Joe Satriani is one of the foremost "guitar shredders," a guitarist whose lightning speed virtuosity is matched by his vast theoretical knowledge and musical imagination. The New York six-string demon kicked around as a sideman for a long time before…

Led by virtuosic guitarist/composer Steve Morse, the Dixie Dregs (later simply the Dregs) added a new wrinkle to jazz-rock fusion in its mid-'70s heyday by throwing in a touch of Allmans-influenced country flavor. Morse's guitar and Allen Sloan's fid…

Steve Vai first came to public attention as Frank Zappa's "stunt guitarist" in the 1980s. Vai's incredible dexterity and musical acumen made him the thinking man's guitar hero. Striking out on his own, the fleet-fingered Vai released a series of solo…

Along with Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, guitar legend Jeff Beck first made his mark with English blues-rockers The Yardbirds in the 1960s. And like the others, he gained greater popularity after he left the band. One of rock's great instrumentalists,…

Dream Theater may not have been the very first to combine heavy metal's biting guitars with progressive rock's complex structures and virtuosic displays, but they were certainly at the vanguard of the prog-metal paradigm in the late '80s. By the '90s…

Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen is considered one of the most technically proficient guitarists in rock history. Thought of by many as the king of shredding--the high-speed, ultra-precise style of metal guitar soloing--Malmsteen combines he…

Initially inspired by the heavy rock of Led Zeppelin and Cream, Rush relied on Geddy Lee's high, Robert Plant-like vocals, Neil Peart's Carl Palmer-on-steroids drumming, and Alex Lifeson's guitar heroics for their explosive power-trio sound. As the 1…

b. 22 July 1954, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. After learning the drums at a very early age, Di Meola was inspired by the Beatles to take up the guitar, at the age of nine. Private lessons continued until, at the age of 15, he was performing in a C&W…

One of the longest running and most prolific of hard rock/proto-heavy-metal bands, Deep Purple appeared in the wake of the psychedelic era, sporting a harder sound than anything that had come before. The classic 1970s lineup (featuring virtuoso guita…

The virtuoso jazz fusion unit Tribal Tech was formed in 1984 by guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis debuting a year later with Spears Over the course of subsequent efforts including 1987s Dr Hee 1990s Nomad and 1992s Illicit both Hender…

From their first Syd Barrett-led psych-pop record to their concept albums and elaborately presented live shows of the 1970s, these space-rock pioneers reached unprecedented heights of commercial and aesthetic success. Their '73 opus, DARK SIDE OF THE…

Without Cream, rock as we know it might sound very different today. The London-based band were only together for a brief couple years (1966-1968), but their success opened the door for subsequent generations of blues-rockers and power trios. The jazz…

The longest-running prog-rock group in the business, Yes flew on the strength of Jon Anderson's high, angelic voice and the group's instrumental virtuosity. The band began in England, rising from the ashes of pop-psych outfits like Tomorrow, Bodast, …

Joe and Rose Maphis were a popular husband-and-wife act in the late 40s and early 50s singing traditional material backed by the amazing instrumental talent of Joe who played everything with strings on it especially the twin-neck guitar The honky-ton…

Van Halen rode the crest of 1970s riff-rock into 1980s abandon. Always able to produce a smile and a killer hook, their songs captured a West Coast attitude that combined Eddie Van Halen's guitar gymnastics and the high-energy antics of vocalist Davi…

Jordan Rudess has the distinction of taking classical piano training at the Juilliard School of Music at nine years old Rudess has played with Steve Morse both in his solo career and in Dixie Dregs He has also recorded with David Bowie Annie Haslam a…

In the 1980s, many assumed blues rock was left for dead, but Stevie Ray Vaughan helped breath life back into it. More than a straight-ahead bluesman, Texas-native Vaughan was influenced as much by Jimi Hendrix as he was by Otis Rush, and the singer/…

b. Merle Robert Travis, 29 November 1917, Rosewood, Kentucky, USA, d. 20 October 1983, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA. Travis was the son of a tobacco farmer but by the time he was four years old, the family had moved to Ebenezer, Kentucky, and his father …

Queen embodied 1970s glam rock--mixing heavy riffs and intricate vocal harmonies with a gender-bending image. Freddie Mercury's operatic voice and Brian May's guitar were multi-tracked ad infinitum to create pomp-rock in the grandest sense. In the '8…