Bill Kelliher
Bill Kelliher | |
|---|---|
 Bill Kelliher performing live | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bill Kelliher |
| Born | March 23, 1971 |
| Genres | Heavy metal, progressive metal, sludge metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass, vocals |
| Years active | 1995-present |
| Website | www |
Bill Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is a guitarist in the Atlanta, Georgia heavy metal band Mastodon. He is a native of Victor, New York. He shares guitar duties with Brent Hinds, playing mainly complex rhythm parts. Kelliher is married, with two young sons—the eldest one named Harrison, after Harrison Ford of Star Wars fame. He is also a Star Wars enthusiast, with a large collection of action figures and other merchandise from the franchise.
On June 12, 2007, Hinds and Kelliher won the Metal Hammer Golden Gods award for best shredders,[1] Mastodon's first ever award.
Equipment and style
Kelliher uses several guitars in Mastodon: his main guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Custom in a Silverburst finish. He used other Les Paul Customs in Ebony and Alpine White during the band's 2009 tour with Dethklok. He has also used three Gibson Explorers: a vintage Explorer CMT in tobacco burst and two more modern models in black and white. Kelliher has also used two custom Yamaha SBGs and a First Act custom 9-string Silverburst DC Lola, which was built for usage on Mastodon's album Crack the Skye. He also recently (02/2010) took delivery of a Morgan Guitar Works Bird of Prey - a silver futuristic Flying V. Kelliher used Laney amplification at one time (specifically, the VH100R head). After that, he played a Marshall JCM 800 Kerry King signature. Since 2010, Bill and his bandmate Brent Hinds went on playing the Orange Thunderverb series. He can also be seen playing through a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier in the bonus features of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters DVD. In 2013, Kelliher got a signature Gibson explorer, named "The Golden Axe". It has a mahogany body and neck, rosewood fretboard with figured acrylic trapezoid inlays, a gold burst finish and Lace Nitro Hemi humbucker pickups.[2]
Kelliher's pedal board includes an Ibanez Tube King, a Boss TU-2 Tuner, an MXR M-135 Smart Noise Gate, and a Digitech Jamman Looper Pedal. Kelliher also uses an Audiotech Guitar Products Source Selector 1X6 Rack Mount Audio Switcher.
Like his bandmate Hinds, Kelliher also uses three tunings in Mastodon: D Standard on the Les Paul (E Standard down one whole step, D G C F A D), Drop C on the Yamaha SGB (Drop D down one whole step, C G C F A D), and another tuning similar to Drop C, but with the low E tuned down to A on the Explorer (A G C F A D), this tuning is basically one whole step down for a seven string guitar, with the low E string removed.
Bill Kelliher is a longtime user of Seymour Duncan pickups. He uses the SH-6 Duncan Distortion model in the neck and bridge position of his Les Pauls.[3]
Discography
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Lethargy
- It's Hard to Write with a Little Hand (1996) - Guitar
Today is the Day
- In the Eyes of God (1999) - Bass guitar
Mastodon
- Remission (2002) - Guitar, backing vocals
- leviathan (2004) - Guitar, backing vocals
- Blood Mountain (2006) - Guitar, backing vocals
- Crack the Skye (2009) - Guitar
- The Hunter (2011) - Guitar
References
- ^ Winners List Metal Hammer website Accessed January 15, 2008
- ^ http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Explorer/Gibson-USA/Bill-Kelliher-Golden-Axe-Explorer.aspx.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Premier Guitar May 2009". Premierguitar.com. Retrieved 2011-11-05.