Steve Guyger (born September 12, 1952) is an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cen ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

player, singer, and songwriter. He has recorded five

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s since 1997, having previously backed

Jimmy Rogers Jimmy Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and recorded several pop ...

for almost fifteen years. Rick Estrin, from

Rick Estrin & the Nightcats Rick Estrin & the Nightcats are an American electric blues band formed in 2008. The group was established by ex-members of Little Charlie & the Nightcats. Members include Rick Estrin on vocals and harmonica, guitarist Kid Andersen, bassist Lor ...

, referred to Guyger in the liner notes of one of the latter's albums as "a true master of the blues harmonica." Guyger has played with Rogers,

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal ...

, Little Sammy Davis and

Mark Hummel Mark Hummel (born December 15, 1955) is an American blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of the Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured p ...

, and is proficient in both

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a p ...

and

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a ...

instruments.

Biography

Guyger was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and initially studied guitar for five years before his future sister-in-law gave him a harmonica as a gift. Inspired by watching various blues musicians following trips to both

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Guyger formed his own band in the late 1970s. Personnel came and went and he changed the name of the band to the Excellos in 1980, who steadily built up a growing reputation playing in both Philadelphia and New York. Guyger started backing Jimmy Rogers in 1980, and played with him until just before Rogers' death in 1997. That same year Guyger's debut album, ''Last Train to Dover'', was released. In 1999,

Severn Records Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century". History On July 11, 1997, a company named Echo Records was incorporated in Maryland by David Earl. By the ...

released Guyger's third album, ''Past Life Blues''. In 2008, Guyger performed at the Lucerne Blues Festival. His most recent album, ''Radio Blues'' was released in March the same year to critical acclaim. His guest musicians included

Johnny Moeller Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, October 31, 1970) is an American guitarist, currently with The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Johnny started playing guitar in his early teens. Over the years Moeller's main influence ...

. The following year his work saw Guyger nominated for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy ...

. In 2010, he issued an instructional

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, entitled ''Blues Harmonica'', published by the

Hal Leonard Corporation Hal Leonard LLC (formerly Hal Leonard Corporation) is an American music publishing and distribution company founded in Winona, Minnesota, by Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother, Everett "Leonard" Edstrom, and fellow musician Roger Busdicker. Curr ...

. He currently endorses

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known ...

harmonicas.

Discography

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guyger, Steve 1952 births Living people American blues singers American blues harmonica players American male singers Harmonica blues musicians Chicago blues musicians Electric blues musicians Singers from Philadelphia Songwriters from Pennsylvania Songwriters from Illinois American male songwriters

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links