Eric Gales

Eric Gales was hailed as a child prodigy long before his catalogue caught up with the praise. Born in 1974 and known as Raw Dawg, the American guitarist started at four, learning songs and licks from his older siblings, with the sound of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and both Kings in his ears. He plays a right-handed guitar upside down, a method he absorbed from a left-handed brother and never questioned. As of 2022 he had recorded 19 albums for major labels, alongside session and tribute work, and under the names Lil E and Mack E he added vocals to records by the Memphis rap groups Prophet Posse and Three 6 Mafia.

His major-label start came in 1990, when he and his brother Eugene signed to Elektra Records, and the rock radio hits "Sign of the Storm" and "Paralyzed" followed in the early nineties. He performed with Carlos Santana at Woodstock '94. He won Blues Rock Artist of the Year at the Blues Music Awards in 2019 and again in 2020, and the album Crown debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Blues Album chart in 2022, earning his first Grammy nomination.