Tommy Thayer’s rise to six-string stardom largely occurred throughout the 1980s – an evolutionary period for guitar music, which gave way to a new wave of guitar gods and playing styles that favored speed, theatrics and hot-rodded instruments.
For an up-and-coming Thayer, though, shred guitars and wild gear never truly appealed to him, and he instead stayed true to the more traditional, blues-rock-informed approach that would eventually define his sound.
