People often ask me about influences. Here's some off the top of my head to get things started. I'll add more periodically. Dig in. --Troy
Ben Webster Pete Johnson Coleman Hawkins Lester Young Little Walter Big Walter Sonny Boy Williamson Muddy Waters Jimmy Rodgers Snooky Pryor Max Ernst Salvador Dali Marcel Duchamp Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Johnny Guitar Watson T-Bone Walker Maya Deren Pablo Picasso The Velvet Underground Sun Ra Howlin' Wolf Willie Johnson Pat Hare Little Junior Parker Booker T and the MGs Bobby Blue Bland Terry Gilliam The Soul Stirrers Rebert Henry Harris Paul Foster Sam Cooke The Swan Silvertones Claude Jeter The Spirit of Memphis Quartet Lil' Axe Broadnax Count Basie Harry Partch Freddie Green Billie Holiday Robert Johnson Son House Bukka White Arsenio Rodriguez Black Sabbath Ornette Coleman The Fabulous Thunderbirds Anton Webern Blind Willie Johnson Otis Redding Stax Records Excello Records HI Records OV Wright Mark Twain Sun Records Robert Quine Lil' Son Jackson Lightning Hopkins Sunnyland Slim Maybelle Mercer Big Maybelle Bo Diddley The Clash The Who The Small Faces Hank Williams SCTV George Jones Magic Sam Flannery O'Connor Richard Thompson Saville Row Jermyn Street Brooks Brothers Allen Edmonds J Press Syd Barrett Pink Floyd Hamsa Al Din Dorothy Love Coates Ray Charles Uncle Dave Macon Traffic James Harman The Carter Family Led Zeppelin David Bowie Iggy and the Stooges Elmore James Chuck E Weiss Robert Wilson William Borroughs Brion Gysin The Rolling Stones Elvis Presley The Pogues The Sex Pistols Betty Everett Harry Belafonte Wilson Pickett Man Ray Les Paul and Mary Ford PT Barnum Charlie Christian Jimmy Rushing BB King The Beatles Odie Payne Freddie Below David Lynch Larry Wildman Fisher Alan Wilson David Maxwell Miles Davis Jerry Portnoy The Goon Show Studio One Coxsonne Dodd BBC Radiophonic Workshop Ewan MacColl Billy Pigg Duke Ellington Merle Haggard Frankie Lee Sims Mercy Baby Willie Dixon Larry Taylor Richard Innes Kenny Burrell Brother Jack MacDuff Bill Jennings Sugar Ray and the Bluetones Billy Butler Bill Doggett Louis Jordan Chuck Berry Hunter S Thompson Deep Purple Motorhead The Faces Sister Rosetta Tharpe Smithsonian/Folkways Records Alan Lomax Recordings Hugh Tracey Recordings James Cotton SP Leary Fats Waller Roy Brown Clifford Brown Thelonious Monk Albert Ayler Lou Reed Monty Python's Flying Circus Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper Ike and Tina Hammer Horror Creature Double Feature Ernie Kovaks Jimmy Smith Wes Montgomery Johnny Shines Robert Jr Lockwood Pentangle Igor Stravinsky Huun Huur Tu Louis Armstrong Sidney Bechet The James Gang Basho Django Reinhardt Los Lobos John Coltrane Elvis Costello Pharoah Saunders Sonny Sharrock Robert Frank Morphine Ray Brown Marc Ribot Milford Graves Joe Hill Louis Doctor Ross John Waters The Staples Singers John Lee Hooker Yayoi Kusama Richard Pryor George Carlin Charles Willeford Dashielle Hammet Orchestra Baobob Steve Reich Conlon Nancarrow Aretha Franklin Louise Bourgeois Alexander Calder The Young Ones The Kids in the Hall Jimmie Rogers Talking Heads Sly and the Family Stone Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys The Light Crust Doughboys Web Pierce Tamla/Motown Maxwell Street Market Little Richard Robert Nighthawk The Legendary Stardust Cowboy Jim Jarmusch Neil Young and Crazy Horse Fairport Convention The Ramones Tom DiCillo Little Milton Late night shortwave radio Arnold Schoenberg The Replacements Paul Westerberg Tchad Blake Latin Playboys Mitchell Froom Glyn Johns Elvin Jones Sparklehorse Les Blank Freddie Below Louis and Dave Myers Jimmy Reed Derek and Clive Tex Avery Bob Clampett Chuck Jones Carl Stalling Robert McKimson Gene Taylor The Monks Chess Records Brian Eno The Marx Brothers Christopher Hitchens Richard Dawkins Carl Sagan Carl Perkins Testament Records Yazoo Records The Secret Museum of Mankind Derek Bailey Solomon Burke The Kinks Mystery Science Theater 3000 Elmyr de Hory Orson Welles Sandy Denny Flo and Eddie Magic Sam Roosevelt Sykes Big Joe Turner Snooks Eaglin Werner Herzog Los Zafiros Public Libraries Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy Astor Piazzolla Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Hasil Adkins