The Guitar Player's Resource
You'll be surprised to learn, upon popping the Pennsylvania band Blue Fire's demo CD-R into your CD player, that lead guitarist and vocalist Josh Karickhoff is only thirteen years old. What's more, he's already been a finalist in one of Guitar Center's Guitarmageddon competitions, has performed more than 70 shows with Blue Fire and gigged at the New York International Independent Film and Music Festival. Their five-song demo features aggressive, throbbing hard rock and tortured, prodigiously heavy metal with fast and precise melodic runs, augmented by a killer vibrato. Head-chopping riffs give way to incendiary solos and fills - this is a young band that takes their practicing seriously and strives to deliver a quality experience. Indeed, their quest to be signed has a caveat - no repackaging into a corporate, radio-friendly band! Blue Fire were originally profiled in the August-September, 2005 edition of The Undiscovered.
Josh grew up with music in his blood. His mother played the piano and his favorite lullaby was the Moody Blues. In May of 1999, on his 8th birthday, his parents bought Josh his first guitar, with the stipulation was that he had to take lessons. He hooked up with Preston Lindey and he still teaches him something new some four years later. Josh teamed up with cousin and bass player Gus Ward and together they came up with the name Bluefire - Red Demon. After a month or so they dropped the name Red Demon - and Blue Fire was born. The new group participated in open mic nights that helped them gain confidence and find out what songs people liked and didn't like. They love playing progressive rock because of the difficult and challenging format.
Karickhoff states, "Our fans give us great support every time we perform and we continue to try to make our next show better than our last. We have a dedicated practice schedule that we are committed to, and are currently in the process of writing some new songs that are sure to get your attention. We hope to entertain you more than ever and look forward to seeing you soon!"
Doug Deutsch Publicity Services
United States
Web site: www.bluefireband.com