JOE SATRIANI’S “G4 EXPERIENCE 2016” WILL TAKE PLACE IN LONG ISLAND, N.Y. DURING THE SUMMER AND WILL FEATURE GUITARISTS ERIC JOHNSON, ALEX SKOLNICK, MIKE KENEALLY AND STEVE VAI
Guitarist Joe Satriani has posted the following message at his official website:
“I’ve got something very cool in store for you next year. It’s also something we haven’t done yet with the G4 Experience.
“The G4 Experience in 2016 will literally take me back home. In the past two years, we did this up in beautiful Cambria, CA. However, we started looking at the East Coast for a variety of cool reasons.
When the idea of Long Island came up, I thought it would be interesting because of the obvious connection. Funny enough, Glen Cove Mansion, where we’ll be August 8th-12th, 2016, is very close to where I’m from. Once we chose the spot, the 2016 G4 Experience took on a very special meaning. We never repeat the same formula, but this homecoming really helped us reshape next year’s camp.
Obviously, I grew up in Westbury, Long Island, but there’s more to it than that. When I was a 14-year-old budding guitar player, I started my career at high school dances in the surrounding towns. At 16, I was playing bars in the area. At 17, I was doing weekend road trips to The Hamptons and performing at the clubs there.
My whole musical foundation-even starting on the drums at the age of nine-centers around that area. I have so many family and friends there. Steve Vai and I became best friends back in high school. There’s just this special concentration of likeminded guitar players.
Now, we’re inviting you into that circle…
At the end of the day, we all love connecting with other musicians. We want this to be fun, but we’ll transfer the most information you could ever get. This is our chance to grow together as players.
Of course, we’ll be performing every night. It’s like the performance we’d do anywhere around the world. The only difference is it’s super intimate. I can happily say that this is a huge leap forward from the typical guitar clinic experience. I love that!”
Joining Joe at the The G4 Experience will be Eric Johnson, Mike Keneally, Alex Skolnick and special guest appearance by Steve Vai.
Learn more and register today at g4experience.com.
If there’s any of you that haven’t seen Eric Johnson live, or even know his music, and if you love great guitar playing, do yourself a favor and catch him live. I saw him for the first time in Austin around 25 years ago with my dad and my brother and all three of us were blown away. That was during the time Eric had put out his album AH VIA MUSICOM. Eric has such a fluid style, extremely melodic and his fingers fly across the fretboard almost effortlessly, it seems.
Ah Via Musicom is my favorite Eric Johnson album. If you are not familiar with his music, buy this one first.
D 🙂
I find Johnson, while technically brilliant, kind of a dull songwriter.
I’d much rather see someone like Eric Gales be a part of these things. Crazy skilled guitarist, and he plays a right handed strung guitar left handed. Much more soul and feeling than people like Johnson or Bonamassa conjure up.
I can understand that Michael,
But I still think Ah Via Musicom is his best album. Also, I admire Johnson’s attention to perfecting his tone.
D 🙂
Michael,
Eric Johnson’s tone is amazing. His style is so fluid. I’m with Dana on AH VIA MUSICOM. It’s a beautiful album. Yeah, it has such a slick production job and Eric’s style is extremely melodic and meticulous. It’s not an aggressive album at all. It’s very easy to listen to, even when he’s really cutting loose on his solos. That’s mainly to do with his tone, which is very ” Strat” sounding, especially the clean parts, and the production. “Righteous” is a great guitar workout. And there’s some cool, kinda laid back stuff on that album that I love, such as “Desert Rose” and “East Wes” Maybe it’s too laid back for some people. Maybe because his songwriting style is so meticulous and precise, to some it can seem a little dull. I think that album is incredible though.
But I agree with you 100 % about how great Eric Gales is. The band with him and Dug from Kings X, PINNICK, GALES PRIDGEN, is outstanding. He doesn’t get near the respect he deserves and you’re right that he should be on a tour like Joe’s put together. Great call there my friend! As a guitarist myself, it’s amazing seeing and hearing him play like he does. Maybe Joe can expand the show and add Eric Gales and change it to “G5 EXPERIENCE 2016” instead.
James,
I love Desert Rose, and find Johnson’s voice, sweet and soothing.
D 🙂