Doyle Bramhall II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doyle Bramhall II (born 24 December 1968) is a guitarist and vocalist in his band Smokestack and is also the second guitarist in Eric Clapton's band.

[edit] Biography

Doyle Bramhall II is a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist. He was born in Austin, Texas and is the son of drummer and songwriter Doyle Bramhall, Sr., who had grown up as a close friend of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. At age 16, Doyle Bramhall II toured with Jimmie Vaughan's band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, as second guitarist. Shortly thereafter, he formed Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton and the rhythm section of Stevie Ray Vaughan's band, Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon and Chris "Whipper" Layton on bass and drums respectively). Some of Doyle's influences include, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Donny Hathaway, Freddie King, Albert King, Jimmie Vaughan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sly & the Family Stone, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Curtis Mayfield.

In 1992 Doyle formed Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton and Stevie Ray Vaughan's outstanding rhythm section of bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton (also know as Double Trouble). Doyle and Sexton were only able to work together for one album but it was well received, with several songs receiving heavy rock radio airplay. They went their own ways after the album but have gotten back together and have been playing shows as Arc Angels again in 2006 and 2007.

Doyle released his self-titled debut album on the Geffen label in 1996 with backing support from Wendy and Lisa. In later interviews, he stated his intent with that album to establish himself as more than just a guitar player. He was later signed to RCA, and released his sophomore effort "Jellycream" in 1999. He appeared on Austin City Limits in an episode shared with Robert Cray that fall. The "Jellycream" album found its way into the hands of Eric Clapton, who took an interest in his music and attempted to learn "Marry You" and "I Wanna Be" for their inclusion in a collaborative album he was working on with B.B. King. Stumped, he phoned Doyle to tell him he was one of his favorite new artists and invite him to a meeting and to participate in the recording of that album, released in 2000 as Riding With The King. Doyle also formed a new band, "Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack," and recorded a new album produced by Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers fame. Released in 2001, "Welcome" marked a renewed focus on guitar.

Doyle's recording relationship with Clapton continued to flourish, and he wrote "Superman Inside" for and played guitar on Eric's 2001 solo album, "Reptile". He and Smokestack opened for Clapton on his 2001 world tour, and Doyle occasionally joined Eric on stage. By 2004, he was Clapton's second guitarist after Andy Fairweather-Low backed out of the tour. The 2004 tour was Clapton's effort at channeling his hero Robert Johnson and Doyle later admitted that he had never listened to Robert Johnson until getting the gig as Clapton's second guitarist. Doyle also appears with Eric in the 2004 CD/DVD release "Sessions for Robert Johnson".

Doyle also played guitar on the 1999-2002 In the Flesh tour (captured on the In the Flesh Live album) by ex-Pink Floyd member Roger Waters. Previous to that, Doyle also played a much lower key role backing his wife Susannah Melvoin's twin sister Wendy Melvoin for her band Girl Bros., and more recently with Wendy and Lisa in the groups Pacifico and Funk Sway. Doyle and the latter group - with co-lead vocals by Erykah Badu - is featured in the music documentary Before the Music Dies.

As a session guitarist, he has worked with both Sheryl Crow and Susan Tedeschi. He is currently on tour with Eric Clapton as part of his 2006/2007 world tour along with slide guitarist Derek Trucks.

Doyle plays guitar left-handed but his guitars are strung as if to be played by a right handed player. In other words, the low E string is at the bottom of his guitar, and the high string at the top. Of his songwriting, Doyle has said that although the blues is one of his favorite genres, he finds that most of his attempts at bluesy songwriting end up sounding "corny," and his songs always tend to have more of a rock feel.

Doyle almost exclusively plays the Fender Stratocaster, either playing right-handed models upsided-down (as he is a left-handed player) or left-handed models.