Buddy Guy to open Reynolds season Sept. 20

CONWAY — Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Guy will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Guy has received seven Grammy Awards, a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, 37 Blues Music Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard Magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, a Kennedy Center Honor and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 23 in its 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In 1957, Guy took his first makeshift guitar to Chicago, where he would alter the direction of the instrument, first on numerous sessions for Chess Records, playing alongside Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and the rest of the label’s legendary roster, then on recordings of his own. His incendiary style left its mark on guitarists from Jimmy Page to John Mayer.

Now 81, Guy has been a major influence on rock titans such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Guy is a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound and a living link to the city’s halcyon days of electric blues.

Guy keeps looking to the future of the blues through his ongoing work with his 18-year-old protégé, Quinn Sullivan, who will also perform at Reynolds.

Tickets range from $30 to $40 for the general public and $10 for students and children. Call UCA Ticket Central at (501) 450-3265 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or toll-free at (866) 810-0012, or visit www. uca.edu/reynolds.