Center for the Arts to Present Blues/Rock Guitar Virtuosos in a Special Double-Bill

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The UB Center for the Arts will present a performance by two highly acclaimed blues/rock guitar virtuosos, Eric Johnson with Alien Love Child and The Derek Trucks Band, at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Mainstage Theatre of the Center for the Arts on the North Campus.

Grammy award-winning guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson has long been a popular live attraction even without receiving much radio airplay. By the age of 13, he already was a working musician in the Austin, Texas, area, which led to session work for artists like Cat Stevens, Carol King and Christopher Cross.

A 1984 appearance on Austin City Limits caught the attention of Prince, who instructed his parent label, Warner Bros. Records, to sign the young musician. Within months, Johnson had released his debut solo album Tones on Reprise Records. His second release (on Capitol), Ah Via Musicom, contained the Grammy-winning instrumental "Cliffs of Dover," which received some radio play and brought the guitarist to the public's attention.

In the mid-'90s, Musician magazine named Johnson among the 100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century. He spent time collaborating with B.B. King, Chet Atkins and Dweezil Zappa, and touring with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai under the name G3. In the late '90s he began playing with his side project, Alien Love Child, and released the recording "Live and Beyond" in 2000.

Blues/blues-rock guitarist Derek Trucks is the nephew of longtime Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks. He displays a command of slide-guitar styles that run the gamut from blues to classic R&B and early rock and roll to classic jazz. Although blues players like Buddy Guy, Elmore James and Duane Allman have been a strong influence on Trucks' slide guitar playing, so have pre-1970s jazz players like Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Sun Ra.

Trucks began playing guitar at the age of nine, and shared stages and sat in with the likes of Buddy Guy and The Allman Brothers Band by the time he was 12. Trucks began his professional career playing with blues bands around his native Jacksonville, Fla., and formed his own group in high school. By the age of 20, Trucks had shared stages and jammed with Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh and Stephen Stills.

The Derek Trucks Band released its self-titled debut album in 1997 on Landslide Records. Out of the Madness followed in late 1998. The group was recently named "Hot Jam Band" by Rolling Stone Magazine and continues to draw an increasing fan base around the country.

Tickets for Eric Johnson and Alien Love Child and The Derek Trucks Band are $17.50 for the general public and $15 for UB students. Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's and Movies Plus. To charge tickets, call 852-5000, in Canada 1-416-870-8000. For more information call 645-ARTS. For group sales, call 645-6771. Information also is available on the Center for the Arts Web site, http://www.arts.buffalo.edu.