From Keith Richards to Robbie Robertson: Devon Ross picks her five favourite guitarists
It’s hard not to be caught up in the nonchalance and effortless guile of Devon Ross. She’s been milling about the creative sphere for a while now, doing bits in the modelling and acting world, but through and through, Ross was always destined to be a musician. It’s in her blood.
“Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and was everything to me always,” Ross told Far Out. Growing up as the daughter of Craig Ross, Lenny Kravitz’s sound-defining guitar player, she’s been raised on a diet of great influences. It feels inevitable that she would wander down that path, spending her youth edging closer and closer to the instrument.
“I would always pick up and fiddle with the guitars that were laying around my house as a kid growing up, learning songs here and there,” she explained. But while her father was touring, Ross’ start with the guitar is a typical tale. “When I was around 14 or 15, I succumbed to the urge to start taking playing and learning more seriously,” she said, “learning songs from records and playing all day in my teenage bedroom in LA.”
It’s a story told a thousand times. Just like the millions of players around the world today, and just like all the legends that have come before, Ross’ origin is one of passion turning to motivation, turning to skill and talent. Learning while listening to the records made by her idols, her own unique sound introduced on her debut EP Oxford Gardens is an amalgamation of a gaggle of influences.
“Now that I’m creating songs in earnest, I’m inspired by my life experiences and the guitar players that I love,” Ross said of her life today, currently dipping around the US playing shows to celebrate the release. So, while she chronicles the inspiration from her life in song and sings them out around the world, I thought we should chronicle her external influences right here. The question was simple: Devon Ross, who are your guitar heroes?
Devon Ross’ favourite guitar heroes:
Charlie Christian
When it comes to learning something new, the beginning is an excellent place to start. And while, when it comes to rock music, where ‘the start’ lies might be contested, Charlie Christian is a good bet. Born in 1916, the swing and jazz player was a key figure in making that kind of music cool, starting off the slow evolution from tradition and classical forms into something spontaneous and more stylised.
“I got really into Charlie Christian at the very beginning of Covid,” Ross explained. “I was instantly hooked and began learning his solos, and I haven’t stopped since. He’s really one of the first people to play electric guitar and also to get distortion, whether it was intentional or not. If you listen closely, he kind of invented rock and roll.”
Robbie Robertson
It’s criminal that The Band have not held onto as enduring a reputation as their 1960s peers like Bob Dylan or the Grateful Dead. Really, without them, the sound of the decade, and certainly Dylan, could have been very different as hoards of the biggest names around cite Robbie Robertson and his group as a vital inspiration. With an expansive line-up of nine main figures and over 20 members in total coming and going, for Ross, it’s all about Robertson, the group’s leading guitarist.
“I grew up listening to The Band via my dad. Especially The Basement Tapes and Music From the Big Pink,” she explained. However, there was another release that pushed things over the edge, “When I discovered the film The Last Waltz, I was pretty much mind-blown, and he inspired me a lot. I learned a lot by watching that film. I thought the sound he got by playing through a Leslie speaker was the coolest thing ever. George Harrison and others were also greatly inspired by his playing; even Eric Clapton wanted to be in The Band.”
Freddie King
You can’t know rock until you know blues. Tracing back through the history of guitar music really begins with jazz and American blues music, slowly twisted and changing into the subgenres like grunge or indie that we recognise today. But back at the very start, Freddie King was another early leading light whose distinctive playing and prowess on the electric guitar helped mould the sound of generations to come, Ross included.
King is considered one of the foremost influences on the boom of rock and roll, but his influence is more subtle than most. “I don’t remember when exactly I discovered Freddie King,” shared Ross, explaining her own attachment to the guitarist, “but his music taught me how to play guitar. I got enthralled by his playing when I was a teenager, and that’s really how I started to learn how to play from listening to records. He taught me how to solo in a way that really got through to me, and he quickly became an obsession of mine.”
Television (Tom Verlaine and Richard Loyd)
When it comes to crafting Ross’ punkier side, all signs point to New York. From her bedroom in LA, the limitless reach of the old 1970s CBGB scene hit her hard like so many other players. Along with Patti Smith, Blondie and the Ramones, Television were a vital influence in evolving classic rock into darker and stranger new places.
“I discovered Television when I was a young teenager, and my head exploded,” enthused Ross, sharing a sentiment that millions of fans have endured when dropping the needle on Tom Verlaine’s unique stylings. “The second the riff came in on the first track of Marquee Moon called ‘See No Evil’, I completely fell in love with how they played and Verlaine’s songwriting. That record continues to inspire me years later, and I can never get sick of it.”
Keith Richards
Last but by no means least, we reach perhaps the king of rock and roll as we know it now. Providing the world with anthem after anthem, hit after hit, The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards sits at the very top of the musical food chain. Not just as a songwriter, Richards’ distinctive guitar playing has also inspired so many thanks to his relatively fuss-free style that prioritises energy over all else. For Ross, Keef is number one.
Considering how immersed in musical culture Ross has always been, the figure of Keith Richjards has never been far away. “I’ve never met Keith Richards, but it feels like he’s a part of the family. I grew up with him being my dad’s favourite and mine as well,” she beamed. “I’ve loved him for as long as I can remember, So much so that I got his name tattooed on my finger when I was 17. It goes without saying, but his songwriting and playing were revolutionary for pretty much every guitar player ever, and he is the coolest person alive and always has been.”
