If you go
› What: Buddy Guy, with Tom Hambridge, in concert.› When: 8 p.m. Monday, April 11.› Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.› Admission: $64.50 and $44.50› Phone: 1-800-514-3849.› Website: www.ChattanoogaOnStage.com.
It might just seem like Buddy Guy came out of the womb 79 years ago playing guitar, given the seeming ease with which he makes the instrument talk. But like all the greats, he's worked hard to make it look easy.
During his long and illustrious career, he has played with a who's who of musicians and influenced nearly everyone with his style of blues. It's often described as Chicago-style, but he plays a mixture of styles, creating his own brand of music.
Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, John Mayer and Stevie Ray Vaughan all give a nod to Guy as an influence on their own music.
Clapton, in fact, simply calls him the "best guitar player alive." Rolling Stone puts him as high as No. 23 on its 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Guy played with Muddy Waters in the '60s, when he also began working with harmonica player Junior Wells. He's earned six Grammy trophies, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, plus 34 Blues Music Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor and the National Medal of Arts.
Joining Guy during his show at the Tivoli Theatre on Monday night, April 11, will be Tom Hambridge, a Grammy-winning producer, writer and performer who produced Guy's recent "Born To Play Guitar" album. Hambridge's songs have been recorded by everybody from Clapton to ZZ Top to Meatloaf to BRBQ.