After he became tired of working in a tire shop, Miles Schon chose a follow his life’s path with a guitar. His story might sound like a blues song, but the son of Journey’s Neal Schon is more of a rocker. Nevertheless, Schon debuted on Dec. 19 as the featured artist with the Buddy Emmer Band’s Tuesday Night Blues at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.
“I was telling Buddy that I am definitely a rock and roll kid,” Schon told Tahoe Onstage. “I grew up in a rock and roll scene and the things that drew me to the blues were rock and roll players as well: Jim Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck.”
The format of the nearly 4-year-old weekly show is straight-ahead blues, which of course is the root of rock music. It didn’t take long for Schon to adjust his tune.
“We had a compromise and I think it will be a real traditional blues show,” Schon said. “It will be a fun time.”
Next week, Schon will move from Marin County to Los Angeles to start a project about which he wouldn’t provide many details.
“Everything is coming to a head quick here and I will be going into the studio with Paul Reed Smith in a couple of weeks,” Schon said.
Paul Reed Smith, who makes Carlos Santana’s guitars, is an internationally acclaimed master luthier and the owner of PRS Guitars.
Schon explained how he decided to pursue music as a career.
“I was 18 and had just gotten off my first big tour in Germany playing cover tunes,” he said. “I was back at my regular job at a tire shop.
“I was really tired one morning and I almost let my hand slip into the machine. I decided I didn’t really want to be working construction or flipping tires or doing manual labor like that for the rest of my life. I love music and I decided at that time to give it all of my effort and started teaching lessons.”
Schon has had a revolving lineup of musicians in his band the last three years. He’s also collaborated with artists such as Jonathan Kane, Ross Valory, Eric Martin, Cole Tate and Terry Haggerty.
“I base my sound on whoever I am working with whether it’s a blues and R&B or a hard rock thing or more of a soul thing,” he said. “It depends on the singer I’m working with.”
-Tim Parsons
—
