By Jillian Locke

“I started messing around with my sister’s acoustic when I was still a drummer around the age of 13, but switched to electric when I was 14.”

And thus began the journey of a living legend. There’s a reason Joe Satriani is one of the most revered guitarists in this day and age ~ he makes that beautiful instrument speak, scream, wail, and croon like none other. Sure, he takes his influences from text book legendary influences ~ Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Eric Clapton, Albert King, B.B. King, Wes Montgomery, Alan Holdsworth, and others ~ but what makes Satriani stand out is his unrelenting drive to go further, push the limits, and improve upon the seemingly un-improvable.

Continue his legacy, this past February saw Satriani release Live in Paris, I Just Wanna Rock, a live DVD (or Double CD) featuring a performance at The Gran Rex in Paris, France.

“The Gran Rex has this big stage, very tall and expansive, and together with the beautiful interior, it creates a wonderful feeling for a concert,” Satriani explains.

To add to the grandeur of the venue, Satriani enlisted the help of Ernesto Corti and Gunther Kutsh to give the performance extra visual vibrancy.

“Ernesto Corti created the look of the live show and worked closely with our DVD director Gunther Kutsch to meld the two worlds together. I supplied Ernesto with films and images to work into the three large LED curtains, and in turn Ernesto shared them with Gunther who worked them into the editing of the concert film.”

A sneak peak of the track “I Just Wanna Rock” is available at www.satriani.com, where the expert lighting and signature Satriani stylings can be seen.

Aside from his latest visual offering, Satriani, per usual, has been very busy contributing to the music world at large. Take his recent involvement in the rock n’ roll super-group Chickenfoot.

“I love the band, the way we write together, and play like crazy together. The DVD (Get Your Buzz On) that came out in April shows us having a great time while laying down some serious rock ‘n’ roll!”

Satriani was also one of the musicians who had the opportunity to perform on the 2010 Experience Hendrix Tour, which ran through the month of March and included other living virtuosos such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Eric Johnson, Double Trouble’s Chris Layton, and many more.

When he’s not recording or touring, Satriani is creating his signature pedals.

“The BBW is my signature wah wah pedal, and it rocks…I have two other pedals as well, the Time Machine delay unit, and the Satchurator distortion pedal. My fourth pedal, the Ice 9 Overdrive, will be coming out in a few months.”

And in true form, he is pressing forward with yet more tune-age on both the Chickenfoot and solo fronts.

As for the new solo studio album, Satriani confirms: “I’m writing for it right now, trying to move into a new creative place and trying to come up with a new sound.” Just goes to show, Satriani is a pioneer in the truest form, forever pushing the musical limits, just as his predecessors did. Stay tuned.

www.satriani.com, www.chickenfoot.us, www.experiencehendrixtour.com

This just in!  Joe will be playing the annual  Quebec City Summer Festival in Old Quebec City next July!  The amazing festival (catch a sneak peek of it in our July 2011 issue and then a full recap in our September 2011 issue ~ because once again, Pulse has been lucky enough to be invited to cover the entire party!), next year running from July 7 -17, 2011, has an incredible musical line-up, and Joe (followed by Metallica) will be taking the stage the final night of the show.  If you don’t have plans yet for July 2011, you might just want to grab some friends and head up to one of the greatest music and art festivals EVER!!!  I guarantee you’ll have a BLAST!!