Vinny Burns

Vinny Burns (born 4 April 1965, Oldham, Lancashire) is an English hard rock guitarist and producer, best known for his work with the bands Dare, Ten and Bob Catley. He has also been a member of Asia,Ultravox, Hugo, FM, The Ladder, Phoenix Down, and on his own project with Sam Blue, Burns Blue. He is active as a producer and owns his one recording studio ("The Viper Room"). The last album he produced was the debut album of the rock band The Beautiful Sleazy, "All Fired Up".

Biography

The Early Years

Burns started guitar around the age of 9. Inspired by bands like Nazareth, Lynyrd Skynyrd, UFO, Rush, Thin Lizzy and Van Halen he soon was involved in various bands. In 1983, Vinny Burns was approached by the owner of Pennine Studios and it wasn't long before he got his first session job. Alongside his session work at Pennine Studios, he had been active in the live circuit playing in various local bands.

The Dare Years: 1985 - 1992

In 1985, he met Darren Wharton who had just left Thin Lizzy and was looking for a guitarist in order to form a band. Soon after, they started working on demos of songs that actually ended up in the band's first album. The band was complete when they acquired the services of bass player Martin "Shelley" Shelton, drummer Ed Stratton (followed by Jim Ross) and keyboard player Mark Simpson (who was soon succeeded by Brian Cox). After gigging for almost a year, they started working on new songs and by 1987 they were signed by A&M Records. The band's first album Out Of The Silence was released in late 1988 and proved to be a commercial success. Two years later, they released their second album Blood From Stone. By 1992 Burns had left the band and soon after he joined the band Asia.