Eric Gales
Encyclopedia
Eric Gales (born October 29, 1974, Memphis, Tennessee
) is an American blues-rock
guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy
. Gales has recorded
ten albums on major record labels, and has done session
and tribute work. He has also contributed vocals on several records by the Memphis rap groups, Prophet Posse
and Three 6 Mafia
.
, Albert King
, B. B. King
and others. In 1985, the young Gales began to play at blues competitions with his brother Eugene backing him on bass
. Although Gales plays a right-handed guitar "upside-down" (with the E-bass string on the bottom), he is not naturally left-handed; he was taught by his brother who is left-handed and never second-guessed the untraditional technique.
In late 1990, Eric and Eugene Gales signed with Elektra Records
, and together with drummer
Hubert Crawford released 1991's The Eric Gales Band and 1993's Picture of a Thousand Faces. Guitar World magazine's Reader's Poll named Eric as "Best New Talent", in 1991. During this time he scored two rock radio hits
, "Sign of the Storm" (#9 U.S.
Mainstream Rock) and "Paralyzed" (#31 U.S. Mainstream Rock) and had spots on television program
s such as The Arsenio Hall Show
.
In 1994 Eric performed with Carlos Santana
at the Woodstock 94' concert.
In 1995, Eric Gales teamed up with both of his brothers to record an album under the band name of The Gales Brothers. Left Hand Brand was released in 1996. 2001 saw Gales return with his album That's What I Am on MCA Records
.
Gales has more recently released the albums Crystal Vision, The Psychedelic Underground,The Story of my Life and Layin' Down the Blues on the Shrapnel Records
label. His most recent album is 2010's Relentless, with a new album for 2011 entitled Transformation due in August.
He maintains a strong friendship with record producer Mike Varney
.
Gales has one daughter, Jasmine (born 1992), and on August 31, 2001 he married Susan Gales.
In 2004, he contributed a cover of "May This Be Love" to the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
. In 2008, he, along with many other guitar greats, participated in the touring tribute to Jimi Hendrix
, Experience Hendrix. the touring group of musicians included Billy Cox
(of Band of Gypsys
fame), Eric Johnson
, Chris Layton (Drummer for Stevie Ray Vaughan's
rhythm section, Double Trouble
), Doyle Bramhall II
, Brad Whitford
(of Aerosmith
) and was the last tour that Mitch Mitchell
ever played.
In the winter of 2010 Eric Gales returned to the touring circuit in Europe with TM Stevens on bass guitar and Keith LeBlanc
on drums. The tour was billed as VooDoo Chile and featured works of Jimi Hendrix
as well as original material from both Gales and Stevens.
Eric Gales Also Appears on the following albums:
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
) is an American blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
. Gales has recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
ten albums on major record labels, and has done session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and tribute work. He has also contributed vocals on several records by the Memphis rap groups, Prophet Posse
Prophet Entertainment
Prophet Entertainment is a Memphis, Tennessee based rap record label formerly owned by DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia. It is now owned by Nick Scarfo.-History:...
and Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia are an Academy Award-winning, American rap group originating from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1991 as Triple 6 Mafia, by DJ Paul, Juicy J, & Lord Infamous, the group at its most featured six members including; Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo and Koopsta Knicca...
.
Career
Gales picked up the guitar at age four. His older siblings, Eugene and Manuel ("Little Jimmy King"), took to teaching him many songs and licks at a young age, in the style of Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
and others. In 1985, the young Gales began to play at blues competitions with his brother Eugene backing him on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. Although Gales plays a right-handed guitar "upside-down" (with the E-bass string on the bottom), he is not naturally left-handed; he was taught by his brother who is left-handed and never second-guessed the untraditional technique.
In late 1990, Eric and Eugene Gales signed with Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, and together with drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Hubert Crawford released 1991's The Eric Gales Band and 1993's Picture of a Thousand Faces. Guitar World magazine's Reader's Poll named Eric as "Best New Talent", in 1991. During this time he scored two rock radio hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Sign of the Storm" (#9 U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Mainstream Rock) and "Paralyzed" (#31 U.S. Mainstream Rock) and had spots on television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s such as The Arsenio Hall Show
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
.
In 1994 Eric performed with Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
at the Woodstock 94' concert.
In 1995, Eric Gales teamed up with both of his brothers to record an album under the band name of The Gales Brothers. Left Hand Brand was released in 1996. 2001 saw Gales return with his album That's What I Am on MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
.
Gales has more recently released the albums Crystal Vision, The Psychedelic Underground,The Story of my Life and Layin' Down the Blues on the Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. Guitarist Marty Friedman , one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album Unsung Guitar Heroes II in 1980 with the band Vixen. Vixen would later change their name to Hawaii...
label. His most recent album is 2010's Relentless, with a new album for 2011 entitled Transformation due in August.
He maintains a strong friendship with record producer Mike Varney
Mike Varney
Mike Varney is an American musician, record producer, music publisher and impresario. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Records, a New York-based label...
.
Gales has one daughter, Jasmine (born 1992), and on August 31, 2001 he married Susan Gales.
In 2004, he contributed a cover of "May This Be Love" to the album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix is a 2004 tribute album featuring various artists performing the music of Jimi Hendrix.-Track listing:...
. In 2008, he, along with many other guitar greats, participated in the touring tribute to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Experience Hendrix. the touring group of musicians included Billy Cox
Billy Cox
William "Billy" Cox is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix.-Early years:Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Cox was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Schenley High School. He first met Jimi Hendrix in the early 1960s, when they were both in the United States...
(of Band of Gypsys
Band of Gypsys
Band of Gypsys was a blues rock band led by Jimi Hendrix and backed by Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. Hendrix formed the band after the dissolution of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Band of Gypsys is also the band's eponymous live album recorded on two separate nights, 31 December 1969 and 1 January...
fame), Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
, Chris Layton (Drummer for Stevie Ray Vaughan's
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
rhythm section, Double Trouble
Double Trouble (band)
Double Trouble was the backing rhythm section for Texas blues rock guitarist and lead vocalist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Originally consisting of drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, Reese Wynans would later join the outfit on keyboards.-History:...
), Doyle Bramhall II
Doyle Bramhall II
Doyle Bramhall II is a guitarist and vocalist in his band Smokestack and was also the second guitarist in Eric Clapton's band from 2004 to 2009.-Discography:with Arc Angels*Arc Angels...
, Brad Whitford
Brad Whitford
Bradford Ernest Whitford is the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock band Aerosmith. He graduated Reading Memorial High School in 1970.-Career:...
(of Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
) and was the last tour that Mitch Mitchell
Mitch Mitchell
John Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
ever played.
In the winter of 2010 Eric Gales returned to the touring circuit in Europe with TM Stevens on bass guitar and Keith LeBlanc
Keith Leblanc
Keith Leblanc is an American drummer and record producer, and is a member of the bands Little Axe and Tackhead.His record, "No Sell Out", was the first sample based record. His career started out on Sugar Hill Records recording with rap pioneers, Grandmaster Flash and Melle Melle...
on drums. The tour was billed as VooDoo Chile and featured works of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
as well as original material from both Gales and Stevens.
Discography
- 1991: The Eric Gales Band, Elektra RecordsElektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
- 1993: Picture of a Thousand Faces, Elektra RecordsElektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
- 1996: The Gales Bros: Left Hand Brand, House of BluesHouse of BluesHouse of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
Records - 2001: That's What I Am, MCA RecordsMCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
- 2006: Crystal Vision, Shrapnel RecordsShrapnel RecordsShrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. Guitarist Marty Friedman , one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album Unsung Guitar Heroes II in 1980 with the band Vixen. Vixen would later change their name to Hawaii...
- 2007: The Psychedelic Underground, Shrapnel RecordsShrapnel RecordsShrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. Guitarist Marty Friedman , one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album Unsung Guitar Heroes II in 1980 with the band Vixen. Vixen would later change their name to Hawaii...
- 2008: The Story of My Life, Blues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau International is a guitar oriented, blues, blues guitar and blues rock record label.Blues Bureau is a member of Mike Varney's Shrapnel Label Group, which also includes Shrapnel Records, another guitar oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive metal,...
- 2009: Layin' Down the Blues, Blues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau International is a guitar oriented, blues, blues guitar and blues rock record label.Blues Bureau is a member of Mike Varney's Shrapnel Label Group, which also includes Shrapnel Records, another guitar oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive metal,...
- 2010: Relentless, Blues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau International is a guitar oriented, blues, blues guitar and blues rock record label.Blues Bureau is a member of Mike Varney's Shrapnel Label Group, which also includes Shrapnel Records, another guitar oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive metal,...
- 2011: Transformation, Blues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau InternationalBlues Bureau International is a guitar oriented, blues, blues guitar and blues rock record label.Blues Bureau is a member of Mike Varney's Shrapnel Label Group, which also includes Shrapnel Records, another guitar oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive metal,...
Eric Gales Also Appears on the following albums:
- 2006 A Walk On The Blues Side
- 2006 Viva Carlos: Supernatural Marathon Celebration
- 2006 Wes Jeans - Forest Of The Pine
- 2005 Lottery: Diamonds-N-Da-Ruff
- 2005 Blues Interlude
- 2005 Get Down Workout
- 2005 Rock Revisited
- 2005 Show You a Good Time
- 2004 Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
- 2003 Wall of Soul: Lance Lopez
- 2003 Got Blues!
- 2003 Highway 60's 70's Blues Revisited
- 2003 Presents, Vol. 1
- 2002 A Salute to the Delta Blues Masters
- 2002 Eric Clapton: This Ain't No Tribute Series-All Blues
- 2002 Led Zeppelin: This Ain't No Tribute Series—All Blues'd Up!
- 2001 Hellhound on My Trail: Songs of Robert Johnson
- 2000 Blue Haze: Songs of Jimi Hendrix
- 1999 Blue Power: Song of Eric Clapton, This Ain't No Tribute
- 1999 Blues Power: Songs of Eric Clapton
- 1999 This Ain't No Tribute Blues Cube
- 1999 Whole Lotta Blues: Songs of Led Zeppelin
- 1994 Hard Love: 14 Original Metal Ballads
- 1994 L.A. Blues Authority: Cream of the Crop