How good was Stevie Ray Vaughn? Even his guitar roadie was freakishly good.

[aikoaiko]

Watch him swap out a guitar after Stevie breaks a string.

http://www.wimp.com/greatroadie/

[hobbit709]

1. Stevie broke strings on a regular basis. Sometimes more than once in a set.

[OriginalGeek]

2. I remember seeing him live once

he broke a string at that show and the only reason I knew anything was because he swapped guitars seemingly mid-shred... ....Afterwards I was talking to a local DJ here who was backstage and he said Stevie was steaming mad backstage because he thought he performed poorly for his fans. All I could say was If THAT was Stevie doing poorly then I might not have lived though a show he nailed. Poorly performing Stevie Ray Vaughn was a miracle to behold.

[MissMillie]

6. I saw him too

I think back in 1981, when he opened for the Moody Blues.

I didn't appreciate him much back then (maybe because he was drunk and you could tell). I wish I could have seen him after he got sober, because now I do know how extraordinarily talented he was.

[IrishAyes]

3. Stevie Ray was the absolute best.

At least until JD Simo came along. I'd be hard put to choose between them, and there's no real reason to need to do so. I'm a most fortunate person to have seen both perform live many times. Small venues were always my favorite because I could arrive when the doors opened and stake out a place right next to the stage. Those were very happy times for me. By the time JD came along, I had a Sony minicam and took some great videos of performances no one else taped, so they're unique. Someday I'll get around to posting stuff on YouTube.

JD did the best cover of 'Hurt' imaginable.

[OriginalGeek]

4. Thank you for that!

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Never heard him before but JD Simo is now on my list. And he's pretty much just a kid so hopefully we get a long, long time with him.

Small clubs is they way I've seen most of my favorite metal bands and also some not metal (Best non-metal was John Paul Jones from about 6 feet away at House of Blues)

[IrishAyes]

5. JD studied classical guitar for many years. He debuted professionally with the blues at around age

11 and took off from there. I was surprised when he threw in with the Kelly band for awhile, but he's gone back to his own band now, SIMO. Check them out. Glad you like him. He's also a tremendously sweet and well-reared young man. When he threw guitar picks to the crowd, he'd step over and hand mine to me. Even stopped playing one time just to announce from the stage that he appreciated 'this good woman's support.'

Maybe I looked a little out of place at his shows even though I appear only about half my real age. But anyone who loved Stevie Ray couldn't help adore this kid. And yes, barring accident, we should have him with us for a good long time. One of my favorite moments happened at the Pines (Prescott AZ) when another professional guitarist stood entranced at stage side, and JD moved over closer so he could study his fingering more closely. The guy just stood there with his jaw dropped almost to his knees!