Michael Zander - 'British guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was my first guitar Hero & I still dig his playing to this day. In the mid eighties I came across Eric Johnson & Lee Ritenour. Those two were my main influences. The versatility of Tommy Emmanuel is another big influence. I am a big fan of Flamenco, Blues & Country music in general. After travelling the southern United States so many times I developed a huge interest in American Blues Music. We have a new album out entitled, “Down To The Wire“. What’s it all about? I call it 'American vibes melt into traditional shrimp-rock-blues'. Most of the songs were written down in Florida where my parents live part-time. That’s why I call it shrimp-rock blues. And I like the beach & shrimp! The last couple of years I really dig the old traditional delta blues from the 30’s and some of the basic elements of the songs were further developed out of simple bluesy dobro slide ideas.' - Michael Zander (michaelzander.com)