When it comes to guitar slingers, Steve Vai is definitely one of a kind. A graduate from the school of Frank Zappa, his credibility could only go up from there, and it did as he enjoyed colorful stints with David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. But it’s as a soloist, beginning with the release of Flex-Able in 1984, where the guitarist has been able to raise the bar on his craft and artistry. All of the solo albums have been written, produced, and engineered by Vai, which goes to show you how hands-on he is. He’s also appeared as a guest artist on more than 40 albums and created music for films, video games, sports teams, corporations, you name it. When it comes to laying down tracks, everything is considered and nothing is off limits.
In recent years, Vai has teamed up with other guitarists on package tours, like G3 with Joe Satriani and Experience Hendrix. His latest joint venture, Generation Axe, is a little different in that Vai and each of the four other players — Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tosin Abasi — play their own sets before the five come together and start, to paraphrase Robert Fripp, “shredding the wallpaper.” As Vai tells me in the following interview, this is something entirely new and different he’s dreamt of doing for years. For a guy popping with ideas, constantly in motion, redefining the instrument and continuing to push the envelope as a virtuoso guitarist, visionary, composer and producer, you could say Steve Vai is fulfilling every dream he’s ever had. And possibly some he’s yet to have.
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