This week’s Alive After Five headliner: Big Monti Amundson
Go Listen Boise local opener: Marshall Poole
Big Monti Amundson
His name is Monti Amundson but most people call him Big Monti. Not just because of the man’s physical appearance, but also because of his obvious talent and sheer presence. When Big Monti takes the stage, it’s clear that there’s more going on than the usual extended guitar solos – the man plays and sings larger than life.
When Monti gets compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan or Johnny Winter he just says “thank you.” The fact is, the big man has his own style. “I’m a blues guitar player in a band that plays rock n’ roll,” is how Monti explains it. He doesn’t so much as straddle the line between the genres as bend it, ignore it, or race back and forth across it until both sides go up in flames. The blues of Big Monti comes straight from the heart, cuts through your soul and is as real as it gets.