Ty Tabor

Overview

musical style: 

photograph of Ty Tabor

Ty Tabor (born September 17, 1961) is the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist for the progressive metal band, King's X.

Ty Tabor is best known as the guitarist for the hard-rock band King's X but has also participated in various side projects including Platypus, Jughead and The Jelly Jam. He is often regarded as one of the most underrated guitarists in the industry for his heavy riffs and beautiful tone.
Tabor has also released five solo albums so far. His debut solo outing, Naomi's Solar Pumpkin, was independently released in 1997, however the majority of songs comprising his debut would be rerecorded and reused for the following year's Moonflower Lane. Four year's later Tabor released Safety, a collection of songs that were sporadically recorded over a three year period, and detailed in the sleeve notes that the sessions for Safety had originally produced "a record of totally depressing songs," but that he had later written some brighter material to mix in "and dropped a few of the darker songs to come up with a record [he was] happy with."

Tabor had also been taken over by the rock and roll sounds of the 1960s and '70s (most notably, The Beatles and Alice Cooper) and began playing in rock bands in his teen years. One of these was a Christian rock outfit called Matthew. He left Matthew and decided to move to Springfield, MO. to attend Evangel College where he quickly entrenched himself in the local music scene. One group he played with got the chance to open up for guitarist Phil Keaggy. However, right before the show, the drummer for Tabor's band quit. Instead of cancelling and missing out on the big opportunity, Tabor volunteered to play drums for the show. Not having his own drum kit however, forced Tabor to ask Keaggy's drummer if he could use his. The drummer, who happened to be Jerry Gaskill, agreed and the show took place. Tabor and Gaskill again crossed paths during some demo recording sessions with the Tracy Zinn Band. The two became friends and were involved off and on with other musical projects together.

In spring of 1980, Tabor was asked to perform at a talent show at Evangel with a female singer. In the audience was Doug Pinnick, who was impressed by Tabor's performance. Pinnick eventually got in touch with Tabor and the two began collaborating musically. Eventually Tabor, Pinnick, Gaskill, and guitarist Dan McCollam formed their own band called The Edge which, over time, evolved into King's X.

Since then, Tabor has become one of the more acclaimed and respected guitarists in music today. His playing style and guitar tone, as well as his vocals and songwriting, are crucial elements in the "King's X sound".

Tabor also opened his own recording and mastering facility in Katy, Texas. called Alien Beans Studios.[citation needed] He has mastered numerous album projects as well as produced albums by Rez Band, Jerry Gaskill's solo album, Come Somewhere, and many others. Tabor has since relocated and moved Alien Beans Studios to Kansas City

Solo discography:
Naomi's Solar Pumpkin (independent, 1997)
Moonflower Lane (Metal Blade, 1998)
Safety (Metal Blade, 2002)
In The New Age (2005)
Rock Garden (InsideOut, Release date: August 29, 2006)
Balance (Molken Music, 2008)
Something's Coming (Molken Music, 2010)
Trip Magnet (Molken Music, 2010)
Nobody Wins When Nobody Plays (Molken Music, 2013)
Almost Live from Alien Beans Studio (Molken Music, 2014) - DVD
Alien Beans (RatPak Records, 2018)
Angry Monk (Tabor Tooth Music, 2020)
Shades (RatPak Records, 2022) Read more about Ty Tabor on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Gear used by Ty Tabor

Ty Tabor electric guitars

Ty Tabor links

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