For those of you reading Robert's post who might be curious,
Eliott Easton is the Cars' phoenomenal lead guitarist. Easton's bouncy tone and penchant for the classic pop hook propelled the Cars to multi-platinum success during the late 70's, and well into the mid 80's. You literally couldn't turn on the radio in 1984 without hearing at least something from their mondo-smash LP "Heartbeat City".
As for him being a country player, yes - I can definitely hear that as an influence. However, from what I know, Easton attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, Mass., and from there went on to fame with the Cars. He has one solo effort (Change No Change - 1985), which was sandwiched in bewteen his work on the Cars releases "Heartbeat City" (1984) and "Door To Door" (1987). In 1995, Easton was tapped by two of the the original members of Creedence Clearwater Revival (Stu Cook, Doug "Cosmo" Clifford) to be the lead guitarist of their CCR Tribute Act, aptly dubbed "Creedence Clearwater Revisited". CCR, as you know, blends a lot of country-influenced sound into their music, and it's not surprising that Easton was a perfect fit for their group. Much to the dismay of one Mr. John Fogerty, the band enjoyed great success as a touring live act, and still does to this very day, although Easton has since moved on.
Recently, Easton (who's a left-handed player) collaborated with Gretsch Guitars to design & release his new Signature Model, which is based on thier Duo Jet model, obviously with a few of Elliot's fave "tweaks". Here's the link:
http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G6128TLHEE&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1
And by the way, in case you were wondering - yes, Ric Ocasek
IS an alien.
