I was thinking about the last year’s music scene and how lucky I was to take in as many shows (over 40) that I saw since Charleston (SC) reopened the end of May, 2020. The pandemic allowed me to experience three extraordinary young guitarists in three different settings. The main theme that they all shared was how well they played their instrument and how the crowd reacted.

I’m speaking about Marcus King, Billy Strings and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer. If anyone’s name is new to you, it won’t be for long. If you’re not familiar, read on for a few minutes and then go stream some of their songs.

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My first opportunity to witness one of these guitar masters was outdoors at the Bend in N. Charleston when we saw the Marcus King trio preform a powerful mix and blues and rock along with some countryfied barn music. In the true power trio format, Marcus carried the band with a blistering guitar that is reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top and the Allman Brothers band. Marcus is from Greenville, SC and turned 25 this past March. He has put out two albums to date, the first with Warren Haynes producing and 2020’s  El Dorado. El Dorado was produced and co-written by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The album garnered him a Grammy nomination as Americana music.  

Marcus’s music harkens one back to the heyday of the southern rock sound, especially the bluesiness of the Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Elvin Bishop. I first saw him in 2018 as he co-headlined a show at the Charleston Pourhouse with Eric Krasno. At the age of 22, he commanded the stage with his bluesy voice and killer guitar licks. You can tell then that he was going to carry the sounds of southern rock into a new era. Here is Marcus, solo, performing in a famous shop called “Norman’s Rare Guitars” in 2015 at the tender, young age of 18! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRpOqZqlHRY)

Billy Strings is a 28-year-old acoustic guitar wiz, drawing out sounds that have rarely been heard by this instrument. His is a bluegrass band, featuring Jarrad Walker on mandolin, Royal Masat on stand-up bass and Billy Failing on banjo. What emerges is a sound that covers the spectrum of new grass bands in today’s music scene. Billy has magic fingers that shows him prying out sounds that one doesn’t expect from an amped up acoustic guitar. Whether he is performing an original bluegrass tune in all its glory or covering any number of musical influences, the sounds he makes are to be seen AND heard.

Billy began playing bluegrass at the age of four and accompanied his dad with rhythm guitar in bluegrass settings. As a pre-teen, he received an electric guitar and amp and discovered Jimi Hendrix. He continued to improve his guitar skills on any number of stringed instruments which lead his aunt to give the moniker of Billy “Strings” after the ease which he moved from one instrument to another.  The nickname was earned and justified.

As an 18-year-old, he began his professional career and at 23 moved from his native Michigan to Nashville. His first roommate was Molly Tuttle. They found themselves on a street full of musicians, coming and going on tour. After bouncing around in different arrangements, he fortunately assembled his current quartet in 2018. In 2019, the International Bluegrass Music Association named Billy Strings the Guitar Player of the Year. Billy is a master on the acoustic guitar and makes it sound like no one else I have heard.

The future looked bright so they headed out on tour for the next year and then Covid hit and the brakes were on their career. Fortunately, they used the time to write and produce an album that they took on the road this year. In March of this year, Billy received a Grammy for Best Bluegrass album with Home. This was his second album and he was being congratulated from all corners of the musical universe. The world is now his oyster. If Billy is within driving distance, make the effort to catch the magic and let me know what you think!

Here’s a video of Billy and Molly Tuttle performing “Sitting on top of the world” at the Grey Fox festival in 2019. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJzz-Nuo-QQ)

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The last of the trio of new guitar gods is 18-year-old Brandon “Taz” Niederhauer from Long Island, NY. In his brief life he has played on stage with no less than Gregg Allman, Derrick Trucks, Warren Haynes, Buddy Guy, Slash, Dweezil Zappa, George Clinton, Gary Clark, and many more. He’s been onstage with Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Tedeschi Trucks band, Umphrey’s McGee, the Scorpions and the Revivalists, just to name a few.

At the age of 12, he appeared on Broadway in “School of Rock” in the role of “Zack”. At 14, he played the part of Virgil Overstreet in Spike Lee’s Netflix series, “She’s Gotta Have It”. He has many other film and television credits to his name at such a young age. Through this all, he found the time to get an education and play with the who’s who of Rock. A few months back, he was booked for three sellout performances in a club in Charleston called the Pourhouse. When we saw him that night, it was like seeing a combination of a young Eddie Van Halen and an equally energetic Carlos Santana. His mastery of the electric guitar combined with his youth and passion makes “Taz” an artist that you can’t afford to miss. He can hold his own with the best of them without being intimidated. Catch his act the next time that he plays in your town and then tell me if you’re not impressed!

Watch this clip of Taz performing Hendrix’s, “Voodoo Child” during halftime at a NY Knicks game at age 13!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUvwdwz5ONs

#marcusking #billystrings #tazniederhauer #thebend #charlestonpourhoouse

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