Sacramento Young Musician Kory Gibbs
SacTV.com "Video of the Day" review by
Alex Cosper on August 1, 2013
Kory Gibbs is 13 years old and sounds more talented than most artists
on today's national pop or rock charts. He's been playing guitar since age 7 as this interview reveals. Kory showed
up with his father Mike at a rehearsal for the Sacramento band The Features on the night of Wednesday, July 31, 2013
and watched the band. When the band found out that Kory played guitar as well they asked him to pull out his nice
Gibson electric to jam with the band. They did a blues jam and a cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," which was
incredibly impressive. As it turned out, last weekend Kory got up on stage in Angel's Camp and jammed with blues artist John Lee Hooker, Jr.
Kory says he learned how to play on a cheap guitar from a garage sale when he was 7 years old and taught himself songs
by watching YouTube videos. That explains his accelerated learning curve, since YouTube makes it easy to find musical
instruction videos just by running a search on "how to play (songtitle) on guitar." Kory loves blues music and has
mastered blues riffs and lead solos on a highly professinal level, which is why he gets paid hundreds of dollars
per show. Mike says his son saved up his own money to purchase his nice quality Gibson.
The fact that a 13 year old can outplay many musicians and non-musicians on the national pop scene is refreshing
because it shows that blues and rock still have a vibrant future ahead. Kory mixes traditional playing
with his own polished sound. He also sings and is beginning to write his own music. He will be performing a free show on
August 10 at the Sloughhouse Inn, showcasing blues classics. As Kory explains in this SacTV interview, he is planning
a career as a musician, which in itself is amazing, as many young teens are unsure about career choices. As long as
he continues to improve he will likely have a bright future in music, since there isn't a lot of impressive competition
on the horizon for authentic musicianship.
It's a good bet that artificial computerized auto-tune music will eventually run its course, opening the door
for a deeper appreciation for authentic music. The Features, who will be performing August 9 at Old Ironsides,
gave Kory professional praise in this video, confirming his amazing talent. The Features were the most popular
Sacramento band on the local scene in the early 1980s, along with Steel Breeze, who shared guitarist Waylin Carpenter and
bassist Vinnie Pantaleoni. "It's always nice to see a young guitarist like that who has really put the energy into playing
his instrument," says Waylin.
"He's brilliant, he's committed and he has chops," says Features singer Johnny Pride. Vocalist/keyboardist Curtis Hilliar adds "he's got
a great future." The meeting between Kory and the Features was mostly by chance. Mike and Kory just happened to be walking
down J Street near Chavez Park when they heard the band practicing, so they decided to check it out. They introduced themselves
then took off to do a photo shoot for the cover of a new magazine called Elevated Up. Later they returned while the Features
were wrapping up their rehearsal and the band asked Kory to jam with them. This video captures scenes from that jam session.
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