Adrian Belew: Difference between revisions
Added Belew's guitars origin story
(Created page with "{{Infobox musical artist | name = Adrian Belew | image = Adrian_belew_2022.jpg | caption = Belew in 2022 | image_size = | birth_name = Robert Steven Belew | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|12|23}} | birth_place = Covington, Kentucky, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|Progressive rock|industrial rock|experimental rock|new wave music|new wave}} | occupations = {{hlist|Musici...") |
SlipperyDude (talk | contribs) (Added Belew's guitars origin story) |
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Belew has worked extensively as a session musician, guest and touring musician, including periods with the Frank Zappa and [[David Bowie]] bands, [[Talking Heads]], Laurie Anderson, and Nine Inch Nails, as well as contributing to hit singles by Paul Simon, [[Tom Tom Club]], and others. He released a top-10 single in 1989 with "Oh Daddy", and his 2005 single "Beat Box Guitar" was nominated for a [[Grammy]] for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Belew has also worked in instrument design and multimedia, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his Parker Fly signature guitar, and designing his own iOS mobile apps, "FLUX by belew" and "FLUX:FX, the multi-effect audio processor app." | Belew has worked extensively as a session musician, guest and touring musician, including periods with the Frank Zappa and [[David Bowie]] bands, [[Talking Heads]], Laurie Anderson, and Nine Inch Nails, as well as contributing to hit singles by Paul Simon, [[Tom Tom Club]], and others. He released a top-10 single in 1989 with "Oh Daddy", and his 2005 single "Beat Box Guitar" was nominated for a [[Grammy]] for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Belew has also worked in instrument design and multimedia, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his Parker Fly signature guitar, and designing his own iOS mobile apps, "FLUX by belew" and "FLUX:FX, the multi-effect audio processor app." | ||
== Musical Career == | |||
=== Early beginnings and Frank Zappa (1965-1978) === | |||
Belew actually started out learning drums when he was a young man, but switched to guitar following a sickness that left him bedridden for weeks as a teenager. He would begin playing live shows on the guitar shortly thereafter. | |||
When Belew joined Zappa's band in late 1977, he was playing a natural-finish Stratocaster, that "never made it home." Belew would replace this guitar with another Stratocaster that he bought in Nashville that was "kinda ugly." Looking to improve the look of the instrument, Belew contacted his friend Seymour W. Duncan, who proceeded to spray lighter fluid on the guitar, set it on fire, drag it through the grass, sanded it, and spray painted it. This new unique looking Strat would become one of Belew's signature instruments.<ref>Reed, Ryan. ““Seymour Duncan Went to Work. He Dragged It through the Grass. Put Motor Oil on It. Chipped It. Frank Zappa Said, “If You Wanted to Ruin Your Guitar, Adrian, Why Didn’t You Loan It to a Friend?”” Adrian Belew’s Number One Stratocaster Has Lived a Life.” ''Guitarworld'', 11 July 2024, www.guitarworld.com/features/adrian-belew-number-one-fender-stratocaster. Accessed 23 July 2024.</ref> | |||
===Work with David Bowie (1978–1979)=== | ===Work with David Bowie (1978–1979)=== | ||