Doyle Bramhall II was raised in a home filled with the blues and rock & roll sounds that are indigenous to Texas - the state of his birth. His father, Doyle Bramhall, Sr., played drums for legendary bluesmen Lightnin' Hopkins and Freddie King and was a lifelong collaborator with childhood friends Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. Doyle is known as one of the few guitarists who plays with his instrument strung upside-down. He plays left-handed, but the instrument is strung for a right-handed player. This unusual arrangement of the strings gives his playing a unique sound, because he bends the strings by pulling them downwards, rather than by pushing them the customarily upwards. Other guitarists who use this technique of bending include Albert King as well as the late Canadian blues guitarist Jeff Healey, who played with his instrument flat on his lap due to blindness. When Doyle was 18 he toured with Jimmie Vaughan?s band The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Two years later he co-founded the blues rock band Arc Angels with fellow Austinite Charlie Sexton and members from Stevie Ray Vaughan?s rhythm section - Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon. 

December 24th, 1968 in Austin (Age 55)