My favorite guitar ... by Billy Evanochko
(A monthly series asking the Beaver Valley's top guitarists to share what's special about their absolute favorite guitar.)
For 20-plus years now, Billy "The Kid" Evanochko has stood among the leaders of Western Pennsylvania guitar wizardry.
Consider his credentials; from performing as Stevie Ray Vaughan in a traveling tribute show, to serving as guitarist for award-winning blueswoman Amanda Fish, to guiding his Beaver County band Billy The Kid & The Regulators to a third-place finish in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
This spring, The Phoenix Entertainment Group, based in Florida, hired Evanochko as its lead artist, setting up East Coast tour dates in June, with a planned October tour to follow.
Entrenched in the esteemed Memphis blues scenes where he's on a first-name basis with many top six-stringers, Evanochko splits his time these days between Florida and Western Pennsylvania.
The Hopewell Township native put down his guitar for a few minutes recently to text his answers for our latest edition of "My Favorite Guitar".
My favorite guitar is ...
My black SG is my favorite guitar.
It’s my favorite because...
It does anything I want it to and it can cover all styles of music.
The most memorable place I’ve ever played it ...
Is the Orpheum Theater in Memphis. It’s where my band and I placed third at the International Blues Challenge in 2014.
More:My Favorite Guitar: David Granati
More:My Favorite Guitar: Dan Bubien
See me play it next ...
July 1 at a Genesis Collective event at Uncommon Grounds in Aliquippa (7 p.m. showtime), and July 15 at Rivers Casino Drum Bar in Pittsburgh. (East Coast blues fans also can see Evanochko and his band June 23 at The Boulevard in Dover, Delaware; June 24 at The Watering Hole in Mays Landing, New Jersey; and June 25 at The Twisted Tail in Philadelphia.)
Next month in My Favorite Guitar ... Cheryl Rinovato
More:My Favorite Guitar: Byron Nash
Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Billy 'The Kid' Evanochko takes his turn in 'My Favorite Guitar'
