Michael Lee Firkins (born May 19, 1967) is an American

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

player whose music fuses bluegrass,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

elements into a distorted rock sound. He is noted amongst guitarists for his prolific use of

hybrid picking Hybrid picking is a guitar-playing technique that involves picking with a pick (plectrum) and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously. Hybrid picking allows guitar players who use a pick to perform music which would normally require ...

at high speeds.

Early life

Firkins was born in 1967 in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, to musician parents; his father was a

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of pla ...

ist and his mother a pianist. He started playing acoustic guitar at the age of eight. Though mostly self-taught, he also took lessons at a local Omaha music store. Learning the songs of the time, Firkins was influenced by the guitar styles of

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

, and

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Career

By 1979, Firkins had a

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961, following on from the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. SG stands for "solid guitar". Origins The S ...

and a Fender Princeton Reverb. Now wielding an electrified tone, he played in local bands and in church from the age of 12 until 18. In 1985, Firkins started touring the country in

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

s. He eventually went back to Omaha and began teaching guitar. Firkins recorded a five-song demo of instrumental guitar tunes at Rainbow Recording Studios in Omaha, Nebraska. The demo was sent to

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

, resulting in a record contract and subsequent release of his first album. In 1990, Firkins released his self-titled debut album. This release highlighted Firkins's encyclopedic knowledge of bluegrass and country licks. With the help of an international advertising campaign from Yamaha guitars to promote the company's Pacifica models, Firkins's first release sold more than 100,000 copies. The album also landed him the top spot in the category of "Best New Talent" in a readers' poll in ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

'' magazine that year. He was also hailed as "One of the Most Influential Players of the Next Ten Years" by ''

Guitar for the Practicing Musician ''Guitar for the Practicing Musician'' was a guitar magazine published in the United States by Cherry Lane Music from 1982 to 1999. The magazine was published monthly. In 1992, it was the most popular music publication at newsstands, selling 74 ...

''. Firkins's music was also popular in Europe, as Firkins won the

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

, which is the equivalent of a Grammy, in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Firkins went on to release three more records for the Shrapnel label. His sound went on to incorporate more music styles, specifically

, as shown in a cover of

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

's " The Mooche" on Firkins' third album, '' Chapter Eleven''. ''Cactus Cruz'' was his last recording for Shrapnel in 1996. In 1997, Firkins recorded ''Decomposition'' for Nuerra Records. The album was composed of covers, with Firkins paying tribute to some of his earlier influences, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd,

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1 ...

, and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. In the early 2000s, he teamed up with fellow guitarist Gabriel Moses for a side project titled ''Dose Amigos'', which has been most frequently compared to

Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles in 1994 by the actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Their music showcases Black's theatrical vocal delivery and Gass' acoustic guitar playing. Critics have described their fusion of ...

. Both guitarists incorporated elements of bluegrass and heavy metal at extremely high speeds, with humorous themes. The project showcased Firkins and Moses's original technique of emulating a slide guitar with the use of the tremolo arm.

Discography

Albums

*1990: '' Michael Lee Firkins'' *1994: ''Howling Iguanas'' *1995: '' Chapter Eleven'' *1996: ''Cactus Crüz'' *1999: ''Decomposition'' *2007: ''Black Light Sonatas'' *2013: ''Yep''

Instructional

*2009: ''Mastering Lead Guitar'', Michael Lee Firkins, Hot Licks Productions, Inc.

Guest appearances

*1992: ''Blues Tracks'', Pat Travers, RoadRunner *1994: ''Cream of the Crop, A Tribute'', RoadRunner *1996: ''Perspective'', Jason Becker *1997: ''Best of the Blues Plus Live'', Pat Travers, Blues Bureau Int'l *1997: ''Guitar Battle'', Victor Records *1997: ''The Jimi Hendrix Music Festival'', Provogue *2001: ''Staring at the Sun'', Neil Zaza, Melodik Records *2004: ''Take You Higher'', Clinton Administration, Magna Carta *2008: ''Collection'', Jason Becker, Shrapnel *2009: ''This is Shredding'', Vol. 1, Shrapnel *2013: '' The Manhattan Blues Project'', Steve Hunter, Deacon Records *2018: Triumphant Hearts, Jason Becker, Music Theories / Mascot Label Records

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Firkins, Michael Lee Living people 1967 births American rock guitarists Shrapnel Records artists