Scott Gorham

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Scott Gorham

Background information
Born March 17, 1951 (1951-03-17) (age 57)
Glendale, California
Genre(s) Rock, Hard rock, Heavy metal
Occupation(s) Musician, Songwriter
Instrument(s) Guitar
Associated acts Thin Lizzy, Supertramp The Greedies'
21 Guns
Phenomena
Notable instrument(s)
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe
1959 Gibson Les Paul
Fender Stratocaster

Scott Gorham (born William Scott Gorham, March 17, 1951 in Glendale, California) is an American guitarist and songwriter.

He is best known as a member of Thin Lizzy. Though not a founding member of that group, Gorham played with Thin Lizzy for most of its existence (from 1974 to the group's breakup in 1983), and is generally regarded as a key part of the group's sound.

After Thin Lizzy broke up, Gorham joined Phenomena II, where he met Leif Johansen (ex A-HA, Phenomena, Far Corporation) with whom he formed 21 Guns, which has released three albums. He has also played with Asia, the Rollins Band, and Supertramp. Gorham's sister Vicki married Supertramp's drummer Bob Siebenberg.

In 1997, he played guest guitars on the track "I'm Alive" from Psycho Motel's album, Welcome to the World. Members from 21 Guns also played with this band, namely drummer Mike Sturgis and vocalist (Hans Olav) Solli.

He is currently, along with John Sykes, playing with a revived touring version of Thin Lizzy, though founding singer/songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott died in 1986. The tour has been named the 20/20 tour - 20 dates for 20 years.

Initially, Scott used a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe guitar with mini humbuckers. He then bought a '59 Les Paul in Boston, which became his main guitar until Thin Lizzy broke up in 1984. Nowadays, Scott uses a Fender Stratocaster guitar with 100-watt 1970's modded Marshall Amplifiers.[1] Even before Thin Lizzy split up, Scott started using Fender Stratocasters, and now almost always uses one.[2] As of 2007, Scott is an endorsee of the German amp company, ENGL. His current setup is either two or four E650 Ritchie Blackmore Signature heads and four standard ENGL cabinets.

Scott is married to Christine Gorham.

[edit] References

  • a  "When I was in 21 Guns [Scott's post-Lizzy band], I had this condomonium of devices filled with blinking lights and dials that looked great but every night I'd have to walk up to it and ask, How do I turn this thing on? And if something went down you'd be in trouble because it was all daisy chained. So about 10 years ago I got sick of tap dancing on a pedal board and found this little German guy who worked at Chandlers. I was talking to him about my problems and he knew exactly what I wanted. So now I've got four 1970s Marshall amps - you can only use the seventies versions - and he's beefed them all up. Don't ask me what he's done but every once in a while he calls me and says "I have something new for you", and he'll take the back off and weld something new in there. But I'm also thinking about going back to using a few old vintage pedals like Tube Screamers as well" - Interview with Guitarist magazine, March 2006.
  • a  "I've been thinking about dusting off the old Les Paul for this tour [20/20 tour], because I do miss playing it. The thing about the Les Paul is it's a great guitar - looks great sounds great - but it's so ****ing heavy! It's like wheeling along a bag of cement! With the Strat, it's an extremely versatile guitar, and customisable too. It's much lighter and more conducive to my style of playing then a Les Paul" - Interview with Guitarist magazine, March 2006.