Smokin George

Australian ARTIST :- Smokin George Musician/ComposerThe musical influences of guitarist George began early in childhood surrounded by the Russian classical and folkloric traditions of his heritage. George’s maternal grandparents, (both artist/musicians), engendered an aural appreciation and passion for music. In his teenage years he learnt classical piano and gravitated towards composition on acoustic/electric guitar. Inspired by the eclectic tastes of family which incorporated the sounds of the sixties, folk, jazz, soul and blues, he was influenced by contemporary exponents of British/European And American Rock, Jazz & Blues:- artists such as Django Rheinhardt, Duke Ellington, Kenny Burrell, Led Zeppelin, John Mayall, Albert King, BB King and Freddy King and American Rock & Folk balladeers such as Bob Dylan And Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. George became the guitarist of several alternate original bands with whom he co-wrote and recorded. One being “The Strummettes” which evolved to “Ana Key” and the track “One Ordinary Day” being internationally released. He recorded with Wollongong locals “Trashed out Cats” on a self titled release and wrote music with Peter Knox (Zarsoff Bros), the Bass player in the bands. Another Recording Outlet was the Blues Band - Henry Correy and the “The Correydors” in which george wrote “Drinking Woman Blues”, “Smokin” and “Tigerjump” and played lead guitar for the albumns "Heat of The Moment" and "Prisoner of Desire" in which his blues guitar style significantly contributed to those Independent released CD's. To quote LivinBlues CD Review by Gary Tate "But the primary strength throughout 'Heat Of The Moment' is the consistently tasty and inventive guitar work of 'Smokin’ George' who seems to have a built-in magnetometer for pulling out just the right appropriate fills and solos.His reliance on understatement and subtlety kept reminding me of Canada’s own Blues great 'Jack De Keyzer'. They may live 10,000 miles apart but they went to the same school". George's passion and skill for playing the blues came to the forefront and he formed the band “Texas Radio”. The band played several Australian festivals, such as, "Great Southern Blues and Rockabilly Festival, The Leisure Coast Blues Festival, The Newcastle Blues Festival, and the Balgownie Blues Festival and the Helensburgh Fire Benefit. The band Texas Radio entertained diverse crowds along the East Coast music circuit for several years. He wrote several songs for the band, one of which appears on the released compilation “Best of the South Coast Blues” titled “Full Moon over Chicago”. The current focus is to continue writing original music and exploring the blues idiom by experimenting and injecting elements of Soul, Jazz and R & B, to find an original voice in the ever evolving blues music format.I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4