Down to the Wire - Simon McBride

Simon McBride started playing the guitar when he was ten. By age 15 and entirely self-taught, he was good enough to enter Guitarist Magazine’s Young Guitarist of The Year, a performance competition staged at Wembley Conference Centre, which he won against strong competition. Even before that achievement, Simon was endorsed by the notable American guitar builder Paul Reed Smith, a relationship that continues to this day. Other PRS artists include Al Di Meola, Santana and Buddy Guy. Observers of the blues-rock scene are calling Simon McBride the natural heir to Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore. Like these icons he hails from Ireland and from Moore’s hometown, Belfast. He is an astoundingly good guitarist, a fine singer and a prolific songwriter. His first professional job – at age 16 – took him into heavy metal territory with the Belfast-based pioneering metal band Sweet Savage, who reformed in 1994 without their founding guitarist, Vivian Campbell (Dio, Def Leppard), who Simon replaced. Simon toured with the band and recorded two albums, Killing Time 1996 and Rune 1998. After leaving Sweet Savage in 1998, He joined fellow Irishman Andrew Strong, who had made his name in the 1991 cult film The Commitments and went on to a successful singing career. Playing with Strong was in stark contrast to Sweet Savage. As Simon says, the change of musical style was a useful and enjoyable learning experience. He spent six years touring with Strong before leaving to pursue the idea of a solo career. Simon then spent several years playing with bands local to Belfast while writing songs and honing his production skills. His strongest influences have been players from a Blues and R&B background, guitarists such as Hendrix and Jeff Beck, so not surprisingly that is where his solo career became focused. In 2008 Simon approached Nugene – notable for handling guitarists and blues artists – with a collection of songs that became his debut album, Rich Man Falling (“Hugely accomplished” MOJO. “Blues Rock Par Excellence” CLASSIC ROCK). The band was targeted initially at continental Europe and with representation by Live Nation in the Netherlands Simon played major festivals. In the UK he has supported Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani and Derek Trucks. Then followed a second album Since Then (“there is a new star on the horizon” Guitar Techniques. “Ireland has a knack of throwing up diamondS” HIFI+). In support of the album Simon toured the UK opening for guitar legend Joe Satriani and earned rave reviews for his performances. In 2012 he released Nine Lives, an album of mostly live recordings proving that on stage he can make a sound every bit as good as his studio albums. He delivers powerful renditions of songs from his two studio albums together with a previously unreleased song (Fire Me Up). The album also carries four bonus tracks in which he reprises songs in a stripped down acoustic format, demonstrating just how natural a guitarist and singer he is. If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

Nugene Records artist: Simon McBride - Crossing The Line - New Release Review

I just received the soon to be released recording, Crossing The Line, by Simon McBride. This new recording bridges a number of rock/blues genres but one thing that is consistent are the solid vocals and the strong guitar work of McBride. Lead Us Away is a strong composition bringing to mind Black Label Society of Mahogany Rush. No Room To Breathe has the structure of a blues ballad. The vocals and guitar work are powerful and the hook is solid. This guy really rips actually! Strong airplay possibility here. Starve This Fever is a real arena blues track with the potential to blow your hair back. McBride is highly accomplished and has the recorded presence of Gary Moore or Joe Bonamassa. Alcatraz takes on a bit of the Latin rhythm but the addition of horns pumps the track out of the standard blues rock idiom. Again McBride's finger work shows that he is an absolute guitar master. One More Try is another ballad set up to feature McBrides vocals and hard hitting soloing. If you like blues/rock ballads it's hard to refute this guy's talent. Heartbreaker is a strong rocker with strong roots in the blues. The rhythm guitar on this track has great tone and the guitar lead is light and fast. This is the track for the rockers! Home To Me gets a bit of the southern US into it's sound. It is different than the balance of the record but it blends quite nicely with the southern guitar rhythms and riffs. Down To The Wire (Revisited) closes the recording with a strong slow blues rock anthem. McBride lays down additional fireworks which are sure to gather fans. Contrasting backing vocals add a nice touch to this cool track.
If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”