I is for… Influence

As Rolling Stone Keith Richards once said, "If you don't know the blues… there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock 'n' roll or any other form of popular music."

You can’t argue with that. Without the blues there would be no rock, metal (okay, neo-classical stuff aside), soul, country, surf… probably the lot.

Lyrically and rhythmically the blues has touched just about every genre of music. Case in point: “We never pretended to be anything other than a no-frills no bullshit blues rock band,” said Angus Young of AC/DC who channelled the blues on songs like The Jack.

I is also for… Ibanez

Got to give a shout out to the iconic bogie green Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive pedal used by Texan blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan. The reissue TS-808 and TS-9 models are the ones to bag. Originals are getting pricey!