James Byrd

James Byrd had already taken up the guitar before Jimi Hendrix’s death, but the event itself marked the moment he began treating music as a serious pursuit. He applied himself rigorously, first mastering blues phrasing before shifting into heavier metallic techniques. In 1980 he formed his first band that played only original material. The next year he left his native Seattle for Los Angeles and started working the club circuit there, yet returned home in 1982. Back in Seattle he connected with Ken Mary and Ted Pilot, and the core of Fifth Angel took shape. By 1983 the group had recorded a demo and began circulating it among record labels. The tape secured a contract with Shrapnel Records and led to the band’s debut album. In 1987 Fifth Angel signed with Epic Records, which reissued the first album that same year. Shortly afterward Byrd left the group.

He returned to Shrapnel in 1988 and released Atlantis Rising under his own name. Octoglomerate followed in 1993. Yngwie Malmsteen received a copy, and the two guitarists met. When Byrd issued Son of Man in 1995, Malmsteen supplied an endorsement that appeared on a sticker affixed to the cover. The following year, under the James Byrd Group banner, he released The Apocalypse Chime, his first album in three releases to include vocals—supplied by Robert Mason of Lynch Mob—and his final project for Shrapnel. By 1997 he had arranged a deal with JVC Japan; the resulting album appeared as Crimes of Virtuosity under the name James Byrd’s Atlantis Rising. Byrd-Flying Beyond the 9 came out in 2001.