Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir

Description

Go behind the scenes with the musician The New York Times called "a guitar God!" Oft-hailed as the Jimi Hendrix of his generation, living guitar legend Joe Satriani has long transcended stylistic boundaries with a sound that raises the bar like a new horizon for the broader genre of instrumental guitar rock. Joe's 6-string secrets have astounded listeners around the world for nearly 30 years. In Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir, Satriani and coauthor, music biographer Jake Brown, take fans on their first authorized tour of the story behind his climb to stardom and the creative odyssey involved in writing and recording a storied catalog of classics including "Surfing with the Alien," "Summer Song," "Satch Boogie," "Always With Me, Always With You," "The Extremist," "Flying in a Blue Dream," "Crowd Chant," and more. Featuring previously unpublished photos and hours of exclusive, firsthand interviews with Satriani, Strange Beautiful Music offers a unique look inside the studio with Joe, giving fans a chance to get up close and personal like never before.

For three decades, Joe Satriani, the biggest-selling instrumental rock guitarist in the Soundscan era, has traveled the world, playing to sold-out crowds both as a headliner and as founder of the all-star "G3" guitar extravaganza. His studio and live recordings have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Of his 14 solo albums, two have gone platinum and four others went gold, with 15 Grammy nominations between them. In 1988, Mick Jagger invited Joe to perform as lead guitarist on his first solo tour, and in 1994, Joe toured with Deep Purple as their lead guitarist. His side project, Chickenfoot, featuring former Van Halen front man Sammy Hagar and former bassist Michael Anthony, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, saw their debut album certified gold. Award-winning music biographer Jake Brown has written 35 published books in his decade-long career, featuring many authorized collaborations with some of rock's biggest artists. In 2012, Brown won the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards in the category of Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research.

"Joe has refined his own style of playing to a point where he's forever up there in the stratosphere of excellence that is reached by very few musicians." --Brian May "Every time Joe puts his fingers on a guitar, what comes out sounds like inspired music, even if its just a finger exercise. He created and branded a niche with his own voice and in so doing he wielded an entire genre." --Steve Vai "After all the times I had been on stages with Joe, been on the side of stages watching and listening to Joe, and all the times I have been in the audience cheering for Joe, I continue to have no idea how Joe does what he does." --Robert Fripp "Joe Satriani's my favorite guitar player." --Sammy Hagar