Born in New York City, NY, Ron Thal, now known as Bumblefoot is a virtuoso guitarist and a composer. Noted for fusion and downright wackiness, he has been called a heavy metal version of Frank Zappa. He is known not only as a musician, having also produced albums for many artists of different musical genres.<P>Bumblefoot says that the first five KISS albums, the Manowar album Battle Hymns, and any of The Beatles' albums had the greatest impact on him when he was younger.<P>Bumblefoot's first major recording was a track on Shrapnel Records' compilation CD "Ominous Guitarists From the Unknown" in 1992, where he did a guitar version of Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu. He released two more CDs on the Shrapnel label. First was the mostly instrumental album The Adventures of Bumblefoot, where he displayed his eclectic style of rhythms and soloing. His second CD was completely different than the first, more lyrically focused and influenced by grunge, but still with guitar solos. After two albums with Shrapnel, Ron Thal adopted the name Bumblefoot and started his own production company Hermit Inc on which he released three musically diverse CDs -- Hands, Uncool (2 versions) and 9-11. He also released a compilation album with cuts that didn't make it onto the previous albums for various reasons. He continues to record solo albums, but spends more time producing for other artists as well as raising money for multiple sclerosis research.<P>Well Bumblefoot's not as weird as Buckethead. And I suppose Axl's getting these guys because they're good.