Ronald Earl Horvath was born in New York City in 1953. Ronnie was inspired to play the blues guitar after seeing Muddy Waters at a club in Boston, Massachusetts.
Earl recalls adopting the name ΓÇ£EarlΓÇ¥ because ΓÇ£when I used to sit in with Muddy and all those old guys, they couldnΓÇÖt pronounce my last name.ΓÇ¥ He has listed his influences as Robert Lockwood, B.B. King, Magic Sam and T-Bone Walker, among others.
Earl quickly graduated to playing clubs around the Boston area, and also spent some time in Chicago and Texas, backing many touring blues artists. He replaced Duke Robillard in ΓÇ£Roomful of BluesΓÇ¥ and stayed with them for almost eight years. He left in the mid-1980ΓÇÖs to pursue a successful solo career.
Ronnie has become an in-demand session guitarist and in 1999 won the W.C. Handy Award for Best Blues Guitarist. Often referred to as ΓÇ£Mr. IntensityΓÇ¥, Earl is rated as one of the finest living blues guitarists.
Ronnie EarlΓÇÖs debut recording on the Telarc Blues label, Healing Time will hit the streets in June 2000.
