BIO

George is a guitar player's guitar player - fluid, articulate, emotive - a melodic story teller.  He will grab you from the first note, his mastery of touch and tone immediately evident, and hold you transfixed until the show is over.

He's been dropping jaws across New England for years, 
a gem hidden in plain sight playing for bluesman extraordinaire James Montgomery.  George has performed with a diverse range of great artists - from Steven Tyler and Billy Squier to blues legends James Cotton and Kim Wilson, as well as axe-masters like Brad Whitford, Skunk Baxter, and Barry Goodreau.

Now, after several years as a sideman, he's stepping forward with his own blend of blues-based rock that promises plenty of tasteful, soaring, high-energy guitar work - The George McCann Band.  Using a four-piece lineup with keyboards, the band provides him the opportunity to explore other musical tributaries beyond the blues and showcase his vocal, songwriting, and arranging skills.

His new solo album, Shades of Blues, is packed with tunes penned and sung by George, including the soulful and cinematic, Young Woman's  Love, a moody, Peter Green influenced atmospheric instrumental, Shades of Green, and searing guitar work on every track.  Produced by George and Jack Bialka, the record also features brilliant keyboards by Dave Limina, rhythm master Forrest Padgett on drums, and Bialka on bass.

Other compositions of George's - the gritty, Delta inspired
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, and the mesmerizing slide-guitar instrumental River's Edge - are on James Montgomery's From Detroit To The Delta disc.  The 2012 release featured guest artists Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, harp legend James Cotton, rapper DMC, and the late, great Johnny Winter.

A self-taught musician, George learned his craft by copiously studying the masters - Muddy Waters, BB King, Albert King, 
Peter Green, Jimi Hendrix - and absorbing everything from 
a long line of iconic blues, rock and R&B players and groups. 
As a young player from Framingham, MA in the mid-seventies, he furthered his skills playing blues, soul, and swing in the
Lean Street Sliders, a popular band that relentlessly worked the Boston/New England club scene.  In the mid-eighties he teamed up with vocalist/bass player Jack Bialka to form the Blue Hornets along with harp player/vocalist Justin Quinn and drummer Michael Avery.  George's work with the Blue Hornets netted his being labeled "one of the top players on the Boston scene" by Blueswire Magazine, and eventually caught the attention of James Montgomery, who brought him aboard and soon dubbed him "one of the best in the business".

Once you hear George tear it up, you'll quickly agree and want more - which you can find on Shades of Blues or anytime he's performing live shows with his band of top notch players,
Don Culp on drums (The Beaver Brown Band),
Russell Keyes on bass (Roy Buchanan),
and Larry Luddecke on keyboards (Howling Wolf).

 The James Montgomery Blues Band at  Mystic Theater in CT,
 George, James Montgomery, David Hull, and Jeff Thompson 

 James Montgomery,  James Cotton, Kim Wilson,
 George, and Mike Kelly at WGBH Studios.