#65- BUMBLEFOOT

Ron Thal (Born September 1969 in Brooklyn New York City, NY), also known as Bumblefoot is a guitarist and a composer. He's noted for his sense of musical fusion. He has been called the heavy metal version of Frank Zappa. Not only known as a musician, he has also produced albums for many artists in different musical genres.

Currently, he plays lead guitar for Guns N' Roses.

Bumblefoot got his name from the fungal infection which he discovered while helping his wife review for her veterinary exams. Vigier Guitars later made Ron The Vigier Bumblefoot Guitar - a custom guitar which is shaped like a foot, painted like a bumblebee and has decorative wings that extend from the body when activated by the whammy bar. This was presented to Ron in January 1998 at the NAMM convention in Los Angeles. The 'foot guitar', however, got damaged during the 2006 European Guns N' Roses tour. Ron is currently accepting designs from fans for what is known as the 'Foot Guitar 2.0'.

Bumblefoot says that the first five KISS albums, the Manowar album "Battle Hymns", and any of The Beatles' albums had the greatest impact on him when he was younger.

Ron Thal (aka Bumblefoot) is a guitarist from NYC with seven albums released since 1995. His music is considered hard rock, bordering on quirky and experimental. Known for his unusual guitar-work, Bumblefoot has been on the covers of guitar magazines around the world. His guitar playing can be heard in the punky guitar riff of Spike TV's MXC theme song, in the background of MTV's The Osbournes, The Real World, and others.

Bumblefoot works out of his studio in Princeton, New Jersey, where he collaborates with artists as a songwriter/producer and writes for publishing companies, video games and TV shows. Bumblefoot is a volunteer for the MS Research Foundation, a non-profit organization that donates funds directly to Multiple Sclerosis research.

Bumblefoot's first major recording was for a Shrapnel Records' compilation CD "Ominous Guitarists From the Unknown" in 1992, on which he performed a guitar version of Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu". He released two more CDs on the Shrapnel label. First was the mostly instrumental album "The Adventures of Bumblefoot" (1995), where he displayed his eclectic style of rhythms and soloing. His second CD, "Hermit" (1997) was very much different from the first, more lyrically focused and influenced by grunge, but still showing his impeccably phrased and highly original and technical guitar work . After these two albums with Shrapnel, Ron Thal adopted the name Bumblefoot and started his own production company Hermit Inc on which he released three musically diverse CDs -- "Hands"(1998), "9-11" (2001), "Uncool" (2002). He also released a compilation album "Forgotten Anthology" (2003) with cuts that didn't make it onto the previous albums for various reasons. His most recent release is "Normal" (2005), which was released on Hermit, Inc and Neanderthal Noise, Inc. Bumblefoot is also a producer for other artists and is active in fundraising for Multiple Sclerosis research.

Inspired by KISS at age six, Ron said his earliest musical goal was to play like Gene Simmons if someone decided to do a KISS version of Beatlemania. At that time his hands were too small for bass, so he decided to focus his attention on guitar. By eight he was covering Led Zeppelin tunes at block parties and even played a hotel in Catskills. He started playing copy tunes in clubs just five years later, and then focused on creating original material on his home 8-track. He later played for New York based group called Legend where he handled guitars and vocals.

In August 1989 he was featured on the Guitar Player Spotlight column by Mike Varney.

"Thal's demo tape is among the most impressive I've ever received. It contains elements of classical, blues and jazz, and at times reminds me of Frank Zappa. His transcriptions are most impressive and detailed, so fans of hot transcriptions may be interested in seeing these musical masterpieces on paper. With its clever melodies, contrapuntal lines, intricate rhythms and ultra complex ensemble section. Ron's sheer musicality will surely gain him much acclaim." — Mike Varney

Guns N' Roses
On May 12th, 2006, Bumblefoot was confirmed as the new co-lead guitarist (joining Robin Finck) for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses at their concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, replacing Buckethead who had occupied the position from 2000 to 2004. Prior to the show he had rehearsed with the band only about a week and was still learning the songs minutes before the start of the show. He recently concluded a very successful European tour with Guns N' Roses playing to over 750,000 people and recently finished the North American leg of the Chinese Democracy Tour, which began in October. This is not Thal's first time playing GNR tunes however, he had a cover band called Leonard Nimoy in the late 1980's that played "My Michelle" and "Mr. Brownstone" among others during live performances.

At Guns N' Roses' November 24, 2006 show, Thal appeared sporting a new dreadlock-corn row hair style. Additionally, his hair appeared to be dyed a lighter color. However, this hair style only lasted a few shows before he went back to his original hair.

Source: Wikipedia

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