April Lawton
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April Lawton was a guitarist, singer, and composer who rose to some prominence in the early to mid 1970s as a member of the band Ramatam, which also included former Iron Butterfly guitarist Mike Pinera and former Jimi Hendrix drummer Mitch Mitchell. She was hailed as the female Jimi Hendrix by many, and her style was an inimitable mix of Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Alan Holdsworth. Indeed she was so virtuosic that many believed no woman could play like this. To this end, a rumor started to spread that she was actually a transvestite.
April stayed with Ramatam for two studio albums, their self-titled debut and In April Came the Dawning of the Suns. The group unfortunately never lived up to its promise either commercially or musically. She left the group after the second album, disappearing from the music scene almost entirely to concentrate on painting and graphic design.
Lawton passed away Thanksgiving 2006.
