Guitarist Amani Burnham is one of the bright young stars of the blues world. His debut record, Roots and Wings, just came out on one of the world's leading blues labels, Blind Pig Records.
On the heels of that release, KNKX caught up with the guitarist to record a studio session and talk about his blossoming career.
Burnham grew up listening to rock music at home. Eventually, he started his own musical journey by learning how to play the drums, inspired in part by Ringo Starr of The Beatles. Two years later he switched to guitar, citing Chuck Berry as his first guitar hero.
He was in high school during the pandemic lockdown and took that opportunity to develop his guitar skills. Burnham's guitar technique is unusual. He gets a warmer sound by using his extended thumb, rather than a pick, to strike the strings. And, unlike many lead guitarists, he simply plays through one overdrive pedal.
Burnham is currently employing the power trio format favored by Cream, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. It’s natural to compare his blues-rock to Hendrix's, but it’s something Burnham seems careful not to overplay.
Burnham's talent was discovered last year on Instagram by Blind Pig’s Jeff Schroedl, who also helped steer the 19-year-old through the process of recording his first album. His next record is already in the works.
The other members of Burnham’s band are around his age. He thinks it’s important for young people to see live music played by their contemporaries. The shows that have been his favorite to play were for college crowds, who likely didn’t know anything about blues, but loved the energy.
Musicians:
- Amani Burnham - guitar, vocals
- Garret Lutzo - bass
- Henry Maass - drums
Songs:
- Bluejay
- I Wanna Know
- Sideways Thru Time
- Muffin Man (Frank Zappa)
