Nothing gives a musician an inferiority complex quicker than a phone that doesn’t ring.

An ambitious picker practices relentlessly until he feels raw perfection has been achieved, then takes advantage of every opportunity to play in public. The word spreads quickly about his proficiency level. He waits for audition offers, but his self-esteem takes a devastating jolt when no one calls.

Guitar master Rich Fabec of Anna doesn’t have that problem. His phone is ringing off the hook all day long, just the way he likes it.

“How can I complain? I get to make a living playing music,” the 44-year-old said.

Fabec recently became the newest member of long-time area band The Egyptian Combo, which had a national hit in 1964 with “Gale Winds.”

A few months earlier, he agreed to join Steve Hornbeak and The Main Street Players, a music variety show that touches all genres. A native of Tamms, Hornbeak is a keyboardist that has worked with Faith Hill, John Michael Montgomery and Lee Greenwood.

“I’m the hardest working guitarist in Southern Illinois,” Fabec said. “I get lots of calls because I’m able to play a lot of different styles and do it convincingly. I don’t learn a song just well enough to get by; I pour my heart and soul into everything I do. I’ve got an easy-going attitude and I’m willing to work hard. My mindset is let’s work together and make it sound great.”

Fabec’s main focus, however, is with the powerhouse Rich Fabec Band, a three-piece outfit that plays a blistering array of blues, roadhouse country, redneck Southern rock and monster jams. Frequently, they mesh two styles to create a refreshing new sound.

Fabec has released three independent albums with the band, including the most recent effort, “RFB3.”

“Our first two albums sold pretty well. We even sold a few in Europe,” Fabec said. “The latest album has done amazingly well. We’ve sold copies in Poland, Russia and Australia. To think that music recorded in Anna, Ill., reaches people halfway around the world is mind blowing.”

The trio is comprised of bass guitarist Phil Carstens of Marion, drummer Eric Woolard of Wolf Lake and Fabec.

Artists influencing the band are blues superstars Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Cream and the Allman Brothers. Fabec can flawlessly cover material made famous by Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule and ZZ Top’s Bill Gibbons.

Fabec said fans are attracted to the uniqueness of the band.

“We are not your standard blues band. We color outside the lines of what blues really is,” Fabec confessed. “We throw quite a few curve balls during the night. We might take a classic blues song and mix in a Black Sabbath run in the middle or a Rush riff at the end. We like to mix it up.”

The Rich Fabec Band will be playing HerrinFesta Italiana at 7 p.m. on May 24, followed by Cache River at 8:15 p.m. The two local groups will serve as the opening act for classic rock headliner The Guess Who.

“We are so excited to part of HerrinFesta. The tradition of the event is awesome,” Fabec said. “I’ve heard musicians say the size of a crowd doesn’t matter to them, but I get pumped up when I look out and see 5,000 screaming fans. It makes you want to crank it up to the next level.”

Big shows are nothing new to this act. They appear annually at the Blues, Bikes & BBQ motorcycle rally in Fayetteville, Ark.

Fabec said fate brought him to Union County and his faith kept him there.

Raised just outside of Pittsburgh, Fabec earned a Jazz Master Scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston at age 17. In 1990, he migrated to Nashville and played in a wide range of bands.

In 1995, he was playing with a band at a casino in Mississippi. The guitarist for another band playing the same venue had a family emergency and the band leader for Wild Horses invited Fabec to fill in for a couple weeks.

During that period, Wild Horses would relocate its world headquarters to The Sweetwater Saloon in Golconda and Fabec came along for the ride.

“Two weeks turned into three years,” Fabec said, laughing.

Fabec would eventually quit the band, fall in love with his wife of the past 15 years, Sonya, and relocate to Anna. For a long period, his only musical outlet was leading the praise and worship band at a local church. He eventually discovered giving guitar lessons didn’t provide adequate income to raise a family and pay bills.

He had to go back on the road again. And the pedal has been to the metal for the past decade.

Fabec’s plate is literally overflowing. In addition to his three bands, he gives guitar lessons at Byassee Music in Marion on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. He teaches at Shawnee Community College on Wednesday and leads Sunday praise and worship service at the Herrin Presbyterian Church.

“I don’t have a problem playing music in nightclubs on Saturday and leading praise and worship service on Sunday,” he said. “I don’t do anything in a bar that I wouldn’t do in church.”

Fabec said he has written material for a new album the band will record and release later this year.

VINCE HOFFARD can be reached at 618-658-9095 or vincehoffard@yahoo.com.