SATRIANI TRIES A DIFFERENT DIRECTION ON EACH ALBUM

If there is such a thing as “the lost chord,” Joe Satriani might be the one to find it.

The elusive lost chord is like the musician’s nirvana. The striving to reach it is what keeps them going, what keeps them experimenting.

To most people aware of Satriani, he is a guitar player featured on mostly instrumental rock albums.

In his past, though, he has been a guitar instructor, a sideman for a brief time in Deep Purple and with the likes of Mick Jagger, Alice Cooper and The Greg Kihn Band, an original member of the G3 tours of established guitarists (among them Eric Johnson and Paul Gilbert), and a frequent collaborator.

Currently, he is one-fourth of a side project, Chickenfoot, with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony (both formerly of Van Halen) and Chad Smith (still with Red Hot Chili Peppers). His own albums feature a team he has painstakingly built that makes communication easier and stronger.

On his own, Satriani keeps grasp the vision to help you stay focused on what you want the end result to be.

“Just because you’re a solo artist, you can’t do it all yourself. Just because you’ve done a lot, doesn’t mean you can do it all.”

An example would be his Shockwave Supernova album.

“I told them, ‘This is what I’m planning.’ That’s the approach I take with all my producers. I let them know what I’m trying to do.”

Satriani is modest about his involvement with Chickenfoot. The others in the band have experienced bigger success, in his view, and he is just the guitarist. Some time in the future, there will be a third album.

“We feel like a band of brothers who get together once in a while,” he said. “We all have day jobs, so to speak.”

When they do get together, there is no pressure. Satriani likes that, but he also likes to lead his own search.

“The blessing and beauty of a solo artist is that you get to make all these decisions.”