Steve Pryor (December 27, 1955 – May 6, 2016) was an American musician. He is in the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame.

Pryor started his first band in high school, Light Year, Jimmy Strader on bass, Damon Daniel on drums and Mark Carpenter on guitar. In 1989, Pryor was offered a record deal and moved to Los Angeles. He had some years of success, touring with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and opening for Joe Cocker, he was also a member of The Old Dog Band.

Wikipedia: Steve pryor

Born and raised in Tulsa, OK, Steve Pryor was an immensely gifted musician who cut his teeth playing the Tulsa scene. From his first band in high school, Light Year, with Jimmy Strader on bass, Damon Daniel on drums and Mark Carpenter on guitar (one of Steve’s first six-string influences), to lessons and jams with the legendary guitarist Mike "Monk" Bruce and sit-ins with local legends like Jimmy Markham and Carl Radle at The Colony in the early 70s, Pryor was Tulsa, through and through.

After tearing up the local and regional scene through the late 70s and early 80s, Steve caught a big break in ‘89 when he moved to LA and landed a record deal. He experienced a few years of rock-n-roll success, touring with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and opening for Joe Cocker, among other highlights.

By 1992 he found himself back in Tulsa. Although he’d shared the stage with the likes of John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Greg Allman, and Dr. John, Steve never got another shot at the big time.

I point this out because it’s often the "elephant in the room" when talking with people about Steve Pryor. It goes like this: "Steve’s one of the greatest guitarists I’ve ever heard!" Then, almost in a whisper, "It’s really too bad he never made it..." This is usually followed by speculation about his personal demons or a surface-level discussion of the recording industry’s paradigm shift in the early 1990s.

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