C.B. Hudson

Charles Britton "C.B." Hudson III (born October 8, 1974 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American musician best known as the being the lead guitarist of the rock band Blue October from 2000 to 2010. Hudson grew up in Dallas and received his first guitar on his 10th birthday. He was influenced by MTV, was a fan of heavy metal and early on was influenced by guitarists Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Satriani, and Eric Johnson. Later, Hudson explored the music of jazz guitarists such as Norman Brown and George Benson. Hudson played lead guitar in the jazz band at Lake Highlands High School, and upon graduating, he attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, earning a degree in psychology in 1999. He then decided to continue his education and enrolled in the MBA program. In October 2000, Hudson was having lunch at the Kismet Caf├® in San Marcos and met Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October. Hudson introduced himself and passed along his demo recording to Furstenfeld. Hudson auditioned for the band, and was invited to be lead guitarist. Hudson''s first concert with Blue October was December 9, 2000 at Lion''s Pavilion in San Marcos. At the end of the Fall 2000 semester, Hudson left grad school with nine hours remaining on his degree, and joined Blue October''s Consent to Treatment tour.