Concerts

Jam with Johnny A. and friends in Beverly

Johnny A., Gary Hoey, Jon Butcher, and Coco Montoya will sling their six-strings at The Cabot on March 19.

By Blake Maddux

2 minutes to read

It would probably be as interesting to hear Johnny A., Jon Butcher, Gary Hoey, and Coco Montoya — who bring their “Guitar Summit” to The Cabot in Beverly March 19 — talk about all that they’ve experienced in their decades in music as it would to hear them play their guitars.

Johnny Antonopoulos was born in Malden and played with local favorites The Streets, Hidden Secret, and Hearts on Fire in the ’70s and ’80s. He later clocked seven years as the bandleader for J. Geils Band singer Peter Wolf. From 2015-2018, Antonopoulos toured with a Yardbirds lineup that included the original drummer and several A-list musicians playing the parts of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck. In 2003, Gibson Custom Guitars issued the Johnny A signature model.

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Jon Butcher came from Philadelphia to Boston for college and has long been a North Shore resident. In the 1980s, The Jon Butcher Axis opened for several of the decade’s most popular rock bands, recorded for major labels, earned a Grammy nomination (Best Rock Instrumental Performance), and had videos on MTV at a time when David Bowie felt compelled to publicly criticize the station’s lack of Black artist representation. He has added an EP and two LPs — including last year’s “Special Day” — to his discography since 2017.

Lowell native Gary Hoey had his first brush with the big time when he was on the short list for the job of Ozzy Osbourne’s new guitarist in 1987. Six years later, his hard-rocking, yodel-free cover of Focus’s “Hocus Pocus” afforded him widespread radio play and a nationwide audience. Since then, he has worked in assorted capacities with a who’s who of classic rockers and recorded numerous solo albums – most recently 2019’s “Neon Highway Blues” – that demonstrate his command of multiple musical styles.

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Last but not least, California-born musician Coco Montoya got his first break in the 1970s when blues luminary Albert Collins hired him to play his first instrument of choice, drums. Montoya so admired Collins that he learned guitar under the elder statesman’s mentorship. Several years after his five-year stint with Collins ended, English blues icon John Mayall saw Montoya performing and invited him to join the reformed Bluesbreakers. (Previous Bluesbreakers axe-wielders include Peter Green and Eric Clapton.) Montoya transitioned seamlessly into a solo artist after a decade in Mayall’s employ, winning a Blues Music Award for Best New Artist and racking up seven top 10 Billboard Blues Albums between 1996’s “Ya Think I’d Know Better” and 2019’s “Coming in Hot.”

And according to The Cabot, there’s a “Special Guest Guitarist TBA” — so believe it or not, this lineup could wind up getting even better.

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