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Ty Tabor

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Ty Tabor (born September 17 1961 in Pearl, Mississippi[1]) 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 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. Ty 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 outfit called Matthew. Upon graduating from high school, Ty 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, Ty 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.

Ty and Jerry 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, Ty 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 Ty 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, Ty 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".

Ty 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, Ty'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.

Ty'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.

Ty 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.

Ty 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.

Ty 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.

Ty has also sung one of the human roles in 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", an active-pickup model that was only in production in the U.S.A. in 1982 and 1983. 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. Tabor has more recently endorsed Mesa Boogie, Line 6, and most recently, Randall amplifiers. He currently uses Yamaha's AES series, and a signature RGX-TT series guitar, which has been discontinued. However, fans consider his most popular and best sounding guitar to be his signature model Zion guitar.

Complete Discography

King's X

Solo Albums

Other Bands

Guest Appearances

References

  1. ^ MusicianGuide.com King's X Lyrics and Biography
  2. ^ McGovern, Brian Vincent (1998). "TY TABOR Moonflower Lane". HM Magazine (74). ISSN 1066-6923. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

See also


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