TONY COX

Based in Johannesburg

Born in Zimbabwe and now residing in Johannesburg South Africa, multiple award-winning acoustic guitarist Tony Cox has become a veritable icon of the instrument in his own country.  And now the guitarist seems to be working his particular six-string magic further a-field. As of late, he has undertaken regular forays into Europe and Canada and has seen a loyal fan-base begin to develop in the UK; one family making a journey from North Yorkshire to Cornwall in order to see him playing live; another arriving at his show at the Troubadour in Earl’s Court armed with every album Cox had ever recorded and requesting an autograph on all!

When he was just nine years old Tony Cox began, incredibly, learning and playing the Hawaiian guitar in what was then Rhodesia. This was brought about by one Archie Pereira arriving from Lisbon and for reasons unknown decided to settle in the backwater of Kwe-Kwe, a town 20 miles away from Cox’s mining-town birthplace, Redcliff.

In his teens and after Archie disappeared back to Lisbon, Cox changed to a conventional guitar style and later studied the classical guitar for an intensive 2-year period. In 1969 the family left Rhodesia to settle in Cape Town South Africa and it is here the young guitarist really started to absorb and assimilate the multi-textured rhythms and facets of the rich, indigenous music of his upbringing and surroundings.

He began to compose his own music early and immediately charged it with the African imagery that is very much a part of this unique guitar player’s world perspective. Using all the finger-style techniques he had absorbed over the years from such greats as Leo Kottke and Bert Jansch, Cox honed and developed a style all his own. With the rigorous precision of classical technique juxtaposing the loose, laid-backed delivery of a master at work, Cox’s music tumbles out at you, hitting your tapping feet with its solid groove and taking your heart and mind on harmonic journeys they have not been on before. Tony Cox on-stage is as warm and engaging with his audience as he is off-stage. Telling stories and anecdotes, he draws a person in and you find yourself listening really closely to a tune you may never have heard before and then being punched in the solar-plexus at the power and delivery of that tune.

Besides being a powerful solo performer Cox has collaborated and recorded with many other musicians to produce two SAMA award-winning albums and a string of nominations. ‘China’ (SA slang for friend) is just such an album. He recorded it in 2002 featuring many of the cream of SA musicians and is a great example of Cox’s ability to work beyond the confines of solo guitar playing. The album won the ‘best instrumental’ category at the 2003 SAMA awards.

LINKS:
Tony's MYSPACE page
Tony's personal website