Bernie Tormé has been described as a blues rock psychedelic shredmeister, a glam punk sleaze rock frontman – but, above all, a guitar legend. Influenced by other guitar legends Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher, and Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy, Irishman Tormé formed his own band at a young age before playing in Dublin band The Urge in the early 1970s. He moved to London in 1974, where he initially played with heavy rockers Scrapyard.
He then formed the Bernie Tormé Band (clearly, he thought long and hard about the name) in 1976 and toured with the likes of The Boomtown Rats and Generation X.
Three years later he joined Gillan at the request of Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan and world acclaim followed. Tormé then played as a session musician for the legendary Ozzy Osbourne before forming his next band Electric Gypsies.
Since the 1980s, Tormé has appeared in various guises and his incendiary playing and high octane rock always make for a spectacular show. His latest triple album ‘Dublin Cowboy’ is due for release on April 7th. Tormé said of the album:
“I always wanted to do a triple album and also an acoustic album, and combining the two seemed like the obvious idea though truth is it nearly killed me: I’m still in recovery! But on top of all that, and with two albums of screaming wails and dive-bombs, I am totally knocked out with how the shred-free acoustic album has been received! Fans who pledged and have heard it absolutely LOVE it! I can’t wait, get ready people, this one will be total killer!”
Ahead of the album’s release, Tormé will be playing in Edinburgh at Bannermans in the Cowgate on April 3rd.
Tickets are available here
Author of The Team for Me - 50 Years of Following Hearts. Runs Mind Generating Success, a successful therapy practice in Edinburgh. Contact me if you want rid of any unwanted habits. Twitter @Mike1874
