One of my fondest memories of the decade I spent in southern California was my sojourn with good buddy Barry Ginsbarg to catch the final world tour performance of guitarist/composer Steve Vai at the House of Blues in LA. This would have been around 1996, I believe. Having cut his teeth as a teen as Frank Zappa’s transcriptionist, Vai soon developed into that rarest of musical breeds — a schooled neo-classical shredder who essentially built an entire career as a solo rock instrumentalist.
Vai’s participation in the conventional rock world is pretty much limited to a mid-80s quickie as Yngwie Malmsteen’s replacement in Alcatrazz, a four-year stint as David Lee Roth’s lead man, and his glam-rock pinnacle in Whitesnake. Thankfully, Vai had the confidence and the chops to strike out out on his own fairly early in his career, and he’s produced an impressive body of work, showing no signs of slowing down. His music is diverse, fluid, innovative, and most importantly to me, inspiring.
In Teeth of the Hydra, Vai is showing off his latest toy, a custom Ibanez called The Hydra. After watching Vai’s performance above, if the instrument piques your interest here’s some more grist for your mill:
