Chris Corcoran Masterclass

Raw and bluesy, yet formidably inventive, Kent guitarist Chris Corcoran plays a junkshop 50s archtop through a cranked tweed amp that sounds like it might catch fire at any moment. And it sounds glorious! Right now, he’s keeping the spirit of Scotty Moore, T-Bone Walker and Barney Kessel alive on the British rock and roll scene. Or should that be blues? Or jazz? Jamie Dickson caught up with Chris to find out why he hates to be fenced in, and to learn a few of his ‘secret weapon’ licks.

- Jamie Dickson

Sometimes you put a record on, not knowing quite what to expect, and what leaps out of the speakers holds you spellbound from the first note to the last. So it was when we played the aptly named Listen Up! by British guitarist Chris Corcoran and his trio for the first time. Imagine T-Bone Walker meets Scotty Moore, with a bit of Barney Kessel thrown in, and you’ll have an idea where Corcoran’s sound comes from. He uses no effects, his guitar cost £80 from a junk shop and you may well not have heard of him before. And yet the album is one of the most exciting, raw and inventive jazz-blues records you’ll hear all year.

What’s more, it’s all instrumental. Most guitarists have some breathing space when the singer gets started, but not Corcoran, who lassos the listener with heavyweight flat wounds and keeps them gripped with spirited melodic invention. Take the track High Roller: it kicks off with a super-charged riff that belches flames from the exhaust pipes before scorching off towards the horizon, as Corcoran lets rip with peal after peal of top-drawer licks. Listening for the first time, you think, ‘He’s got to run out of steam soon’, but he doesn’t, fishtailing from turnaround to turnaround, never leaving the road once, or tiring the listener’s ear. We invited Chris down to our video suite to find out why heavy strings, an open mind and listening to a lot of great records are the key to taking your blues and rock and roll guitar playing to the next level. Plus we tug on Chris’s coat to learn some of his best licks…

You can hear the influence of so many greats, from Scotty Moore to Kenny Burrell, in your playing. What got you into the guitar playing of that era?