“Nuno’s shoutout was an emotional moment for me. I was gobsmacked. Without my brother showing me Extreme’s music, I would never have been there”: From Plini to Polyphia, how Rick Graham quietly became one of progressive guitar’s most influential names

Rick Graham – dressed in black and illuminated with a spotlight, against a black backdrop – holding his pink Charvel signature guitar.

Feel and theory are often positioned in opposition to each other, but the most accomplished players will master both. Rick Graham is one of them.

A technical monster whose playing still fizzes with emotion, his name is spoken with reverence by some of the most accomplished and forward-thinking players on the planet, and he counts everyone from Nuno Bettencourt and Guthrie Govan, through to Andy James, Jason Richardson, Plini and Polyphia, among his friends and admirers.