We'll be having a listening party in the Vai.com chat room - please join us!

You can contact De Vinyl Code at: devinylcode@nps.nl

Listen online via the De Vinyl Code website! You can also visit De Vinyl Code on their MySpace page.

In lieu of this, Steve will be presenting an extended question and answer session with the audience to make up for the lack of meet and greet.  

We would also like to again state that Steve's appearance in Israel is for his Alien Guitar Secrets Master Class - and not a concert.

An illustrious list of patrons including Sir George Martin, Jeff Beck, Paul Oakenfold, Simon Napier-Bell and Steve Vai join Berklee in bringing online education opportunities to the UK.

Steve will discuss his technique and take part in a question and answer session as part of the NGW's Rock Summit.

- Sat Jun 20 - Tiel, HOLLAND: Twentietow
- Sat Jun 27 - Neustadt A.d. Aisch, GERMANY: Meinl Guitar Festival
- Tue Jun 30 - Tel-Aviv, ISRAEL: Culture Palace

For more information or to purchase in advance, contact export@carvin.com. VL2100 heads are available on a first come basis. Arrangements must be made prior to the master class and a non-refundable deposit of 50% must be submitted to guarantee the purchase. Purchase price is $1200USD/ea.

When Steve embarks on his next tour every effort will be made to include a visit to Israel for concerts with his band. For general information on the structure and content of Steve's Alien Guitar Secrets Master Classes, visit our Alien Guitar Secrets info page. If you have questions, feel free to ask them on the Vai.com Message Board in our FAQ thread.

The dates are:

June 18: Lisbon, PORTUGAL - Centro cultural Olga Cadaval    Tickets
June 19: Madrid, SPAIN - Auditorio del AIE , C/Torrelara 8, Madrid    Tickets
June 20: Tiel, NETHERLANDS - Twentietoe    Tickets
June 21: Roermond, NETHERLANDS - Muzikaza    Tickets
June 23: Aarburg, SWITZERLAND - Moonwalker Music Club    Tickets
June 27: Neustadt A.d. Aisch, GERMANY - Meinl Guitar Festival    Tickets

For more information, visit the Tour Dates page. For a general information page on the Alien Guitar Secrets Master Classes, click here.

Tickets are on sale now and available here.

In addition to the master class, Steve will join Andy Timmons for an "All Star Jam" in the Meinl Guitar Festival main stage.

On Back From the Dead, Tap members David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls unearth their long-self-suppressed studio versions of the classic songs from the movie "This is Spinal Tap," as well as six new additional songs, and an exclusive hour long accompanying DVD featuring a track-by-track video commentary by the band. Back From The Dead also features guest appearances by Phil Collen, Keith Emerson, John Mayer and Steve Vai. "This album title says it all. We're back from the dead. But we weren't dead. But we definitely are back," proclaimed Hubbins.

This will be Steve's first appearance in Israel, and he's excited to visit.

Steve Vai - Alien Guitar Secrets Master Class
Date: June 30th
Venue: Culture Palace, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Tickets - On sale to be announced.

We will announce more Alien Guitar Secrets Master Classes in Europe in the coming days - so check back often..

May 03 - Olbia - Auditorium Museo Archeologico Nautico Tel. +39-349.4626044

The issue also includes a Steve Vai Master Class lesson, along with transcriptions of "The Attitude Song" and "Yankee Rose."

April 19 - Montebelluna (TV) - Essemusic

Please also note that the venue for the April 29th Masterclass has changed. The new details are:

April 29 - Sarzana (SP) - Jux Tap

Visit the Tour Dates page for more information.

To view this video in high quality, click here. You can check out this and other videos at Steve's official YouTube Channel.

May 1st - Roma - Stazione Birra

Visit the Tour Dates page for more information.

Congratulations to Dweezil, Steve, Napoleon and the band!

April 29th - La Spezia - Centro Culturale Dialma Ruggiero - 9.00 pm

Visit the Tour Dates page for more information.

April 30th - Torreano di Martignacco (UD), - THE GROOVE FACTORY

The following dates are confirmed so far, but check back soon as we plan to add more dates to the itinerary. Please note that ticketing for each master class in Italy will be handled by the venue hosting the master class. Please contact the venue for more information about tickets.

April 18th - Reggio Emilia - VENUE TO BE CONFIRMED
April 19th - Pistoia - TEATRO BOLOGNINI
April 20th - Milano - ACCADEMIA DEL SUONO
April 22nd - Montegranaro - TEATRO LA PERLA
April 23rd - Roccaforzata - GO WEST SALOON
April 24th - Caserta - TEATRO COMUNALE

Visit the special ALIEN GUITAR SECRETS page for more information and FAQ. You can also post questions about the masterclass on our special Message Board thread HERE.

Previously available only through digital download, Naked Tracks Vol. 1-5, is a series of recording packages that contain mixes of Steve's songs without the lead guitars. They are offered as "play along tracks." Included are select backing tracks from Passion and Warfare, Sex & Religion, Alien Love Secrets, Fire Garden, The Ultra Zone, Alive In An Ultra World, Real Illusions: Reflections and others.

Among the goodies up for grabs is a Jem777VDY - used both live and in the studio, this yellow Jem was given to an assistant of Steve's a few years back. In recent times this guitar came back into Steve's possession, and we now make it available for you. We are open to serious offers on this guitar ahead of it appearing on Ebay. Email us at talk2us[at]vai.com with offers or inquiries.

Also up for grabs are a set of DiMarzio prototype pickups, Jem necks, used pedals, straps, amps and more!

Check back in the coming days for a list of gear and photos.

So sorry for the delay in giving you an update.
I've been re-arranging my sock draw for the last year, as it just couldn't wait any longer.

I have also been feverishly at work... well, taking it easy to a degree, on a new DVD that was shot on the last US tour in Minneapolis with the "String Theory" band. You remember? You were there right? I am mixing the audio soup right now and adding the hot chipotle sauce as we speak.

Jason Becker still has a strong desire to compose, despite paralysis from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gherig's disease), and Collection not only contains some of Jason's favorite moments from his Shrapnel and David Lee Roth recordings, it also features three new Becker compositions, each as impressive as anything he has recorded in the past. Jason has enlisted some of the largest names in instrumental guitar music and has as many as three guitarists per track trading off riveting performances - including Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Michael Lee Firkins, Marty Friedman and Greg Howe. Collection is exactly the kind of record that Becker fans have been waiting for.

If you're a regular user, feel free to log into the new board and play with some of the features. If you're a user who hasn't posted or visited in a while, we'd love to see you back!

We will be making other changes based on your feedback, and will be conducting a number of polls on things you'd like to see, likes and dislikes, etc.

During the migration, occasionally some passwords don't transfer. If you attempt to log into the new message board and it won't accept your password, you can use the "Forgot My Password" function, and re-set your password. If you have further problems that can't be resolved this way, feel free to email us at: messageboards(at)vai.com

The address for the new board will be: http://www.vai.com/messageboard

Thanks, and see you on the message board!

The film was directed by Rick Bieber and co-produced by Steve Vai, and stars Waylon Payne (Walk The Line) and Ali Larter (Heroes). Steve makes a cameo appearance as Hank Williams, and Tony MacAlpine makes a cameo as Wes Montgomery.

Congratulation and thanks to the winning bidder, and thanks also to everyone who bid on the auction.

One lucky winner will receive a one hour private guitar lesson with Steve Vai at a date, time, and location to be determined in Los Angeles, CA.

Naked Tracks Vol. 1 - 5 are available now for download through your favorite online music retailer. A physical 5 CD package of Naked Tracks will be available through Vai.com in October.

Says Steve of the pedal:
"You're stomping all over my brilliant idea, but that's OK, you're supposed to.
The goal was to create a schizophrenic type distortion pedal that allows you to have two different settings with two different sounding distortion pedals, all wrapped up in a psyco-delic bullet proof package. Now you can get your dirty little groove on in public... legally.
Stomp on!"

Check out the demonstration video in high quality on our special Vai.com homepage. We encourage you to share this great video with your friends and post it to your blog or MySpace page through Steve's official YouTube channel.

Dates are as follows:

Oct. 14: Clinic and Autograph Session in Novosibirsk
Oct. 16: Clinic and autograph session in Ekateriburg
Oct. 18: Clinic and autograph session in St. Petersburg
Oct. 20: Clinic and autograph session in Saktyvkar
Oct. 22: Clinic and autograph session in Samara
Oct. 24: Clinic and autograph session in Ryazan
Oct. 25: Clinic and autograph session in Moscow
Oct. 26: Clinic in Donetsk
Oct. 27: Autograph session in Donetsk
Oct. 28: Clinic and autograph session in Kiev

We will announce venue information some time next week, so check back soon!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Jerry L. Nash
2ND PRIZE WINNER: Tara Torello-McClanahan
3RD PRIZE WINNER: John Persinger

Get blown away with guitar slinger Steve Vai's reflective "For The Love of God," experience influential guitarist Joe Satriani's soulful hit, "Surfing with the Alien," and feel the avant-garde compositions of underground rock's eccentric guitarist, Buckethead, as he shreds "Soothsayer," at hyper-speed.