Ronnie Montrose
After rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose (b. Colorado, USA) dissolved his own band Montrose in 1976, he decided to pursue a solo career. Switching styles from hard-rock to jazz-rock, he released OPEN FIRE, an instrumental album that was unpopular with the fans and critics alike. Disillusioned by this, he formed Gamma, who recorded three albums between 1979 and 1982. When Gamma ground to a halt in 1983, Ronnie recorded TERRITORY, another low-key solo album. In 1987 he teamed up with vocalist Johnny Edwards (now of Foreigner), drummer James Kottak (later of Kingdom Come) and ex-Gamma bassist Glen Letsch. MEAN was the result, an uncompromising hard rock record that had the guts and musical firepower of Montrose's debut, released 13 years earlier. This line-up was short-lived, with Johnny Bee Bedanjek replacing Edwards and the addition of synthesizer player Pat Feehan, before THE SPEED OF SOUND was recorded. Adopting a more sophisticated, melody conscious approach, it lost the ground that had been recaptured by the previous album. Ronnie decided to go solo again, producing THE DIVA STATION in 1990. This was a semi-instrumental affair and incorporated rock, metal, jazz and soul influences, including an amazing version of the old Walker Brothers’ hit Stay With Me Baby. Ronnie Montrose is an extremely talented guitarist, but as yet he has found it difficult to channel his energies in a direction that is successful in a commercial sense.