'Top 100' guitarist Gary Hoey to play at Newton Theater

NEWTON — After releasing his first full-length blues record in 2013, world-renowned rocker and guitar aficionado Gary Hoey will be performing at the Newton Theater on Friday, March 20.

His 19th album spanning a 25-plus year career, the Deja Blues album is Hoey’s first of the sort, but he says his playing has always incorporated the blues style.

“It’s not a big departure,” Hoey, who was voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time, said, “but it has opened some different doors for me.”

The project began after Hoey produced a record for “the Queen of Metal,” Lita Ford.

“When that ended,” Hoey said, “I wanted to do a quick and fun project.”

He invited a few friends to jam, and Deja Blues was born shortly after.

“Blues is that kind of thing,” he added. “A universal language.”

Known for his instrumental records, Hoey’s first big hit came with his 1993 album "Animal Instinct" and cover of the Focus hit "Hocus Pocus," which ended up a Billboard Top 5 hit for the year. Always evolving as a musician, Hoey says he is now “feeling the music” more than he has in the past — which includes lending his own vocals to the majority of the Deja Blues record.

“One day, I realized I had something to say,” he said of his emergence as a vocalist as well as a guitar player. “But I had to write a lot of bad songs before I ended up with a good one.”

The album pays homage to Hoey’s favorite blues artists and guitar players, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa and Stevie Ray Vaughan — but adds some flavor Gary Hoey fans have come to know and love.

“There are a lot of lines [in blues] that you can push a little bit,” Hoey said of the overall tone of the record.

Gary Hoey liveFor his first-ever performance at the Newton Theater, Hoey tells fans to expect a high-energy show.

“We mix it up a lot,” Hoey said of the set list, which combines his newer blues tracks with the earlier melodic rock instrumentals.

As his fans have come to expect, Hoey promises that he and the band will be hanging out after the show to take pictures and talk with the fans.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show range from $24 to $34 and can be purchased at www.thenewtontheater.com or by calling the box office at 973-383-3700. For more on Gary Hoey, including free music streaming, guitar tips and free lessons, visit www.garyhoey.com.