Gary Hoey

A muscular, skilled guitarist, Gary Hoey belonged to a class of guitar virtuosos who emerged in the wake of Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan. To an extent, Hoey sounded like a cross between those two guitarists, possessing considerable technical skill but with roots in blues, arena rock, even surf rock, a side that surfaced in his 1994 soundtrack to Endless Summer II. That score arrived in the wake of his lone rock radio hit: a cover of Focus' prog freakout "Hocus Pocus." Mainstream rock wasn't his destiny. Hoey carved out a following by playing guitar music that appealed to both guitar heads and a general audience, releasing a series of holiday albums under the umbrella Ho Ho Hoey, touring constantly, and establishing himself as the musical director of the Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp.