“[Avenging Angel] is a tone fest, from out-of-phase Tele on ‘Papa Don’t Sleep' to swirling Leslie on ‘Zanak’…Gilkyson's name would not be out of place alongside country greats like Albert Lee and Bill Kirchen - with a little Cornell Dupree and Teenie Hodges thrown in for good measure.” - Dan Forte (Vintage Guitar Magazine) on Avenging Angel (2023)

"[Gilkyson]...has few equals on his instrument." - Chris Morris (Variety) on Avenging Angel (2023)

"Gilkyson is a player of rare, evocative skill." - Jonny Whiteside (Los Angeles Times, 2015) 

"Gilkyson has always been known as a fine guitarist but now he can be recognized as an equally fine songwriter with an eye for the ironic and darkly humorous." - Los Angeles Times on Goodbye Guitar (2006)

"This is how it's supposed to be done. Call me old-fashioned, but for alternative country to sound good, you gots to play good. And Tony G. plays like a demon .... And he's way more than a great guitarist. He is in that select company that is operating with a deep tonal vocabulary, and a connection to the instrument that few ever know. When he bends a note, into another bent note, into another bent note, and it's all in tune and it's all in time, that's a guitar player. That's just part of it, of course; it has as much to do with his approach to harmony and pushing the country envelope, and sterling acoustic work....Tony's done way more than a host of more famous people. Ten years with X, played with Lone Justice, played on and produced a slew of great records.  Like all the greatest players will tell you, it's about seeing them live."  - Frank Goodman  (PureMusic.com) on Goodbye Guitar (2006) 

Watch Tony's New Music Video "Walking with Lucy"

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About Tony

Photo by Margaret Olivares-Gilkyson

Born in Hollywood and raised in an environment of musicians, songwriter–guitarist Tony Gilkyson originally started recording as a boy with his father, Terry Gilkyson, a composer for Walt Disney and a prominent folksinger/songwriter in his own right.  Artists he has played and recorded with include Lone Justice, John Coinman, Jake LaBotz, Ray Wiley Hubbard, Bob Neuwirth, Sam Phillips, Duke McVinnie, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Peter Rowan, Larry Hosford, Rick Shea, Dave Alvin, Kip Boardman, Alice Cooper, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, K.D. Lang, Mark Olsen, Shane MacGowan, Ramsey Midwood, Mike Stinson, The Spoolies, Randy Weeks and Kathleen Wilhoite.  He has produced recordings for sister Eliza Gilkyson and Dances with Wolves author and poet Michael Blake. With Tom Waits, he co-produced Chuck E. Weiss’s albums Extremely Cool and Old Souls & Wolf Tickets. In 2003 he produced the acclaimed Country for True Lovers by Eleni Mandell. He also has played guitar on numerous film sound tracks including the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, as well as The Big Lebowski, Don’t Come Knockin’ and All the King’ s Men, with producer T Bone Burnett.  
 

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Title photo by Issa Sharp  

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