitarists {{UK-guitarist-stub