If you really want to know, MAD Magazine, EC Comics, rockabilly, Fender Telecasters, Gretsch hollowbody guitars, cars with fins, and The Clash have shaped me into the man I am today. However, here’s a little more detailed list, in no particular order, for “prospective employers”.
Music
Rockabilly, blues, classic country, americana, lounge/lo-fi and exotica, roots rock, surf, western swing, the SUN records catalog, power pop, 70’s punk rock, film soundtracks.
Bands
X, The Clash, The Beat Farmers, Los Lobos, Blasters, Generation X, Johnny Cash, Neko Case, Flat Duo Jets, Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin, Gene Vincent, Johnny Thunders, Blondie, The Alarm, Hank Williams Sr, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Derailers, Dwight Yoakam, Alejandro Escovedo, Dick Dale, Link Wray, The Cramps, Lone Justice, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Ramones, Rollin’ Rock Records, Ray Price, The Replacements, Marty Robbins, Webb Wilder, Reverend Horton Heat, Eddie Cochran, Stray Cats and anyone who’s an excellent songwriter – I’m not going to mention Bob Dylan or The Beatles, because they should be required listening without fail.
Guitarists
Luther Perkins, Billy Zoom, Tony Gilkyson, Link Wray, Don Rich, Robert Johnson, Ry Cooder, Poison Ivy, Kid Congo Powers, Dexter Romweber, Cliff Gallup, Paul Burlison or Grady Martin – you decide, Dave Alvin, Mick Jones, Mick Ronson, George Harrison, Pete Anderson, Mike Campbell, Slim Dunlap, Merle Travis, Brian Setzer, Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, Danny Gatton, James Calvin Whilsey.
Note that this list can get exhaustively long in a hurry, so I’m just listing things as they come to me and in no particular order. I like, love and have been influenced by loads of other stuff, and you never know how and when it’s going to come out so don’t be afraid to ask!