Biography
A native of Houston, Jay Hooks matches the stature of the Texas electric blues guitar icons he has long admired. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s he honed his skills on the city’s bar circuit, absorbing technique while sharing stages with such local figures as Albert Collins and Billy Gibbons. From those influences he forged a style that fused the signature electric blues-rock approach of Stevie Ray Vaughan with deeper roots in traditional blues forms. His initial national break came when Texas R&B stalwart “Miss” Lavelle White invited him to accompany her on a string of tours across the country. He remained her guitarist, with some breaks, for roughly twelve months before assembling his own band and launching a solo career in 1997. Entering the studio as leader, he issued his debut album Hooked Up, a set of raw, rock-inflected electric blues that stayed close to the template established by the guitar heroes he cited. The recording reached European ears when executive Ed van Zyl discovered it and extended an offer of international marketing and distribution. Under that arrangement Hooks tracked his self-titled second album with producer Ben Elliot, whose past work includes Leslie West and Eric Clapton, for Provogue/Mascot Records. Released in fall 2000, the album reaffirmed the high-voltage blues traditions native to Texas.