The scope of music has changed over the years and for the fans of metal and shredding guitar players, these are not the words we want to hear. However not all is lost, you just have to search a little more to find those shredders and the eighties style metal music you have grown to love even more.
Self taught guitar player Ronny North continues to hold the torch for fans, by keeping the sound and energy alive in every show and album. North played on September 15, 2012, at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA, as he opened the show on a four-act bill. The crowd was sparse, seeing as how he was on at 8:30 p.m., a little early for the West Hollywood scene, but that didn’t stop North from engaging the crowd, and putting his heart and soul into the show, energizing fans with his playing while performing his blistering instrumental music.
The great thing about musicians like North is that no matter what, if the crowd is twenty thousand or twenty, they bring it each and every night. While many people think it is a glamorous life—being a rock star—consider that North and his band had to tear down their equipment and take it off the stage in the alley behind the venue, so they could load it up. North is not only a self-taught guitar player, but is a self-made musician. His albums are all produced, engineered, written, marketed and financed by himself. It is always great to be able to see a little glimpse of exactly what a great talent has to do today in order to keep the music alive.
North just returned from Germany where he made an appearance at the Headbangers Open Air Music Festival and the experience was wonderful. His journey started at the age of fourteen playing his first on-stage gig at Gazzarri’s on the Sunset Strip, in Hollywood. Randy Rhodes was still in Quiet Riot, and that was the first rock star North met at the world-famous Starwood Club where Rhodes was already a local hero. He continued his relationship long after Rhodes passed away and has been working with the Rhodes family on a benefit to come December 8, 2012.
North’s love of the guitar came at the age of thirteen when he received the KISS Destroyer Album for Christmas. He first heard Ace Frehley and then shortly after Van Halen. Hearing Eddie Van Halen was the clincher for North; he picked up an axe and start playing. The passion continues even today and can be heard in each note of his past albums and his live concerts. In the past, an artist had the potential to sell millions of albums, but in today’s technologically advanced society, even as little as a thousand album sales can turn a profit for the self-produced artist. The band or artist no longer can make a lot of money from selling albums, so they are left to play live and grab as many fans as possible. North’s next album will be an EP called Inertia. The album’s lineup is Inertia, Metal Panda, Spaced, Clutter, Into the Grey and Sea of Deception. He debuted the first single Inertia, on KNAC radio, on September 23, 2012 and will be joining Uli Jon Roth, in January 2013.
North is one of those artists that have had to diversify and really work at the business end of things to make it work. The road to fame and fortune is no longer paved in gold. When you sign with a label, it is now full of potholes and obstacles that each artist must maneuver through. That is also the great part for the fans, because when you discover an artist like North, you know that you have found not only a professional in music, but someone who actually cares about the music and their fans, giving them every ounce of blood and sweat into each musical note. You can check out everything going on in the North universe by going to his website and also connecting with him on Facebook. Just because the face of music has changed that doesn’t mean that the music and guitar players we have grown to love can no longer be found. It will take some searching, and given you can start with guitar player Ronny North; there are no more excuses.
