In the past, G3 tours have seen many esteemed masters of shred take to the stage to thrill audiences worldwide. Players such as Steve Morse, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Uli Jon Roth, and many more have sent flurries of 32nd notes out into the ether in the name of fretboard finesse.
But way back in the mid-90s it was Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson who started the G3 ball rolling. Last year, the three reassembled for a sell-out tour that has resulted in the album G3 Reunion Live, restating their preeminent position in guitar’s hall of fame.
You could say that if members of this particular G3 incarnation were The Beatles, then Eric Johnson would almost certainly go down in history as being The Quiet One. Never one to entertain unnecessary flamboyance in his performance, the way Johnson channels his virtuosity is positively laid-back and deeply melodic.
When we settled down for our Zoom interview and asked what it was like to return to the G3 format, Johnson was – like his playing– concise and to the point: “Oh, it was pretty amazing. A nice experience, kind of like picking up where we left off, I guess…”
The success of the recent G3 tour would indicate that there is still an audience for what is, to a large extent, instrumental guitar music.
“I think that there are people that always want to learn more about the instrument, or learn how to push the envelope, whether that’s going to be their complete cup of tea or if that’s just going to be a piece of the ingredients of what they do. I think there’s a faction of people that just want to pursue what they can get out of the instrument, and there’s all different styles of music where they can find that.”
Did you, Joe, and Steve put the set together so that you complemented each other stylistically?
“Well, we kind of just put our own sets together and then we collaborated to decide what jam pieces we would do, and we arrived at those three or four songs that are on the record [as Encore Jam]. Born To Be Wild was kind of out there, but that was fun because I used to do that song when I was 13 years old. It’s one of the first songs I played in a band. So it was kind of like full circle.”
So you were playing in bands when you were just 13?
“Yeah, I joined a band and we played fraternity parties and clubs and stuff. I had to try to stay up late and my parents would have to come fetch me and take me home. But it wasn’t too out there, actually, what we did because we were all pretty young.”
What sort of music were you listening to back then?
“When I first started, I was listening to Nokie Edwards of The Ventures. That was a big influence, and then I found out about The Yardbirds and so I really started studying Jeff Beck, and then I found out about the John Mayall And The Blues Breakers [With Eric Clapton] record.
“About the same time, when I was about 14, a very close friend of mine turned me on to Wes Montgomery and I’ve been listening to him ever since. Another friend named Jim Mings, a really fine guitarist from Texas who taught me a lot about guitar, turned me on to Freddie King and BB King and Albert King about the time I was discovering The Blues Breakers record. So I started listening to those guys and kind of trying to learn that alphabet, that kind of blues inflection.”
Wes Montgomery had a wonderfully melodic style, and if you add that as an ingredient into blues playing you end up with a style that is incredibly melodic – but also it’s got that bluesy pentatonic base to it.
“Yeah, and there’s something really wonderful about the blues guitar idiom. I think it’s a wonderful style for guitar, no matter what kind of music you end up playing. That’s my feeling.
“So even if I’m going to make a pop record, I like having that little bit of intention or style of approach: your sound, or the way you stretch the strings, or vibrato or intonation. That kind of blues intention mixed in gives it a little bit of soulfulness, I guess.”
I’m still learning from Wes – he was so deep, harmonically. So that’s always hanging above my head, trying to pull down more knowledge of that all the time
When you were learning from those players, what was the most difficult thing to get right?
“I’m still learning from Wes – he was so deep, harmonically. So that’s always hanging above my head, trying to pull down more knowledge of that all the time. And Hendrix, where he would just go out on a limb and it would just be like these happy accidents that would happen that are really extremely hard to learn and recreate – that was a big influence on me.
“I think with Clapton, it was trying to get down that vibrato and also get down the tone because that would really interest me. So all of it can be a bit of a challenge, really.”
Did you transcribe solos?
“I did pick them off of records at the time. Just learning solos from Wes Montgomery and Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, learning note-for-note what they did, so I could study it and assimilate it. Then, at some point, it becomes a launching [place from which] to do your own thing.
“But, as a means to an end, I think that copying some of the people you really admire is a very healthy thing to do because it teaches you to get inside what they do and digest it, and then you can take it from there, change it to where it’s you.”
![G3 Tour 2024 [L-R]: Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson jam onstage as the three instrumental powerhouses united for a triumphant tour. The legendary Kenny Aronoff plays drums in the background.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/it2JpXE6cUqR3CoR6mSzRg-1200-80.jpg.webp)
You soon moved on from playing fraternity gigs and joined your first pro band, didn’t you?
“Well, I joined a group called Mariani. Vince Mariani, the drummer, was the leader of the band, and that was the first time I got to start working on original music. We played concerts around when I was 15 to 16, and then I just kind of played in various bands that would hire me.
“When I was 19, I joined up with this group called The Electromagnets, which was Steve Barber [keyboards], Kyle Brock [bass] and Bill Maddox [drums]. They had been going to music school at the University of Texas and studying music. So I kind of jumped in, learning from them and playing in that band for three years.
“After that, I just started playing in clubs and playing around in my own group, and trying to learn how to sing and write. I did that for many years and finally got a chance through Christopher Cross. He introduced me to Warner Brothers Records and they signed me to do the Tones [1986] record.”
We’ve heard that the Austin area was densely populated with great guitar players back in those days.
“That’s probably true, yeah. It was kind of like Nashville in that way. And it was all different styles, very eclectic, but yeah, a lot of really good guitar players and I feel fortunate that I got to grow up around all those people. I just thought that was normal.
“When I look back now, I realize, well, there’s certain little artistic pockets that are known for certain things, you know, like new art. Austin had its own thing and its own artistic pocket. A lot of the players there had that blues influence, no matter what kind of music they do; whether it’s country or country rock or blues or jazz, there’s an element of blues in what they do.”
And Stevie Ray Vaughan was another great player from the area.
“Stevie was fantastic. He was great. I got to do some touring with him and hang with him a little bit. He was a wonderful guy and obviously a tremendous talent. Just the way he could give it up and go out there and get out of the way of himself and channel this great, beautiful force and be a really, really fine singer in front of all the powerful music that he did.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a great singer and he wrote really good songs; he had the whole package
“I really admire that, probably just as much as his guitar playing. I think he was a great singer and he wrote really good songs; he had the whole package. I think I learned a lot from that – trying to put emotion into what you do. He certainly was a master at that.”
Coming back up to date, could you outline some of the gear you were using on the G3 tour?
“Well, I always use a couple of Fender [amps] for my clean rhythm tone, because I run through a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus. That particular tour, I was using two Bandmaster Reverbs that ran through a stereo Marshall cabinet.
“Then, if I wasn’t using that sound, I’d switch over to another Bandmaster Reverb into a Marshall cabinet for a dirty rhythm. And then, if I didn’t use that sound, the third selection would be a 50-watt Marshall through a Marshall cabinet. I had a couple of new Strats and one older Strat out with me, too.”
What sort of thing did you ask Fender to include on your signature Stratocaster?
“I wanted a certain kind of neck profile and I wanted a tone control on the bridge pickup so that I could even it out with the neck pickup. I wanted the fingerboard kind of flat with big frets, and I wanted a quarter-sawn maple neck for stability. I just wanted it to sound good, you know?
“On the early models that I’ve done – there are two models that I do with Fender – one has a copy of an old Strat pickup but a little bit more powerful. And then the other specialty Strat I have out, the [Stories Collection 1954] Virginia model, has a DiMarzio HS-2 in the bridge, but I don’t hook up the bottom coil. I just use the top single coil only and it is significantly hotter than a regular vintage Strat pickup, and that’s why I like it.”
One of your signature Strats had an f-hole. What was the thinking behind that?
I didn’t do a ton of exploration on the f-hole Strat idea. We came up with one concept and it worked pretty well, but it would be interesting to try a bunch of different construction techniques
“I didn’t do a ton of exploration on the f-hole Strat idea. We came up with one concept and it worked pretty well, but it would be interesting to try a bunch of different construction techniques because I think there’s a lot of room in there to explore that more.
“But there are so many different ways you can achieve a hollowbody guitar. We did it where we took a solidbody guitar, sawed the top off, hollowed it out and put the top back on. If I had to do it again, I might do it completely differently – maybe do it more like a 335 or something.”
What are the plans for the immediate future? Are you going back into the studio?
“Yeah, I cut about 12 new tunes before I went on tour, so I need to revisit those and see where I am with that. We kind of cut them real quick and then I left town. So I don’t know what the state of that is, but I want to continue working on that for a new record.”
- G3 25th Anniversary Reunion Tour is out now via earMUSIC.
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