Jimmy Thackery
Singer, songwriter, and guitar virtuoso Jimmy Thackery carved an enviable niche for himself in the world of electric blues. “Few guitarists working the blues circuit today can boast a signature sound as unique as Jimmy Thackery’s. As far from an SRV clone as one can be while still playing a Stratocaster, Thackery combines elements of Nashville twang, swing, surf, hard rock, and frequent excursions into the world of jazz and still comes up with a sound that is still distinctly the blues .” (via: Vintage Guitar Magazine)
Thackery spent fourteen years as part of The Nighthawks, the Washington, D.C. based blues and roots rock ensemble. After leaving the Nighthawks in 1986, Thackery toured under his own name. He has been on the road as a solo musician for 15 years doing nearly 300 shows a year proving each night that he is still the guitar powerhouse in the blues.
He’s one of the few blues guitarists who learned first hand from the masters of the blues, not off a blues record or DVD.
His albums for the San Francisco-based Blind Pig label included Empty Arms Motel (1992), Sideways in Paradise (Jimmy Thackery and John Mooney, 1993), Trouble Man (1994), Wild Night Out! (1995), Drive to Survive (1996), Switching Gears (1998), and Sinner Street (2000). The latter added saxophone player Jimmy Carpenter. In 2002, Thackery signed on with the blues division of Telarc Records, releasing We Got It in 2002 followed by True Stories in 2003, Live in 2004, and Healin’ Ground in 2005. Switching to Rykodisc, he released In the Natural State in 2006, followed by Solid Ice on Telarc Records in 2007. Inside Tracks appeared a year later in 2008, also from Telarc Records.
“Few guitarists working the blues circuit today can boast a signature sound as unique as Jimmy Thackery’s. As far from an SRV clone as one can be while still playing a Stratocaster, Thackery combines elements of Nashville twang, swing, surf, hard rock, and frequent excursions into the world of jazz and still comes up with a sound that is still distinctly the blues.” (https://www.vintageguitar.com/2954/jimmy-thackery/)
