Ty Tabor

Ty Tabor (born September 17 1961 in Pearl, Mississippi [ [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004367/King-s-X.html MusicianGuide.com King's X Lyrics and Biography] ] ) is the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist for the progressive metal band, King's X.

Tabor has a wide-ranging guitar style, from big guitar riffs to soaring melodic passages. His influences include The Beatles, Mick Ronson, Brian May, Ace Frehley, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Keaggy, Hum, and the original Alice Cooper band.

History

Ty Tabor began singing and playing guitar at a young age, and by his early teens was performing with his father (an accomplished bluegrass musician) and his brother in a bluegrass band. The band would play various festivals and shows sharing the bill with bluegrass legends like Lester Flatt and Grandpa Jones. Tabor had also been taken over by the rock and roll sounds of the 60' and 70's (most notably, The Beatles and Alice Cooper) and began playing in various rock bands in and around his native Jackson, MS. One of these was a Christian Rock outfit called Matthew. Upon graduating from high school, Tabor began touring with Matthew throughout the south. Times were tough on that tour with the band often setting up and performing in the parking lots of restaurants in exchange for food.

He left Matthew and decided to move to Springfield, MO. to attend Evangel College where he quickly began playing in bands. One group he played with got the chance to open up for guitarist Phil Keaggy. However, right before the show, the drummer quit the band. Instead of cancelling and missing out on the big opportunity, Tabor volunteered to play drums for the show. Not having his own drum kit however, forced him to ask Keaggy's drummer if he could use his. The drummer, who happened to be Jerry Gaskill, agreed and the show took place.

Tabor and Gaskill again crossed paths during some demo sessions with the Tracy Zinn Band. The two became friends and were involved off and on with other projects together.

In spring of 1980, Tabor was asked to perform at a sort of talent show at Evangel with a female singer. In the audience was Doug Pinnick who was floored by Tabor's performance. Pinnick eventually got in touch with Tabor and the two began jamming together.

Eventually Tabor, Pinnick, Gaskill, and guitarist Dan McCollam formed their own band called The Edge which, over time, turned into King's X.

Since then, Tabor has become one of the more acclaimed and respected guitarists in music today. His unique playing style and guitar tone, as well as vocal and songwriting skills, are crucial elements in the distinctive "King's X sound".

Tabor has also opened his own recording and mastering facility in Katy, TX. called Alien Beans Studios. He has mastered numerous album projects as well produced albums by The Rez Band, Jerry Gaskill's solo album "Come Somewhere" and others.

Other Bands and Collaborations

After writing and performing almost exclusively for King's X for over 15 years, Tabor's first solo album, "Naomi's Solar Pumpkin", was released independently in 1997. Most of the songs from that debut appeared (re-recorded) on his following 1998 album, "Moonflower Lane". It was released on Metal Blade Records with much wider distribution as well as a few new tracks and also featured drummer Alan Doss on the entire album.

He followed that up with 2002's "Safety", a much more introspective album that reflected on his then-recent divorce.

Tabor's fourth solo album entitled "Rock Garden" was released in 2006.

He continues playing with King's X and is currently recording material for a fifth solo album due sometime in 2008.

Tabor has also been a member of several other bands. He played guitar and sang in Platypus featuring Rod Morgenstein (previously of the Dixie Dregs and Winger) on drums, John Myung (of Dream Theater) on bass, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (of Planet X and formerly Dream Theater). They released two albums.

The same group minus Derek Sherinian continued on as The Jelly Jam and currently have two full length albums to their credit.

Tabor was also involved with the band Jughead featuring two-time David Lee Roth band member Gregg Bissonette (drums), Derek Sherinian (keyboards), and Matt Bissonette (lead vocals, bass). Jughead's self-titled LP was released in 2002 on InsideOut Music.

Tabor has guest appeared on several albums including two different Carmine Appice "Guitar Zeus" albums, Loudness drummer Munetaka Higuchi's "Free World" album, and Gregg Bissonette's self titled solo record.

He also played electric guitar and bass on King's X bandmate Jerry Gaskill's solo album "Come Somewhere".

He currently has an ambient / electronica style project with Wally Farkas called Xenuphobe. They have 2 albums that were released through Molken Music.

Tabor also sang one of the human roles on Ayreon's recent release, 01011001. He played the character "Ty" in the first interlude, "Connect the Dots".

Gear

Early in his career with King's X, Tabor's guitar sound was considered one of the most sought-after in rock. He played an unusual model of Fender Stratocaster called the "Elite", a shortlived guitar with an on-board active mid-boost circuit that was only in production in the U.S.A. in 1983 and 1984. The remainder of his gear was more of a mystery; he would switch the logos on his amplifiers to keep his tone a secret. He later abandoned this clandestine approach, and revealed in an interview in the May 1996 issue of Guitar Player magazine that he had used a solid-state Gibson Lab Series L5 amplifier along with the Strat Elite guitar to record the first four King's X albums. By the time of the interview, however, he had changed his equipment completely.

In recent years, Tabor has endorsed Mesa Boogie, Line 6, and Randall amplifiers, as well as Yamaha guitars, including the AES series and his now discontinued signature RGX-TT model. On the current "Go Tell Somebody" tour with King's X, Tabor is using the M4 preamp from Egnater and Dean Soltero guitars. However, fans consider his most popular and best sounding guitar to be his signature model Zion guitar.

Complete Discography

King's X

*See the entry for King's X

olo Albums

*"Naomi's Solar Pumpkin" (independent, 1997)
*"Moonflower Lane" (Metal Blade, 1998, References: " [http://web.archive.org/web/20010222184244/www.hmmagazine.com/issue74/74Albums.htm HM Magazine] "cite journal |last=McGovern |first=Brian Vincent |year=1998 |month=November/December |title=TY TABOR "Moonflower Lane" |journal=HM Magazine |id=ISSN|1066-6923 |issue=74 |pages= |accessdate=] )
*"Safety" (Metal Blade, 2002)
*"Rock Garden" (InsideOut, Release date: August 29 2006)
*"Tacklebox" ( [http://molkenmusic.com Molken Music] , 2006) A 2-disc collection of demo recordings with 3 previously unreleased songs.

Other Bands

*Platypus - "When Pus Comes to Shove" 1999
*Platypus - "Ice Cycles" 2000
*The Jelly Jam - s/t 2002
*Jughead 2002
*The Jelly Jam - 2 2004
*Xenuphobe - 1.0 2006
*Xenuphobe - 2.0 2007

Guest Appearances

*Morgan Cryar - "Fuel On The Fire" 1986
*Rez Band - "Lament" 1995
*Carmine Appice - "Guitar Zeus 1" 1996
*Munetaka Higuchi - Free World 1997
*Carmine Appice - "Guitar Zeus 2" 1997
*Greg Bissonette - s/t 1998
*Richie Scarlet - Insanity Of Life 2002
*Influences and Connections: Mr. Big Tribute 2003
*Maston - Tampering With The Laws Of Goodness 2004
*Jerry Gaskill - Come Somewhere 2004
*Ayreon - 01011001 2008

References

ee also

*Jelly Jam
*King's X
*Platypus
*Jughead

External links

* [http://www.tytabor.net Ty Tabor official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tytabor Ty Tabor Myspace site]
* [http://www.alienbeansstudio.com Alien Beans Studios]
* [http://molkenmusic.com Molken Music]
* [http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/001184.html Modern Guitars Magazine interview, by Brian D. Holland]
* [http://www.kingsx-france.com/ Kings'X > site francophone]