Steve Lynch (born January 18, 1955) is an American guitarist. He is best known as the co-founder and original lead guitarist of the

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

. He decided to commit himself to music and mastering the guitar when

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

died in 1970. In addition to Hendrix, Lynch's influences came from late-1960s and early-1970s rock musicians such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. He initially played bass, however Hendrix's death influenced him to switch to guitar. Lynch gradually developed his signature two-handed (eight-finger)

tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

technique throughout the 1970s and into the mid-1980s.

Career

Lynch rose to stardom in the mid-1980s, when his then-current band,

, had a top-40 hit with " Turn Up the Radio", which peaked 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Lynch's work on this track helped earn him "Guitar Solo of the Year" honors from ''Guitar Magazine''. As of 2022 he along with lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Steve Plunkett are the only two surviving members of the original lineup. After recording and touring with Autograph, he taught his two-handed guitar technique in 20 countries completing 325 clinics to promote his books 'The Right Touch' volumes 1, 2 & 3 while promoting St. Louis Music simultaneously. In 1994, he formed his solo project Network 23 with Scott Gilman on vocals and sax, and Chris Frazier and Mike Mangini on drums. Lynch wrote, arranged, produced and played all the guitar, bass, keyboards and additional percussion parts. The recording was completed in 1995. Taking a more experimental approach with his writing and arranging, he considered the project to be more of a modern sound than the 80s genre and Autograph. In 2006, Lynch founded 'The Federal Way School of Music' in Seattle, Washington where he taught and ran the school until 2016. While managing his school he also reformed Autograph with a new vocalist and drummer in 2013. The band released an album in 2015 which garnished two singles: 'Get Off Your Ass' and 'Every Generation', which generated new audience recognition in the US, Scandinavia, Europe and Japan. After the release of the album and touring with the band for 5 1/2 years, Lynch left the group in August 2019 to pursue a new musical direction, which he described as being influenced by international cultures and experiences. He's calling the new project Blue Neptune. When the COVID pandemic hit, Lynch decided to write his autobiography 'Confessions of a Rock Guitarist', which has been completed and is currently being prepared for release in 2022. Steve currently resides in Florida and New Jersey.

Technique

Lynch is considered a highly skilled and innovative guitarist. His multi-fingered tapping technique, which he still teaches today, incorporates a complex approach to music theory and often requires the use of all four picking-hand fingers as well as those on the fretting hand. This approach means that Lynch's solos are highly challenging. Perhaps the most elaborate recorded example of the technique is the unaccompanied 1985

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

track "Hammerhead", from Autograph's second studio album ''

That's the Stuff ''That's the Stuff'' is the second studio album by the American glam metal band Autograph, released in 1985 by RCA Records. The album featured the singles "That's the Stuff" and "Blondes in Black Cars." A different version of the album was reiss ...

''. In 1985, Lynch won the "Guitar Solo of the Year" award from ''Guitar Player'' magazine for his solo on "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph's biggest hit.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Steve 1955 births American heavy metal guitarists Lead guitarists Living people Musicians from Seattle Guitarists from Washington (state) Savoy Brown members 20th-century American guitarists