Steve Rothery

born on 25/11/1959 in Brampton, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Steve Rothery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing Tree and an instrumental solo album, The Ghosts of Pripyat, released in September 2014. He also founded the British Guitar Academy in 2011.

Biography

Rothery was born in Brampton, South Yorkshire, England, and from the age of six he lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire. He began to play the guitar at the age of 15. In an interview for Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the Seventies on BBC Radio 2 in 2013, Rothery revealed that his musical tastes always differed from his friends, who were getting into punk rock while he preferred progressive rock, which he had been introduced to through the Alan Freeman show on BBC Radio 1.

Marillion

In 1979, he saw an ad in the music press for a band called Silmarillion that needed a guitarist. He auditioned successfully for the band (19 August 1979). From this point he concentrated more on melody, composition and mood in his playing, and less on his technique. Later, Silmarillion shortened its name to Marillion.

Outside Marillion

The Wishing Tree

As well as work with Marillion, he started a solo project under the name the Wishing Tree (with Hannah Stobart providing vocals), and released two albums titled Carnival of Souls (1996) and Ostara (2009).

The British Guitar Academy

In 2011, Rothery launched the British Guitar Academy "to bring together some of Britain's top guitarists to pass on their hard won knowledge and experience to a wider audience through a series of workshops and masterclasses. The aim is to concentrate not just on technique but also creativity and individuality."[1]

Solo album The Ghosts of Pripyat (2014)

Rothery had been approached by EMI to make a solo album during the recording of Marillion's Misplaced Childhood (1985) and by Miles Copeland when Marillion were recording Brave in his castle in France in 1994;[2] he decided to join with Stobart and form The Wishing Tree instead.

On 25 November 2013, Rothery announced that he was working on a solo album to be titled The Ghosts of Pripyat and scheduled for a September 2014 release. The album's production was financed via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter[2] and quickly reached almost double its target by 17 December.[3] The idea for the album was born when Rothery was rehearsing for a show at the annual international guitar festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in October 2013, with a band including guitarist Dave Foster (of Mr. So & So), drummer Leon Parr (formerly of Mosque), and bassist Yatim Halimi (of Panic Room). An audio recording of the show was made available as a download from Rothery's website[4] as a first impression of the forthcoming album's direction, followed by a CD in February 2014. Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis) appears on two tracks and Steven Wilson on one. The album's cover was designed by Lasse Hoile.[5] The finished album was finally released on 22 September 2014.

Style

Rothery has cited Joni Mitchell as an influence on his style, especially her use of open tunings, which he believed created a very harmonically rich sound. He has cited Mitchell's "A Case of You" as one of the songs that had the biggest influence on him.[6]

According to Barry Cleveland of Guitar Player, Rothery "specializes in crafting lush sonic atmospheres with layered guitars and effects processing".[7] Rothery was hailed by Scott Kahn, the Editor in Chief & CEO of the website MusicPlayers.com, as one of the great progressive rock guitarists, comparing him favourably with John Petrucci, David Gilmour and Alex Lifeson. Kahn described him as "an incredibly talented player", whose tone "is sure to appeal to fans of diverse guitar sounds", with "guitars drenched in shimmering chorus, sparkling delays and cavernous reverbs", "spacey sounds and blues sections" as well as "acoustic rhythms that anchor the melodies." Kahn identified Rothery as having "three distinct trademark sounds": a "sparkling clean arpeggio tone draped in digital delays", "soaring melodic lead tones" and a "classic blues tone." Kahn said Rothery was "never one to go for major flash, he always plays for the song and not his ego, but when he shines, he shines brightly."[8]

In 2001, Rothery was voted Yorkshire and Humberside's best guitarist in a poll in Total Guitar magazine with 65% of the vote, beating David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust-era guitarist Mick Ronson into second place.[9]

Equipment

In the 1980s, Rothery used a Yamaha SG-2000 and a Marshall stack.[10] When interviewed in 2010 he mentioned using a Blade Stratocaster-style guitar with Lindy Fralin pickups, and a signature model by luthier Jack Dent. His guitars are equipped with MIDI. He makes extensive use of loops, via a setup that includes TC Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delays, an AdrenaLinn III, and a variety of other effects all routed through controller made by Gig-Rig.[7]


On 8th November 2017 Rothery was presented with his new Blade RH-4 signature guitar by guitar manufacturer Gary Levinson at a promotional event in the Albert Halls in Bolton, UK.

Discography

With Marillion

Steve Rothery appears on every Marillion release since their 1982 debut single; see Marillion discography

With The Wishing Tree

  • Carnival of Souls (1996)
  • Ostara (2009)

Solo

  • Live in Plovdiv (December 2013)
  • Live in Rome (August 2014)
  • The Ghosts of Pripyat (September 2014)

Guest appearances

  • Jadis – Jadis (1989, production)
  • Arrakeen – Patchwork (1990, guitar)
  • Rock Against Repatriation – "Sailing" (1990, guitar)
  • Enchant – A Blueprint of the World (1993, production, guitar)
  • John Wesley – Under the Red and White Sky (1994, guitar)
  • Arena – Crying for Help, The Cry (1994, guitar)
  • Mr. So and So – The Overlap (1998, production, guitar)
  • John Wesley – The Emperor Falls (1999, guitar)
  • Ian Mosley & Ben CastlePostmankind (2001, guitar)
  • The Reasoning – Awakening (2007, guitar)
  • Gazpacho – Firebird (2005, guitar)
  • Swallow the Sun – Servant of Sorrow (alternate version from the single New Moon) (2009, guitar)
  • Edison's Children – In The Last Waking Moments (2011, guitar)
  • Steve HackettGenesis Revisited II (2012, guitar)

References

  1. ^ "British Guitar Academy masterclasses". MusicRadar. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2017. 
  2. ^ a b Steve Rothery Launches Kickstarter Campaign For Solo Album Archived 17 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine., 25 November 2013, accessed 17 December 2013.
  3. ^ Steve Rothery – The Ghosts of Pripyat by Steve Rothery — Kickstarter. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  4. ^ Steve Rothery band Live in Plovdiv, accessed 17 December 2013.
  5. ^ STEVE ROTHERY NEW SOLO ALBUM — marillion.com | NEWS | The Official Marillion Website, 25 November 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  6. ^ Interview with Steve Rothery. Johnnie Walker's Sounds of the Seventies. BBC Radio 2. 24 March 2013
  7. ^ a b Cleveland, Barry (2 February 2010). "Marillion's Steve Rothery Talks Tones and Effects". Guitar Player. Retrieved 16 April 2012. 
  8. ^ Kahn, Scott. "Steve Rothery: Marillion's King of Guitar Town". MusicPlayers.com. Retrieved 18 June 2013. 
  9. ^ "Total Guitar July 2001". brianmay.com. Retrieved 27 August 2017. 
  10. ^ "Script for a Jester's Tear". The Marillion Discography. Retrieved 16 August 2017. 

External links

  • Steve Rothery's official page
This page was last modified 25.12.2017 07:30:27

This article uses material from the article Steve Rothery from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.