LESSON } Blues
ROBIN TROWER
Psychedelic 70s blues-rock is our Spring issue’s musical flavour of the month as David Gerrish explores the style of an undersung guitar hero.
Robin Trower, still making his Strat sing after more than six decades on the road
STEVE THORNE/REDFERNS
This month’s featured artist has a career spanning over 60 years. Robin Trower is a British blues-rock legend with an instantly recognisable sound, known for his displays of real fire and skill. Admired by fans around the globe for his artistic individuality, despite not becoming a household name as is arguably deserved, he is important in the evolution of blues guitar.
Trower was born in London in 1945 and grew up in Essex, where he developed a keen interest in his parents’ vinyl collection. Elvis Presley, and particularly Elvis’s guitarist, Scotty Moore, inspired Trower to pick up the instrument that he heard bursting from the speakers. Musical explorations led him to the blues, and he cites BB and Albert King as two of his biggest influences. The greatest inspiration for his style, though, is Jimi Hendrix, whom Trower (quite rightly) revered as a truly groundbreaking musician.