Interview: Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar tech Rene Martinez

'Nobody will ever replace Stevie Ray'

Joe Bosso, Fri 30 Jul 2010, 3:29 pm UTC

"It was a strange night for me after the show was over. I didn't know what to think. And then, of course, once I got back to the hotel and I got a phone call at about six in the morning telling me that Stevie had died in a helicopter crash, I just couldn't believe what was going on.

"I couldn't cry or anything because I just couldn't believe what was going on, until later…later it hit me. I lost a very special friend."

Of all the blues players who are our there now, have you heard anybody who is Stevie Ray's heir apparent?

"You mean somebody who can take his place? Because nobody ever can, and nobody ever will. But there are people who play like they do, and why they play like they do is because of who they grew up with. You can hear a person who plays the blues a la BB King or Albert King. And if they're good enough to play, then they're good enough to copy, to emulate. But hopefully, you put in your own juices and it all becomes you."

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