The Incredible Diamonds

For over 2 decades The Incredible Diamonds have served as one of Northern California's best roots-music bands. Led by the fiery guitar and vocals of Bigger than life Matt Hogan, the band was founded in Chico, CA in 1985. Hogan's vision was to create a group that would pay tribute to and complement the great American music forms of the '40s, '50s, and '60s, including Memphis rockabilly, Chicago blues, and the great urban jump blues and hillbilly bands of the south. Through numerous personal changes the Diamonds are musically now at their strongest dimension ever. . . Hogan's vocal and guitar styles come from a blend of influences that includes some of the greatest players in American music. He favors the raw guitar tone of blues players like Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Otis Rush, and his playing reflects his respect for the greats of rockabilly, including Gene Vincent guitarist Cliff Gallup, Elvis' Scotty Moore, and even the great Billy Zoom of seminal L.A. punk band X. A natural showman, Hogan's on-stage performance is as full of fire as his guitar. Vocally he draws from proto-rockers like Buddy Holly, Johnny Burnette, and Gene Vincent, and he has a touch with a ballad not unlike Richie Valens or little-known '60s soul crooner Arthur Alexander. Hogan plays a variety of vintage instruments including a '56 Gretsch Electromatic, a classic '50s Danelectro, and a '56 Gibson Les Paul.<