Biography
International touring and recording artist/guitarist Kevin M. Buck has released four albums and two books.
Raised in Lyons, Illinois, Buck began playing music throughout the Chicagoland area at a young age and has played at such legendary clubs as The Thirsty Whale, The Riviera, The House of Blues, and The Vic Theater.
Buck has shared the stage with acclaimed artists such as Megadeth, Rob Zombie, Paul Gilbert, Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions), Joe Lynn Turner (Deep Purple, Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen), Disturbed, Gary Hoey, Joe Stump and many others including Roger Daltry (The Who), who remarked that Kevin M. Buck is “one of the greatest guitarists ever.”
Leslie West of Mountain said, “This kid has a f^cking encyclopedia worth of sh!t in his mind.”
Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, Alcatrazz) stated, “I listened to a handful of your sound clips and was impressed with your technique on the instrument. Sounds like you have great control. Jam on.”
Buck won the 2003 Guitar Idol Competition sponsored by 97.9 WLUP-FM in Chicago.
Buck formed, and still tours with, the highly successful Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath tribute band The Blizzard of Ozz.
Buck has also played many sold out shows with Battery, the national Metallica tribute act that opened shows for Metallica themselves on the Garage, Inc. tour.
In 2006, Uli Jon Roth awarded Buck a scholarship to attend Sky Academy in Los Angeles. Buck played with and learned from Roth, who called Buck “a virtuoso,” and thinks Buck’s playing is “very good, very very good. . . some very inventive and creative stuff.” In 2012, Buck opened a sold out show for Uli at Reggie’s in Chicago.
Buck enjoys doing guitar clinics and has done many clinics at music stores and trade shows teaching people guitar tricks and his methods of guitar playing. Buck gives private guitar lessons as well. Buck teaches all styles of music and truly enjoys making people better musicians.
Buck released the book Guitar in Theory and Practice. Guitar in Theory and Practice is designed to give guitar players a method to become better musicians by taking the most important ideas of music and presenting them in a simplistic way for guitar players. Guitar in Theory and Practice is the first book containing a poster that relates astrological signs, pitches, colors, planets, gods, elements of life, masculine and feminine dualities, time, intervals, numbers, modes and chakras.
Kevin M. Buck’s first album, Initiation was released on October 11, 2003. Initiation is an instrumental rock album and displays Buck’s creative and virtuosic guitar playing. Jason Becker (Cacophony, David Lee Roth) commented on Initiation saying, “I like the CD a lot. You’re the man.” Buck organized two benefit concerts for Jason Becker, raising over $$$ to help find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Euphoric Darkness was released October 11, 2007. Euphoric Darkness is a collection of heavy metal songs with unique and memorable vocals, riffs, and solos. This second album features Buck’s songwriting and vocal abilities, along with his insane guitar talent.
Buck’s latest album, Musick for the New Aeon, was released April 20, 2012 by Osiris Records and Steve Vai’s Digital Nations record label. It features Atma Anur on drums and Ferdy Doernburg on keyboards. Kevin M Buck was featured in the June 2012 edition of the Illinois Entertainer magazine. In 2015 Buck joined Blackened, he played in Blackened for 3 years until leaving them to start his own Metallica tribute band Dyers Eve. Dyers Eve formed in 2018 and is an incredible tribute band playing over 80 Metallica songs. In 2021 Buck released his fourth album “Classical Music for the Electric Guitar” which is 12 Classical pieces arranged for Electric guitar. He also released a book of the sheet music and tablature of the same name.
Buck’s future plans include more recording, clinics, and touring. More info about Kevin can be found at www.kevinmbuck.com.