Featured Interview – Felix Reyes

by TERRY MULLINS. Back then, he probably would have preferred to choke him. These days, he simply prefers to thank him. A hot young guitar slinger eager to make a name for himself and show off his skill set on the vibrant Texas blues scene, Felix Reyes quickly found out that Doug Simril had other ideas in mind for him. Ideas like teaching his protegee that it’s really important to learn how to walk before you can take off and run.

“He (Simril) was a member of the Marksmen, the band that had Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs in it, and he was like my guitar mentor who taught me how to play rhythm guitar,” Reyes said recently. “And in fact he didn’t let me play any leads in the band for almost eight months – just kind of drilled this rhythm guitar thing into my head. I was really kind of pissed at him for a long time about that, but it’s the best kind of learning that you could ever have.”

And judging from the resume he’s written since those long-ago days in the Lonestar State, it’s easy to see that Reyes has put those lessons to good use over the years. READ MORE