Recently Composed Music Featured Article What Would Life Be Like Without Steve Vai aka Little Stevie Vai by Mike Liebner

Steve Vai and I go back a long way... Well, it's not like we know each other, but in the scheme of things, Steve and the music he has played on has had a tremendous impact on me and goes back way to the days when he was playing guitar with Frank Zappa. Steve is one of the few musicians that could put out an album and there would be a 99.9% chance it would be great! Few hold that status. Steve Vai definitely does!

This isn't going to be a Steve Vai discography or an article filled with exact dates and a bibliography, but rather written off the cuff so I can get the true flavor of what I feel about this mastermind of guitar playing.

Yes, it's true, when all is said and done Steve Vai is the king of pyrotechnic guitar slinging. He can shred and play notes like nobody else can. But it is Steve's style and musicality that makes him more than a two handed neck tapping guitar God. He is a true virtuoso and musical genius.

Little Stevie Vai has come a long way from the early days when I first noticed him playing with Frank Zappa. The amazing thing in retrospect is that even with the long and prolific career Steve has had putting out music, he always had that special touch and something extra even back in the earliest days, or at least the early days when he came to my attention. It's like he was really good out of the box. While it is known that Steve has studied with axe slinger Joe Satriani, I think it's safe to say Steve was a monster way before meeting Joe.

Steve has long had a huge impact on my life and my views on music. It all starts with Frank. If all you think about FZ is that he's a lewd and crude sarcastic musician, you've been missing out on the music behind the public aspects of Frank's popularity (or lack thereof).

I have been a huge Frank Zappa fan going back to my community college days (Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, CA). It was then that I discovered Frank and his music and found out it was more than just funny stuff like "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and "Titties and Beer". Sure, he was known for being crude and funny but the level of musicianship on Zappa albums and performances live was unmatched. While I may have not been a part of the flower power psychedelic anti-pop scene in the early Frank Zappa and the Mothers days, I did everything I could to catch up and absorb the great music Frank was putting out in the late seventies and early eighties.

The first Frank Zappa albums I ever owned myself was Sheik Yerbouty and Joes Garage - two masterpieces that molded the way I looked upon music then and to this day. It was more than just the shock value that interested me. It was the musicianship and the level of greatness of the players in his bands. Awesome guitars and incredible drummers made Frank's bands the true "dream fantasy bands" of our time. Frank wasn't restricted and stuck keeping a regular band. He was known for finding and developing real talent. Before Steve Vai hit the FZ scene Frank was playing along with great musicians like Adrian Belew, Terry Bozzio, Warren Cucorullo, Vinnie Colaiuta and Patrick O'Hearn. The best of the best were playing with Frank! And Steve Vai joined that elite club.

Although you have to admit that there is nothing as sensible as Frank Zappa's "Broken Hearts are for Assholes" one of the best tracks on Sheik Yerbouti, the album has more than clever jabs at society. The music jams like a mother. Especially considering how disco was taking over and popular music was getting wimpy. Frank got heavy.

I became infatuated with Frank's music and fortunately found a small circle of people who also were in awe and shared the interest in finding new Frank music, most notably bootlegs which were all over the place (if you knew where to look). Most of the people into Zappa were musicians like myself (I played guitar).

The first Zappa album that I noticed Steve Vai on was Tinseltown Rebellion and it was on this tour that I experienced my first Frank Zappa concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 80 or 81. It may have been the You Are What You Is tour, they were both very similar stylistically and those 2 albums were the first that Steve Vai played on. Rumor has it that Steve did transcriptions for Frank and he was so impressed he invited Steve to audition.

After Steve left the Zappa band to be on his own he released some albums starting around 84 or so. The first one was Flexible and I will never forget seeing Steve and band playing those songs live at local L.A. venues like FM Machine. Some of the gigs even featured Zappa alumni like Tommy Mars playing with Steve. Man those were the days! I look back fondly and remember what a great impact those live shows had on me.

I also fondly remember a NAMM show in the 80's where Steve jammed at the Disneyland Hotel for a small group of lucky people who snagged passes. Oh yeah, I remember the year before that when Steve Vai and Joe Satriani both played together at NAMM. I actually have a cassette recording of that somewhere (if it has survived). We also got recordings of the FM Machine shows but they were on shitty handheld cassette recorders and back then the quality was not so hot. Can you say "analog peak distortion"??? That didn't stop us from listening to those to death! I'll have to find those tapes and dump them to digital some day before they get old (or I do)! Steve, if you read this, maybe you have the "board recordings" and want to make someone's day :'> Those shows were the best ever!

Well, that's about it for my life with Zappa and Vai. Naturally I have been a big fan and have followed Steve's career snagging every CD he has released. They all smoke and are never a disappointment. That's a tough task considering that Passion and Warfare and others are among the best albums ever! Also, Steve has played on some pretty good albums with other artists... David Lee Roth (Hot Dog and a Shake) and Alcatraz were notably good. Others too... Rock on Steve! Keep the music coming!

Beginner Guitar Lessons Resources:

Excellent Steve Vai Discography - the lowdown on Steve and his career

Steve Vai Guitar Styles and Techniques - the greatest guitar hero of all is Steve Vai and you can learn his styles and techniques with the help of his book!