Front Cover Photo Credit: Pete Dadds

While performing at the Lilla By Festivalen in Rinkaby, Sweden this past August, I had the chance to see a headliner, Rodney Branigan.

It was the first time I had seen him; I had heard of him but never seen him perform live. When he walked out onto the stage with two guitars, my first thought was the Texas native must have the guitars in different tunings for different songs. What happened next caught me by surprise. As he started playing at lightning speed, fingers flying on a guitar fill, he suddenly reached over with his left hand and started tapping a solo on the second guitar in the stand next to him, all while continuing a pounding rhythm on the first guitar with his right hand. Now I have seen two guitar players each playing their own as well as the other player’s instrument as part of a novelty act and it was impressive but not mind bending. However, Rodney was playing independent solos and rhythms on two guitars all by himself as if it was actually two separate players.

I had to ask him, “how would you even think to try that? “ Rodney responded with, “I was teaching a lesson to a guitar student who wanted to learn a Sound Garden song in open C tuning. We got to talking and I told him I could draw two different pictures with two hands at the same time. He asked if I could play two guitars at the same time. I’d never tried but soon found out I could!” And the rest as they say is history. A great singer and songwriter as well Rodney soon began incorporating the dual guitars into his live performances, much to the delight of spellbound audiences.

Check Rodney Branigan out on YouTube here: youtube.com/user/dbroken1

Billed as an Americana Folk Roots artist, Rodney's style is trademarked as 'Full Contact Folk Music' and his career has been carving out the path that eventually led to his being invited to some of the most prestigious festivals in the world. But the road that led to that started in the West Texas town of Amarillo.

"Music has always been a part of my life," he explained. "It started back in the 1950s with my great uncle, Elmer Evan, who was in the Texas wireless band the KYOB Cowboys. They were Lefty Frizzell's session band and played live dates with him. Lefty wanted them to tour with him but Uncle Elmer and the band were making a good living at the radio station. But he did get to perform at the world-famous “Nat”, The Natatorium, in Amarillo. One of the highlights for me many years later was getting to perform on that very same stage. "

How did it all start for Rodney? "When I was 10 years old my dad introduced me to the guitar and I got into Stevie Ray Vaughan and other classic rock bands.” He soon started making his way through the many music venues across Texas, wowing audiences with his particular blend of country music and humor. While on the road, Rodney was discovered by "Mischa" Hedges, the son of late guitar pioneer Michal Hedges. "Mischa" recognized his father's influence in Rodney's playing and made a video of the talented Texan.

Rodney's touring circle expanded, as he started getting more and more invitations to perform in venues like the Whiskey a Go Go and The Cat Club in LA, where he met bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Steve Vai, Sons of Apollo) and the two became friends. This led to Rodney opening for Billy at the NAMM show, where a chance meeting with Yamaha Guitars landed Rodney an endorsement deal with the global music giant.

Shortly after, Rodney found himself at another expo, the Music Messe in Germany, where an introduction to Marco Mendoza, led to another key brand partnership, this time with D'Addario Strings, which gave Rodney new avenues to expand his acoustic guitar sound. A talented songwriter, Rodney was offered a position at EMI in Nashville, co-writing with Dave Loggins, who penned hit tunes for Reba McEntire, Billy Ray Cyrus, Don Williams, Kenny Loggins, and many others.

Nashville was wearing thin and Rodney soon heard the call of the road again. He was booked to headline a festival across the pond, at Hampton Court Palace UK. and he never left! Besides crisscrossing the island, Rodney was booked on tours in Asia, Africa, and Europe. A short tour of China allowed him to perform in the Forbidden City, jamming with artists from Mongolia. From there he went to India, where he was the first international artist to perform at Naila Bagh Palace in Jaipur.

In 2016 Rodney was invited to the most prestigious guitar festival in Europe; 'Les Nuits de la Guitare de Patrimonio' where he opened for legendary French singer and guitarist, Francis Cabrel. The impressed festival director dubs Rodney 'The Discovery of Patrimonio'.

In 2018 he caught the attention of Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis who offered Rodney to headline the Glastonbury Extravaganza, at Glastonbury Abbey. It was a double bill alongside Tom Odell. The response was immediate and Rodney landed a spot on the coveted booking at the Glastonbury Festival Acoustic Stage. Rodney performed to a jam-packed crowd, knocking it out of the park.

To sum up the journey so far, Rodney Branigan learned to play in Austin, performed in Los Angeles, crafted songs in Nashville, and put it all together in London and has played all types of music in all types of venues in his storied career, earning him the title "The Two Guitar Man".

If ever see the name Rodney Branigan on a marquee or poster don't miss the chance to see this amazing act.

Rodney Branigan. One for the money, two for the show!

For more on Rodney Branigan visit his website @ brokenguitars.com/

or on his socials:
facebook.com/rodney.branigan
instagram.com/rodneybranigan/
open.spotify.com/artist/07rWZvZP3bNrTXv8VNjsL9