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My guitar hero is Mr. Marty Friedman.
I have covered some of his songs and solos. being able to cover his solos is somthing but having those ideas in your head is something totally next level
I have a lot of answers for this. I enjoy many players. Clapton, Beck, Page of course, guys like Ernie Isley are amazing, I love Eddie Hazel, Dimebag Darrell is (in my opinion) probably one of the best technical players I've ever heard (yes, a Vai or Satriani is more skilled technically, but I find their music to be boring), where would guitar as an instrument be without revolutionaries like EVH and Les Paul? Who can match up to Chet Adkins in terms of melodic playing? St Vincent and Yvette Young are amazing gals who are great songwriters and players and are inspiring a new generation of girls (and guys) to pick up the guitar.
I love all these players for various reasons. Whether or not I can play their licks, or like their tone, or whatever, I think I've learned at least something from each of them
But no one has impacted me and my music as much as that Purple Yoda from the Heart of Minnesota, Prince.
See, at the time I discovered him, I was a metal/hard rock head. I was trying to form this Deep Purple/Metallica hybrid, but I had a hard time finding players and stuff...and when I heard Prince, it just changed everything. Without Prince, I never would have learned keys, I never would've been motivated to forge my own path...I started just consuming everything about him and everytime I heard or read something I was like "you can do that?!?"
He wasn't a technical beast, but he was an incredible guitarist, in my opinion (and I've listened to every album, many many unreleased tracks, and live shows) I don't think I've ever heard him mess up. Every note he plays is the perfect fit in that moment of song. He never recorded a note that didn't belong.
So yeah, Prince is my biggest influence as a musician