Fredrik Åkesson

Åkesson has been playing guitar since the age of 12. His early musical influences include Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum, Gary Moore, and George Lynch. Marcel Jacob, founder of Talisman, held auditions in 1992 to find a new guitar player after Jason Bieler left them to play with Saigon Kick; the 19-year-old Åkesson was selected for the position. He spent almost four years with Talisman and after five records decided to leave them for a heavier outfit. Åkesson, Mats Levén, John Levén, and Rickard Evensand formed a band called Eyeball who would later change their name to Southpaw. In 1998, Åkesson appeared on two albums: Southpaw's debut album and Naïve by Clockwise. He also recorded a version of Journey's classic "Send Her My Love" with Clockwise for a tribute album that was never released. Åkesson returned to record and tour with Talisman. They worked on two new studio efforts: Cats and Dogs (2003) and 7 (2006) plus a live album called Five Men Live (2005) which was released on DVD as World's Best Kept Secret. In 2004, Åkesson filled in for Tiamat guitarist Thomas Petersson on tour and was featured in The Church of Tiamat DVD release in 2006. He also appeared on the Sabbtail album Night Church, again with Mats Levén.

Åkesson co-wrote two tracks on the album Optimus by John Norum and appeared in the recordings. …