Steve Vai, a Shredder with Brains, to Play the Egg on Nov. 5

ALBANY – The first song on multi-million selling guitarist Steve Vai’s latest album Inviolate is called “Teeth of the Hydra.”  It was recorded on a custom guitar he created that has two headstocks, three necks, 13 sympathetic harp strings, and lives up to its name. In mythology, the Hydra is a many-headed beast that, when it has a part severed, it regenerates. In biology, the genus Hydra are small freshwater organisms that also have regenerative ability. They do not appear to die of old age, or to age at all. 

He explains his motivation to write “Teeth of the Hydra. “That’s just something that came that I knew I needed to accomplish. I had to manifest that vision, so to speak.”

He continues, “I knew I had to create something with the Hydra that sounded like a real piece of music that couldn’t be just a novelty. How do you know when you’ve got something that’s special like that? What does your inner self tell you?”  

I asked him to elaborate on that statement.  

“Well, to define the word special you have to understand that it needs to be special to you first, not special to the rest of the world. Special in comparison to anything you’ve done before.” 

Steve’s music is outside my wheelhouse. It’s intellectual shredding. So, I was surprised at how much fun we had in our interview. I shouldn’t have been. This guy has had an amazing career. He’s a virtuoso guitarist, composer, and producer with more than 40 years in the industry. He’s sold more than 15 million records and won three Grammy Awards. He’s recorded with Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, and many more. He’s in the midst of a bone-crushing tour of more than 100 dates.  

His interview schedule alone would exhaust most musicians. I asked him why he agrees to do so many interviews. It’s unusual for somebody in his league to do an interview with somebody like me. I mean, I’m not Rolling Stone. I’m not a big deal, especially in his world. His answer? “Well, perhaps, I’m not as big a deal as you think I am.” And he chuckled. 

He began his career as a “stunt” guitarist for Frank Zappa when he was 18. “I was very young. You can imagine at 18, you’re unconscious at the time. I was so naive and innocent in a way, and he was FRANK ZAPPA. So, I was like a sponge. And so much of how I managed my career was the way I saw Frank work.”  

“My perspective has changed through the years. In the early years, bigger was better. Or at least I thought so, because ‘bigger’ represented a psychological feeling of accomplishment, and there’s something nice about a big audience. And then as the years went on, I discovered I don’t need to be any more famous. I don’t need any more money. I just want to play. Then, it was the freedom to enjoy all the different settings.” 

He elaborated on why he was talking to me. “This show is fantastic for people that love this kind of thing, and if they come, they’ll have an incredible experience. That’s one of the reasons I do the press. When I get a chance to talk to a 78-year-old guy whose doing as well as you, that’s a treat also.” 

I told him that it was a treat for me, too. I didn’t expect him to be like this at all. I’ve done 7000 interviews in my career, and he’s from a different planet than I am, and yet I found a strong connection.  

“At the end of the day, we’re just people.”  

Then, I asked Steve if there was any question nobody ever asks him that he wished they would. 

“Aha. Well, I guess I’ll know that when they ask me.” 

I told him he was skirting the question. What would he like to say? Here’s his chance to pitch the concert. Talk to me about why I should go see him. 

“Well, first of all, the sound of a melodious guitar resonates with some people. And when you come to a concert of music, you’re gonna hear melodious guitar, beautiful melody and also a ferocious kind of shredding. But it’s an enjoyable experience because the band loves what they do. I love what they do. I love the audience. It’s an opportunity to get out and just experience something different, and leave the world aside for a couple of hours and embrace an elixir of melodious guitar playing.” 

I was frankly surprised that he isn’t an elitist. He’s played with so many great artists including Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Steve Lukather. How does he feel about who he plays with? He must be able to cherry pick who he wants to play with, right? 

“Yeah, everybody has that opportunity when you think about it. I always look at a situation or an offer, an invitation when it comes along, and the first thing I ask myself is ‘can you contribute appropriately here?’ Is this something that resonates with you, that you feel you can contribute in a creative way that satisfies them and me, and then I go from there. And sometimes it’s no, and sometimes it’s I don’t know. I gotta check it out, but sometimes it’s a yes, yes, yes.” 

Steve Vai plays The Egg’s Hart Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here. For more information, visit www.theegg.org.