Adrian Legg | |
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Adrian Legg at the Thirsty Ear Tavern, 20 December 2008
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Background information | |
Born | 16 May 1948 London, England |
Genres | Ambient, jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, Guitar instructor, luthier |
Instruments | Guitar |
Years active | 1978–present |
Labels | Favored Nations Acoustic, Red House, Relativity, Making Waves, Spindrift |
Associated acts | G3, David Lindley, Richard Thompson |
Website | adrianlegg |
Adrian Legg is an English guitar player who has been called "impossible to categorize". He plays custom guitars that are a hybrid of electric and acoustic, and his fingerstyle picking technique has been acknowledged by the readers of Guitar Player who voted Legg the "best acoustic fingerstyle" player four years in a row (1993–1996).
From his early start as a bench technician customising electric guitars, Legg moved into guitar instruction, publishing books and videos on guitar technique. In 1996 and 1997, Legg shared the stage with acclaimed guitar experts Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai as part of the G3 tour. Vai called Legg "Uncle Adrian" and Satriani said of Legg's musicianship "He's simply the best acoustic guitar player I've ever heard. I don't know anyone else who can create such a cascade of beautiful notes... Adrian plays like he's got hammers for fingers."
Legg was born 16 May 1948 in Hackney, east London. He studied the oboe as a child but in teenage years his interest shifted to the guitar.
In the early 1970s, Legg won both the composition and performance sections of a competition run by the now defunct Guitar magazine, published by Musical New Services of Denmark Street, which led to his being asked to contribute articles to the magazine. From then on, his technical flair produced a stream of articles in UK music press in the 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in the Kaye and Ward book "Customising Your Electric Guitar", 1981. He spent from 1979 to 1981 as a technician at Rose Morris Ltd., who then handled Marshall amplification, Ovation Guitar and Takamine Guitars, and designed original and well-reviewed passive circuits for the then relaunched Vox guitars. In 1990, he was involved in the prototyping and launch of the highly successful Trace Acoustic amplifiers, and continues to maintain technical relationships with the musical instrument industry.
From a 1983 promotional flyer (Technopickers) from Spindrift Records; Having demonstrated Ovation guitar for a number of years and with sessions with Tom Robinson, a tour with Richard Thompson and appearing on Radio One's in Concert programme all have helped established Adrian.