Tom Guerra
Encyclopedia
Tom Guerra of Hartford, Connecticut
is an American guitarist
.
Since the late 1970s, Guerra has been a popular guitarist on the New England club circuit, playing with a host of leading blues, rock n' roll and R&B acts. Influenced by Rory Gallagher
, Paul Kossoff
, Jimmy Page
, Keith Richards
, Ronnie Wood, Muddy Waters
, Buddy Guy
, and Joe Walsh
, Guerra first gained notoriety after being featured in Guitar Player magazine (3/91). Over the years, Guerra has recorded or played with Rick Derringer
, The Dirty Bones Blues Band', Max Weinberg
, Mark Nomad, The Easton Brothers with Muddy Waters bassist Charles Calmese, Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson from The Allman Brothers Band
, Second Son, Guitar Shorty
, Adolph Jacobs of The Coasters
, and The Delrays, for which he received acclaim from Buddy Guy.
In 1999, he formed Mambo Sons
with singer Scott Lawson. Their debut album, released in late 1999, featured guitar legend Rick Derringer
and was immediately met with positive reviews.
Mambo Sons second disc "Play Some Rock & Roll!" was named top indie release of the year by NYRock magazine, and their third "Racket of Three" was called album of the year in Pattaya Thailand by legendary rock and roll author Mott the Dog.
In 2009, at the request of legendary guitarist Johnny Winter
, Tom created the liner notes for Johnny's latest release "Vol. 4 - The Bootleg Series."
On Aug. 1, 2009, Mambo Sons released a 20 song double album entitled "Heavy Days," which will no doubt satisfy their fans and attract legions more. Songs on the two disc set include "The Early Train," "She Just Wants to Ride," "Overend Watts" (about the legendary Mott the Hoople bassist Peter Watts (musician)
). and an energetic live cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic Stone Free.
"Heavy Days" was named "CD Release of the Week" by the Hartford Courant. In this review, rock writer Eric Danton said "Accordingly, Guerra is the focal point here, and deservedly so: he peels off blistering slide guitar licks on opening track "She Just Wants to Ride," dials in an acoustic-Zeppelin feel with the faintly Eastern-sounding riff on "Love is Strange" and unleashes enough funk on "I Love My Family" to make Sly Stone proud."
In early 2010, Cleveland's "Rock and Roll Report" named "Heavy Days" the best straight ahead rock and roll recording of the year.
All records have been critically acclaimed as the group currently enjoys considerable cult status in the Northeast United States, if not widespread popularity, as well as a substantial fan base throughout Eastern Europe and Asia. Website is http://www.MamboSons.com
Tom writes for both Vintage Guitar and Modern Guitars magazines, and has recently become an endorsee for Brian Moore Custom guitars and DST-Engineering amplifiers. Besides his work with Mambo Sons, he has recently co-written songs for singer Glen Carroll's debut cd.
Said Mike Varney, GP writer and founder of Shrapnel Records: "Tom's riveting solos utilize a mature blues vocabulary that incorporates wah-wah, open tuned slide guitar, and dirty and clean Strat tones. His music should be very appealing to most electric blues fans."
Tom Guerra appears as the featured interview in the April 2007 "ToneQuest Report" magazine.
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
is an American guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
.
Since the late 1970s, Guerra has been a popular guitarist on the New England club circuit, playing with a host of leading blues, rock n' roll and R&B acts. Influenced by Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher
William Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
, Paul Kossoff
Paul Kossoff
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English rock guitarist best known as a member of the band Free.Kossoff was ranked 51st in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" -Early days:...
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, Ronnie Wood, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, and Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
, Guerra first gained notoriety after being featured in Guitar Player magazine (3/91). Over the years, Guerra has recorded or played with Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
, The Dirty Bones Blues Band', Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
, Mark Nomad, The Easton Brothers with Muddy Waters bassist Charles Calmese, Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson from The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, Second Son, Guitar Shorty
Guitar Shorty
Guitar Shorty is an American blues guitarist. He is well known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever...
, Adolph Jacobs of The Coasters
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
, and The Delrays, for which he received acclaim from Buddy Guy.
In 1999, he formed Mambo Sons
Mambo Sons
Mambo Sons is an American guitar-based rock and roll indie trio led by guitarist Tom Guerra and vocalist/bassist Scott Lawson, and rounded out by drummer Joe "the Cat" Lemieux...
with singer Scott Lawson. Their debut album, released in late 1999, featured guitar legend Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer
Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
and was immediately met with positive reviews.
Mambo Sons second disc "Play Some Rock & Roll!" was named top indie release of the year by NYRock magazine, and their third "Racket of Three" was called album of the year in Pattaya Thailand by legendary rock and roll author Mott the Dog.
In 2009, at the request of legendary guitarist Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
, Tom created the liner notes for Johnny's latest release "Vol. 4 - The Bootleg Series."
On Aug. 1, 2009, Mambo Sons released a 20 song double album entitled "Heavy Days," which will no doubt satisfy their fans and attract legions more. Songs on the two disc set include "The Early Train," "She Just Wants to Ride," "Overend Watts" (about the legendary Mott the Hoople bassist Peter Watts (musician)
Peter Watts (musician)
Peter Overend Watts is a bass guitar player and founding member of 1970s rock band, Mott the Hoople....
). and an energetic live cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic Stone Free.
"Heavy Days" was named "CD Release of the Week" by the Hartford Courant. In this review, rock writer Eric Danton said "Accordingly, Guerra is the focal point here, and deservedly so: he peels off blistering slide guitar licks on opening track "She Just Wants to Ride," dials in an acoustic-Zeppelin feel with the faintly Eastern-sounding riff on "Love is Strange" and unleashes enough funk on "I Love My Family" to make Sly Stone proud."
In early 2010, Cleveland's "Rock and Roll Report" named "Heavy Days" the best straight ahead rock and roll recording of the year.
All records have been critically acclaimed as the group currently enjoys considerable cult status in the Northeast United States, if not widespread popularity, as well as a substantial fan base throughout Eastern Europe and Asia. Website is http://www.MamboSons.com
Tom writes for both Vintage Guitar and Modern Guitars magazines, and has recently become an endorsee for Brian Moore Custom guitars and DST-Engineering amplifiers. Besides his work with Mambo Sons, he has recently co-written songs for singer Glen Carroll's debut cd.
Early years
In 1991, Tom gained widespread exposure when he was profiled in Guitar Player Magazine's "Spotlight" section (3/91), which brought emerging talent into focus.Said Mike Varney, GP writer and founder of Shrapnel Records: "Tom's riveting solos utilize a mature blues vocabulary that incorporates wah-wah, open tuned slide guitar, and dirty and clean Strat tones. His music should be very appealing to most electric blues fans."
Discography
- Heavy Days - Mambo SonsMambo SonsMambo Sons is an American guitar-based rock and roll indie trio led by guitarist Tom Guerra and vocalist/bassist Scott Lawson, and rounded out by drummer Joe "the Cat" Lemieux...
(2009) - Glen Carroll - Like a Rolling Stone - Glen Carroll Band (2008)
- So Wonderful (video) - Mambo SonsMambo SonsMambo Sons is an American guitar-based rock and roll indie trio led by guitarist Tom Guerra and vocalist/bassist Scott Lawson, and rounded out by drummer Joe "the Cat" Lemieux...
(2007) - Racket of Three - Mambo SonsMambo SonsMambo Sons is an American guitar-based rock and roll indie trio led by guitarist Tom Guerra and vocalist/bassist Scott Lawson, and rounded out by drummer Joe "the Cat" Lemieux...
(2005) - Mr. Positive - Jeff Keithline (2004)
- Play Some Rock & Roll - Mambo SonsMambo SonsMambo Sons is an American guitar-based rock and roll indie trio led by guitarist Tom Guerra and vocalist/bassist Scott Lawson, and rounded out by drummer Joe "the Cat" Lemieux...
(2003) - Love Songs - Antonio Messina (2002)
- Mambo Sons - Mambo SonsMambo SonsMambo Sons is an American guitar-based rock and roll indie trio led by guitarist Tom Guerra and vocalist/bassist Scott Lawson, and rounded out by drummer Joe "the Cat" Lemieux...
with Rick DerringerRick DerringerRick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
(1999) - Red, White and Blues - The Delrays (1997)
- Stronger Than Dirt - Dirty Bones Band (featuring Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
' Red HouseRed House (song)"Red House" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and originally recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. The song, a slow twelve-bar blues, "is one of the most traditional in sound and form of all his official recordings". It was developed during his pre-Experience days while Hendrix was...
) (1993) - new wOrld disOrder - Dirty Bones Band (1991)
- Last Remains - Dirty Bones Band (1986)
- Exhumed - Dirty Bones Band (1983)
Tom Guerra appears as the featured interview in the April 2007 "ToneQuest Report" magazine.