Meeting with the Alien: hangin’ with Joe Satriani backstage in Vancouver
By Steve Newton Went and saw Joe Satriani at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver last night, and holy crap was he smokin’! I must have seen Satch live around 10 […]
Search Results for: joe satriani
Joe Satriani on the intricacies of amplification and producer Mike Fraser’s “perfect set of ears”
By Steve Newton When Joe Satriani phones from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area, he apologizes right away for being a few minutes late with the scheduled call. […]
Joe Satriani compares the musical styles and backgrounds of recent G3 tourmates John Petrucci, Uli Jon Roth, and Phil Collen
By Steve Newton I interviewed Joe Satriani a couple of weeks ago, in advance of his show in Vancouver this Friday (June 1) at the Commodore Ballroom. I’ve seen Satch […]
Album review: Joe Satriani, Surfing with the Alien (1988)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 3, 1988 By Steve Newton Boy, talk about a guitarist’s wet dream! This Satriani guy comes up with some of the wildest, most innovative rock […]
Joe Satriani responds to Yngwie Malmsteen’s claim that Ibanez guitars are “a bad copy” of the Strat
By Steve Newton I did my eighth interview with Joe Satriani the other day–man, I love that guy–and finally got to ask him about something that his former G3 tourmate […]
Album review: Joe Satriani/Eric Johnson/Steve Vai G3—Live in Concert (1997)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 10, 1997 By Steve Newton Talk about a rock-guitar freak’s dream gig! Three American masters of the electric six-string unite for a tour […]
Album review: Joe Satriani, The Extremist (1992)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 10, 1992 By Steve Newton As much as I admire Kim Mitchell as a musician and songwriter, I must say that he […]
Newt’s four-word review of Joe Satriani in Vancouver last night
By Steve Newton He was freakin’ awesome! photos by Kevin Statham
Joe Satriani isn’t a Gibson man but he’s the ultimate melody maker
By Steve Newton Joe Satriani has long been known as one of the most technically proficient rock guitarists around, a speedy fretburner and masterful creator of—to use the title of […]
Joe Satriani likes Uli Jon Roth’s Sky guitar, but says 24 frets are enough for him
By Steve Newton Last month I went and saw Uli Jon Roth’s Ultimate Guitar Experience in Vancouver, and man–the things the German guitar wizard and ex-Scorp can do on his 32-fret […]
Joe Satriani’s desert islands discs are 80 percent Hendrix
By Steve Newton Last week I interviewed one of my fave guitarists, Joe Satriani, in advance of his show at Hard Rock Casino Vancouver on April 24. I’m always curious […]
Joe Satriani astounds the Newt yet again with the magical Shockwave Supernova
By Steve Newton (photo too) I’ve been a huge Joe Satriani fan since the first time I heard him, back in ’87 or so, around the time of Surfing With the […]
Chickenfoot guitarist Joe Satriani was into Humble Pie as a kid, missed out on Montrose
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, MAY 13, 2009 By Steve Newton Any self-respecting rock-guitar freak has at least a couple of Joe Satriani CDs in his or her collection. The Bay […]
The Aristocrats’ Guthrie Govan on the influence of Joe Satriani and Zal Cleminson
By Steve Newton Earlier today I interviewed guitarist Guthrie Govan, who–while not nearly as well known as the Satrianis and Vais of the world–is equally monstrous when it comes to technical […]
Joe Satriani recalls birthday boy Les Paul making fun of his whammy bar
By Steve Newton Tomorrow is a big day for fans of electric guitar: that’s the day that legendary guitarist, inventor, and innovator Les Paul would have turned 100. The celebration […]
Bay Area guitar great Will Bernard says Carlos Santana and Joe Satriani are tough to beat
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 23, 2003 By Steve Newton Will Bernard may be one of the best guitarists you’ve never heard of, but they sure know about […]
Joe Satriani makes Vancouver debut, talks guitar and life
By Steve Newton On January 25, 1990, Joe Satriani made his Vancouver debut, performing at the 86 Street Music Hall on his Flying in a Blue Dream Tour. I didn’t review that […]
Joe Satriani’s Strange Beautiful Music grew from a cathartic Hendrix experience
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 21, 2002 By Steve Newton Joe Satriani named his latest CD Strange Beautiful Music, although the music on it isn’t much stranger or […]
Joe Satriani gave Steve Morse his full endorsement to join Deep Purple
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 18, 2000 By Steve Newton I’ve yet to be bitten by the techno bug. You won’t find any discs by the Chemical Brothers […]
Joe Satriani reveals that he’s invited Clapton, Beck, and Page on G3 tours
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 25, 1997 A concert by Bay Area guitar wizard Joe Satriani is usually all it takes to transport his followers to instrumental-rock heaven, […]
Guitar wizard Joe Satriani is totally cool being The Extremist
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 29, 1992 By Steve Newton Joe Satriani doesn’t do anything halfway. Whether writing, recording, or playing live, the New York-born, San Francisco-based guitar […]
Joe Satriani’s upcoming box set is one mighty batch o’ Satch
photo by the Newt By Steve Newton The Joe Satriani show at the Vogue last year was one of my fave gigs of 2013, no surprise since Satch has been consistently blowing […]
Joe Satriani’s guitar heroics slay Vancouver, as do Mike Keneally’s
PHOTO BY THE NEWT ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, OCT. 20, 2013 By Steve Newton Guitar freaks go to Joe Satriani concerts to hear the Bay Area musician speedily blast out […]
Uli Jon Roth recalls the friction between Satriani and Schenker on the 1998 G3 European tour
By Steve Newton The day before yesterday I had a nice 20-minute chat with German guitar maestro Uli Jon Roth, who plays Vancouver next Saturday (March 19). As we were […]
Caught on tape: that time Strat fanatic Yngwie Malmsteen trash-talked Ibanez and Les Paul guitars
By Steve Newton The most popular story I ever posted on Ear of Newt was the one from 2014 with the headline Yngwie Malmsten calls Ibanez guitars “a bad copy” of […]
Album review: Yardbirds, Birdland (2003)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 8, 2003 By Steve Newton You might think, since the current version of the Yardbirds includes only two founding members of the pioneering […]
Album review: Nathan Cavaleri Band, Nathan (1994)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 22, 1994 By Steve Newton Rock-guitar wizards just keep getting younger and younger. Last year I thought I’d seen the littlest guitar […]
Album review: Alice Cooper, Hey Stoopid (1991)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 28, 1991 By Steve Newton “Hey, hey, hey, hey…hey stoopid!” Why do I keep singing that line to myself when people are within […]
Album Reviews
Aerosmith: Honkin’ on Bobo (2004) Eric Clapton: Me and Mr. Johnson (2004) Jimi Hendrix: Axis Outtakes (2003) ZZ Top: Mescalero (2003) Nickelback: The Long Road (2003) Joe Jackson Band: Volume […]
That time I called Roy Buchanan up at his house and he raved about his new Bluesmaster guitar
By Steve Newton Man, I sure have been lucky as far as interviewing great guitarists go. Sometimes–in the case of guys like Joe Satriani, Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and […]
The incredible story behind the Ear of Newt autographed guitar
By Steve Newton Back in January of 2013 when I started planning the Ear of Newt website–which I launched on Halloween night that year–I knew I had to get my […]
Rolling Stone can piss right off: here’s the 100 Greatest Guitarists (that I’ve interviewed)
By Steve Newton Google “100 greatest guitarists” these days and what shows up at the top is a total joke. It’s the high ‘n’ mighty Rolling Stone‘s list of the […]
Bass god Stu Hamm compares Satch to Vai and raves about Jaco Pastorius
By Steve Newton Way back in October of 1991 I did an interview with bassist Stu Hamm, a giant of the four-string who was best known for his work with […]
Outraged guitar freak defends Yngwie Malmsteen and rips the s*** out of my Generation Axe review
By Steve Newton Some guy named Fretfire did not totally agree with my review of the Generation Axe show in Vancouver the other night. Here’s his comment: Pathetic, Steve. I thought you […]
Generation Axe in Vancouver: 2.5 million notes and no wanking (except for Yngwie)
By Steve Newton Went to see the Generation Axe show in Vancouver last night–featuring Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tosin Abasi–and, as expected, there were a […]
Uli Jon Roth makes Vancouver debut, local guitar geeks eat it up
By Steve Newton Masterful rock guitarist Uli Jon Roth made his Vancouver debut last night (March 19), and for local fret freaks, it was well worth the wait. Scrape Records […]
Uli Jon Roth calls Yngwie Malmsteen “one of the alltime greats”, but says he’s not impressed by speed
By Steve Newton When Uli Jon Roth called me up the other day to promote his upcoming Ultimate Guitar Experience show in Vancouver, we ended up chatting about some of […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2008
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 10, 2008 By Steve Newton I still like the sound of guitars the best. Martone Clean Local rock-guitar instrumentalist Dave Martone aims for the stratosphere with […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2006
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 20, 2006 By Steve Newton Throughout 2006, as in the previous few years, an American idiot named George inspired recording artists everywhere to lambaste his […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2010
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 15, 2010 By Steve Newton Drive-By Truckers The Big To-Do “Birthday Boy” has to be the greatest rock song of the year, and it’s no surprise it […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2013
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 11, 2013 By Steve Newton Whatever happened to the Gangnam style? Gov’t Mule Shout! Mule fans got a double dose of their favourite southern-flavoured blues/jam-rock outfit […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2002
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 12, 2002 By Steve Newton My fave recorded music this year, as listed below, ranges from garage-y, instrumental prog-metal to fingerstyle acoustic-guitar wizardry, […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2000
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 14, 2000 By Steve Newton Sometimes I feel like I don’t know anything at all about popular music. Maybe you feel that way […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1998
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 17, 1998 By Steve Newton Yee-hah! I managed to make it through yet another year without having to listen to anyone named DJ […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1997
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 18, 1997 By Steve Newton There were a lot of things that sucked the biggie in the world of music this year. From […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1996
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1996 By Steve Newton Neither of my two favourite recording artists released any music in ’96, but even though I had to suffer […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1995
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1995 By Steve Newton I must have gotten tired of listening to rock vocalists in 1995, because the majority of my top picks […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1993
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 23, 1993 By Steve Newton Popular music hit an all-time low this year with the outbreak of something called gangsta rap, an ugly, […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1992
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1992 By Steve Newton I was really hoping that I’d be able to praise 1992 as the year that rap “music” finally dried […]
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2015
By Steve Newton The more I see pictures of headphone-wearing DJs alone on-stage, dickin’ around with laptops and turntables, the more I think: fvck off. Bottle Rockets South Broadway Athletic Club […]
