A legendary guitar player is coming to San Antonio this weekend. He was named one of the 50 top players of all time by "Guitar Player" Magazine. Oddly, you may not know him.
Monte Montgomery lives in Austin now, but the former San Antonian has traveled the world on the strings of his guitar. He tells the story of how he figured out early on that guitar was his future:
“My mother is a folk singer-guitar player and I started playing with her," said Montgomery. "She showed me my first chords when I was about 13 and it was pretty clear early on that that’s what I was going to do.”
Montgomery’s talent allows him to tackle songs of even the legends, like Jimi Hendrix’s "Little Wing." He's also well known for making his acoustic guitar sound a lot like an electric guitar. I had to ask him what it was about acoustic guitars that keeps him on it, and not on electrics.
“I just think that acoustic is a lot more expressive, it’s a lot more percussive," Montgomery said. "And like you said, I can make it sound pretty electric when I want to.”
While researching this story I saw video Montgomery performing "Sara Smile" (see video below) with Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates.
"I’ll bet that was a gas!" I told him.
“Oh sure, he was one of my heroes when I was younger," Montgomery said.
Montgomery and his three-piece band are playing Sam’s Burger Joint on Friday night. It's one of his haunts dating back to when he lived here.
“You know, I used to live in San Antonio for many years. I always look forward to coming back there,” he said.
Video of "Sara Smile":
Video of "When Will I":
