Rhys John Stygal playing guitar

THIS IS RHYS.

A surreal story that continues to write itself.

A story about finding a language, overcoming what once seemed impossible, and discovering where six strings could lead.

WOOD. PLASTIC. WIRE.
Begin the story
And it’s only the beginning.

CHAPTER ONE

The Story Before the Stage

On his 12th birthday, Rhys’s sister Rhiannon gave him a Strat copy.

At that point, school and the classroom had become almost impossible. The normal path was not working. Then something made from wood, plastic and wire entered his life.

The guitar did more than make noise. It gave him somewhere to put the intensity, the focus, the frustration and the curiosity. It gave him a language he could understand.

“Guitar saved me — it was a language I understood immediately.”

The point of this site is not to sell songs. It is to tell the story of the person who found himself through them.

THE TURNING POINT

The Light Switch

“Stevie is the gateway to the blues.”

Rhys had already been drawing the music that fascinated him — Slash, Green Day and the louder, angrier world that first caught his attention. Then his teacher Adam Pickard introduced him to Stevie Ray Vaughan.

The light switched on. Stevie was not the destination. He was the doorway into Albert King, Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor, Gatemouth Brown and the generations that built the language.

Early marker illustrations by Rhys John Stygal
Early marker work — before the bigger stages.

STUDENT OF THE BLUES

He doesn’t just learn the song.

“I just learned Little Wing — all 67 bars. And they’re all different.”

That sentence explains a lot about the way Rhys hears music. He notices the variations: the phrasing, the movement, the little decisions and the way one bar differs from the next.

It is memory, pattern recognition, curiosity and obsessive study working together. He slows performances down, studies hands, pick attack, bends, vibrato and timing, then traces the ideas backward through the history of the blues.

Guitar World: SRV tone deep dive ↗

ENDORSEMENTS

Relationships with a reason.

FIRST ENDORSEMENT

Elmore Pedal

A foot-controlled practice and transcription tool that lets Rhys slow down, speed up, pause, stop and control video without taking either hand off the guitar.

His first endorsement wasn’t about image. It was about learning.

MORE TO COME

The tools he actually uses.

Add strings, pedals, amps, guitars and future partners here — with the story of why each one matters to Rhys.

A LIVING TIMELINE

A Surreal Story So Far

The people on the screen became the people in the room — and sometimes, the people inviting him onto the stage.

01

The 12th Birthday

Rhiannon gives him the Strat copy that changes everything.

02

First Public Performance

At a local London music store. The exact store name can be confirmed and updated in Live Edit.

03

Heroes Become People

The musicians he studied from afar become people he meets, talks with and learns from.

04

Invited On Stage

Buddy Guy. Kingfish. Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Moments that once would have sounded impossible.

05

Recording + Collaborations

Austin, sessions, bands, projects and a growing network around the blues.

06

The Rory Gallagher Collection — Bonhams

Invited to appear in a video connected with The Rory Gallagher Collection at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London — 17 October 2024.

View the collection ↗
07

And He Still Can’t Drive

Maybe the best reminder that all of this is still only the beginning.

PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY

The story is also the people in it.

Not a celebrity wall. These are people whose presence marks a turning point, a lesson, an invitation, or a door opening.

FAMILY

Rhiannon

The sister who gave Rhys a Strat copy on his 12th birthday — the piece of wood, plastic and wire that changed the direction of his life.

TEACHER

Adam Pickard

Teacher, early interviewer, and the person who put Stevie Ray Vaughan in front of Rhys. The light-switch moment followed.

THE HEROES

Buddy Guy + Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

From watching the blues from home to standing onstage beside two of its defining modern figures.

AN INVITATION

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

A guitarist Rhys admired who first encountered him through video, then later brought him onstage to play.

PRESS + RECOGNITION

Other people noticed the story too.

Coverage belongs here as evidence — not as the story itself.

GUITAR WORLD

From extreme anxiety to major blues stages

A feature built around Rhys’s own words: guitar gave him a language he understood immediately.

Read feature ↗ GUITARGUITAR

Guitar Heroes

Selected for guitarguitar’s campaign highlighting people whose lives were changed by the guitar.

View feature ↗ GUITAR WORLD / PEDAL PAWN

“A walking encyclopedia of Stevie knowledge.”

A deep dive into the technique, gear, history and detail behind the sound Rhys studied so intensely.

Read feature ↗ BONHAMS • LONDON • 2024

The Rory Gallagher Collection

Rhys was invited to appear in a video connected with the landmark Bonhams collection sale at New Bond Street.

View collection ↗

THE VISUAL ARTIST

Lines, Markers & Strings

Before some of the heroes became people he met, Rhys had already been interpreting them on paper.

Marker drawings by Rhys John Stygal
Early marker illustrations. Music was already appearing in another medium.
RJS marker illustration
RJS marker work. The same creative mind, another tool.

WATCH THE STORY MOVE

Video Wall

Performances, firsts, interviews, guitars and the moments that make the story real.

Louisiana Chicago

Interview from the Rhys John Stygal archive.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Interview · blues guitar

GHS Custom Strings

Interview material discussing GHS custom strings.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Interview · blues guitar

In Between Sound

Interview from the Rhys John Stygal archive.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Interview · blues guitar

Rene

Interview from the Rhys John Stygal archive.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Interview · blues guitar

Hat Kid

Interview from the Rhys John Stygal archive.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Interview · blues guitar

Nico / SRV

Interview material with Nico and SRV discussion.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Interview · blues guitar

Too Young for the Blues — with Nico Little

Austin performance with Nico Little.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Performance · blues guitar

Locking In — with Nico Little

Austin performance with Nico Little.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Performance · blues guitar

Pedal Pawn — Pride and Joy

Pedal Pawn performance of Pride and Joy.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Performance · blues guitar

Nails — Technique

Technique video focused on nails and guitar playing.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Educational · blues guitar

SRV Pedals Emulation

Equipment and tone exploration focused on SRV pedal emulation.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Equipment · blues guitar

Equipment Archive

Equipment video from the Rhys John Stygal archive.

SEO: Rhys John Stygal · Equipment · blues guitar

NOT A GEAR CATALOG

Guitars With Stories

The first Strat copy from Rhiannon. Number One. Instruments tied to stages, people and chapters in Rhys’s life.

Some guitars are equipment. Some carry thousands of hours and pieces of a life with them.

THE JOURNEY KEEPS MOVING

Past • Present • Next

CURRENT CHAPTER

UK ↔ Austin, Texas

Rhys is currently based in the UK and frequently travels to Austin, Texas, where he performs with Nico Little and the North Americans. It is an important current chapter in a story unfolding on both sides of the Atlantic.

PAST

Foundations + Firsts

The first guitar, the first performance, the first interview, early drawings, early discoveries and the stages that changed his sense of what was possible.

PRESENT

UK ↔ Austin

Based in the UK, frequently in Austin, Texas, and performing with Nico Little and the North Americans — one of the important current chapters in Rhys’s story.

NEXT

The Next Chapter

No invented promises. When the next thing is ready, this is where it appears.

FROM RHYS

The Blues Journal

A place for Rhys to post from his phone: what he learned, what he heard, a record worth hearing, a phrase worth studying, a player worth tracing backward, or his own interpretation of something he has been working on.

WHAT I LEARNED

Every bar can tell you something.

Short notes about the details most people miss.

THE LINEAGE

Where did that idea come from?

Rhys follows musical ideas backward through the players who shaped them.

MY INTERPRETATION

Learn it. Understand it. Make it yours.

The difference between copying a performance and understanding the language behind it.

ART + OBJECTS

Shop the Story

Marker prints, photographs, shirts, mugs and limited pieces connected to chapters of the story.

Marker trio art print

Marker Trio Print

Print / signed options can be added.

WOOD.
PLASTIC.
WIRE.

Story Tee

A phrase from the turning point.

RJS marker art print

RJS Marker Print

From Rhys’s visual art archive.

A surreal story
that continues
to write itself.

Story Mug

Simple, personal, connected to the journey.

PROFESSIONAL INQUIRIES

Start a conversation.

Booking, press, partnerships, projects, appearances and other professional inquiries. This is not a public chat or social feed.

Contact details are configurable in Admin → Contact.

He has already lived several chapters most people would call improbable.

And he still can’t drive.

Maybe that is the best reminder of all: this is nowhere near finished.

A surreal story that continues to write itself.

ADMIN

Live Edit

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