— Damian Fanelli
I HEREBY WELCOME Sophie Lloyd to the GW cover club. It’s a joy to watch — or to witness — guitarists spring up, basically out of nowhere, to achieve such high levels of acclaim in this, um, interesting modern age of ours. I joined GW in 2011, and I’ve witnessed a few bright careers in the making, including GW cover stars Billy Strings, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jake Kiszka, Rob Scallon and Wolfgang Van Halen (although, hmmm, Wolf did share a GW cover with this dad in 2008). BTW, I’d add the amazing Nita Strauss to this list, but she was definitely doing her thing before 2011.
Back to Sophie: Somewhere in Joe Bosso’s interview, Lloyd says, “People always say, ‘You haven’t paid your dues,’ but I feel as though I’ve done that in a different way.” I agree. And what does “paying your dues” even mean in 2023? Isn’t building a massive online following over the course of several years paying your dues? Isn’t somehow shifting from the digital empire onto major stages like MSG, Wembley Arena and the oddly named “KFC Yum! Center” paying your dues? Lloyd’s is definitely a unique story, and although I have zero inside information, I can promise you that her current stint with Machine Gun Kelly is still just the beginning.
FAREWELL TO MICK HUTSON: As I was tracking down the photos for this issue’s Opeth feature a few months ago, the photographer’s name jumped out at me: Mick Hutson. “There’s that name again,” I said. “
