Tamás Katona Jr. (Aliases Tommy K. Jr.) was born on the 15th of August, 1984 A.D. in Pécs, a city in southwestern Hungary. He was about 4 when his father, Tamás Katona Sr. once played a tape of the german music show Ohne Filter Music Pur on the VCR. This was a selection of many great new bands. This was the first occasion when young Tommy (Tamás is actually the Hungarian form of Thomas) discovered a guitarist wearing a white hat, who was playing with unbelievable energy. Tommy was shocked that day and hasn't been recovered from that shock ever since.
After this point, he was constantly requesting the "man in the hat" whenever he was in vicinity of the VCR. The actual video was "Look At Little Sister" played by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Tommy worships Stevie Ray Vaughan, thinking of him as a mentor, or master. As Tommy reveals it: "In the past thirteen years, that is I played guitar since, I did and still do learn the most from Stevie."
"In The Beginning..."
Tommy had toy guitars and "played" those in his early childhood. He was with the left hand as dominant, so back then he played these toy guitars like a couple of his heroes, Albert King or Jimi Hendrix.
As growing up, Tommy's interest towards the guitar was becoming unfathomable. At 7, he could lift his father's guitar, so the real playing has begun. "It was really interesting" says Tommy, "that the guitar hasn't had to be restrung to become a left-handed instrument; I sort of learned to play it this way, eventually becoming a right-hand player."
At the age of 9, Kálmán Fekete, leader of the PMD Blues Band - the band in which Tommy's dad played guitar - came to the Katonas' home to talk about things in the band. Tommy was studying the songs PMD played for quite a while then, and one of those songs he could even play. So Tommy walked up to the musicians and showed them his playing. Kálmán and Tamás Sr. decided right there that on the next show - after a couple of rehearsals of course - Tommy should join them onstage...
"Come On!"
Tommy's first great memory of playing gigs was the Gastroblues Festival '94 in Paks.
"It was an unbelievable experience playing for such a large audience. Of course, I was living it differently then, than I do nowadays. This festival of three days is the absolute best event of the year for me. The atmosphere, the music, the vibe surrounding this event is beyond words. A lot of great guys to hang (and jam) with. This is the place I first met Ripoff Raskolnikov, JenÅ‘ Fekete, Zsolt BenkÅ‘, Tibor Tátrai, Miklós Felkai, Tamás Mohai, Ãdám Török and other famous musicians from Hungary and from various countries. It was just awesome"
In 1995, Péter Nemes Nagy granted the chance to Tommy to play with a real afro-american blues vocalist, the legendary Eb Davis. Eb and Tommy are very good friends ever since, at least one concert is organized every year with Eb to play with the Katonas.
The late 1990s saw numerous concerts, television appearances and articles in the press with Tommy and the band. Those were real good times; but the young child grew up and a lot of things changed.
Tommy's playing became more and more sophisticated, he played all the time he could afford. Since finishing studies and leaving high school, Tommy's life is music. Period. He loves to teach as well, "I really like to pass on any knowledge I possess."
Tommy played countless memorable shows with PMD. They played on several Gastroblues Festivals in Paks and the famous Sziget Festival. They ventured abroad as well; played numerous shows in Mojo Club, Zenta (Serbia) - Tommy says: "For me, this is the best blues pub in Middle-Europe" - ; the Motorcycle Festival in Kula (Serbia); the Klikk Festival in Érsekújvár, Kamocsa and Nádszeg (Slovakia), Blues Festival in Verőcse (Croatia) and several occasions in Germany.
The 3rd of October, 2004 was the day of the Stevie Ray Vaughan's 50th Birthday concert organized in the Új Randevú Blues Pub in Budapest, on which a brilliant band formed, a duo of two guitarists, Tamás Petendi and Tamás Katona Jr.; the Double Magic Tom. They played an extra hour at the end of the show, mainly SRV songs. "We felt so good, it was like Stevie were sitting right there among us. We decided to continue this duo, and I think it was a good decision. We did a couple of shows since then. Playing with Tamas (Petendi) is great, we just share the same thoughts and feelings."
In recent years - especially the last couple of years - Tommy had loads of musical experiences. Fate made him to meet a lot of famous musicians. He had the lucky chance to play with Big Bill Morganfield, the son of the legendary Muddy Waters; Tino Gonzales, who was the guitarist of Earth, Wind and Fire; Ian Siegal, one of the best British blues guitarist. When extraordinary blues harmonica player Sugar Blue was in Hungary a couple of years back, Tommy was there and jammed with the artist.
"Pride And Joy"
Around the age of 11, Tommy tried to play one of Stevie Ray Vaughan's songs, "So Excited". Then came one of the hardest, "Scuttle Buttin' ". Later he figured, "a complete SRV show would be cool to play". So came to existence "Blues Power", Tommy's SRV cover band, named after an Albert King song. (If you want to know why, listen to the song!) This band came with a tremendeous importance in his life, because one day around 1990, when Tommy was watching that very tape, his father told him: - Tommy, the man you are watching, Stevie Ray, he died...
"I couldn't really understand this, but later I realized the world lost a tremendeous musician who could have done so much more..."
The tragedy of Stevie Ray Vaughan is always a sour subject in the Katona household.
"To me, Stevie's death is a personal tragedy, because the music he created and all the things I know about him, I feel like I lost someone who was family. Those who know and love him, they just want him to live on inside them. Sadly enough, he hadn't children, like a son, who could carry on with his father's legacy. I was thinking about this subject more than once, and I figured, that Stevie has a lot of sons: all the guitarists who submissively plays his songs with love, respect and dignity. Like me, they will keep the flame burning for ever."
"I hereby thank to my Father and of course to Stevie for all the encouragement and power they granted me with."
"Soul To Soul"
- Tamás Katona Jr.'s blues roots -
There are many guitar players beside Stevie Ray Vaughan whom I like. I listen to their music and learn from them a lot. Whoever wants to play blues, it's a must-have to know these people:
Robert Johnson, the king of Delta Blues, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor.
The three kings, so to speak:
Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King - I like these guys in the first place.
I was about 9 when I heard Albert Collins, and loved instantly. I really like Luther Allison, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray. And one should not forget about the most determinig figure of all rock- and blues history: the immortal Jimi Hendrix. THE GUITARIST. My other greatest hero along SRV. The sad thing is that many of the above is dead. Too many.
I would like to mention my favourites of the "white" guitar players as well:
Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Rory Gallagher, Robin Trower, Gary Moore, Walter Trout, Jeff Healey, Doyle Bramhall II, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, and of course Jimmie Vaughan, SRV's brother, who is an amazing player himself.
I like to listen to other styles of music beside the blues, like various genres of rock and jazz.
B.B. King said once: "Blues is the basic for all of today's music." That'd be true, folks!
Some favourites of mine of the guitarists who aren't blues players:
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Angus Young (AC/DC), Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Carlos Santana, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Robben Ford, Scott Henderson, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits). All of these fine players started from the blues, they just acquired their own distinctive flavors.
And I like these shredders as well:
Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert.
May the Blues Power be with You!"
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