Stevie Vaughan Journey

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“It wasn’t just what you played, but how you played it.”
-Hugh Gregory, Roadhouse Blues: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Texas R&B, 2003 Stevie Ray Vaughan was a man known for the magic that he could entice with a few strums of his guitar. However, his musical journey did not original start on his signature instrument, the electric guitar, but instead on a plastic Sears toy that he had at the age of ten. Having self-taught himself how to play the blues by the time he reached high school, he soon learned that there was more to his talent than he thought. With a lack of interest in school and a growing enthusiasm in music he pursued his musical skill and jumped from band to band playing as many gigs as he was given opportunity to perform in. With a growing
Finally, after having collapsed while on tour in Europe in 1986, Vaughan checks himself into a treatment center to get back on the path he once was on. For the following year, Vaughan strayed from music scene that had consumed his life the previous years. In 1988, Double Trouble including Vaughan start performing once again and soon start making plans for another album. After having gone through treatment and coming out renewed, Vaughan set out to address his addiction and rehabilitation which ended up being turned into the song “Wall of Denial” on his 1989 album, In Step. Having incorporated the struggles and trials he had gone through throughout his personal life in the album In Step, Double Trouble was rewarded the satisfaction of their fourth studio album reaching No. 33 on the
However, with loss comes a newfound appreciation for the revival of blues due to the influence of him and the legacy that lives on in his stead. In the years following his death, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s legend has only grown in popularity. Although musicians don’t live forever their music will always be immortal. A little more over a year after his death the Texas Governor, Ann Richards, recognized Vaughan as a major influence on the state of Texas and on October 3, 1991 proclaimed the day as “Stevie Ray Vaughan Day”. As new generations of guitarists started growing, more and more of them were influenced by the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan resulting in well-known artists such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Even after his death Vaughan keeps living on as every passing year his songs still bounce along the charts and 800,000 copies of his albums are being sold around the world. The love for blues still lives on and it’s all thanks to Stevie Ray Vaughn for reviving it before it was lost in the sea of music

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