Pete Thorn prepared for his latest challenge as third guitarist in the newly formed SatchVai Band through gigs with Don Henley, Chris Cornell and Melissa Etheridge. And one of the most important lessons he learned is a simple one.
“You just have to work your ass off and be the best guy in the room for the job,” he tells Guitar World. “That is the job. I bring that attitude to everything I do, and that includes Joe and Steve. They’re going to get 300 percent effort.”
The band also features bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Kenny Aronoff. While Satch and Vai are still working up ideas, Thorn – who’s been on the road non-stop since the ’90s – says he’s ready for anything.
“You have to be doing it because it chose you,” he explains. “If you’re in it for fame or money, not gonna happen. If you cannot think about anything except guitar and music; if you daydream about it and dream of it at night; if you’re willing to live off ramen noodles and tunafish sandwiches; and maybe share a room on a futon, like I did for my first few years in LA – maybe then it’s for you.”
How did you meet Joe and Steve?
“I first met Joe when I was playing with Chris Cornell. We were at a rock festival in Austria; I think it was 2009. Joe was with Chickenfoot, and our drummer Jason Sutter knew Chickenfoot’s Chad Smith, so we ended up in their dressing room. I just briefly met Joe that day.
“More recently we had some DMs back and forth, just talking guitars and whatnot. It was Joe who contacted me about the gig, maybe six months ago – ‘Hey, I have a crazy idea; can you jump on a call?’ We ended up having a sit-down meeting at a hotel in LA, and we just rapped about music and guitar for two hours. He's just a terrific guy.
“He mentioned that he’d listened to my last solo album, Pete Thorn II, and that he liked the songs, playing, and tones. He said he wanted a player who was pretty firmly rooted in rock guitar, but also could do some more ethereal stuff – someone with a good command of effects for some sonic textures.
“I love straight-up rock; that’s where my heart is. But I do enjoy creating tones that could be described as ambient or pads. And I’m not really a guitar-cable-amp sort of guy; I do enjoy having a fairly capable stereo rig.
“I think my first meeting with Steve was backstage at House of Blues in LA, where he was performing that night. I was introduced to him and he immediately said, ‘You did a video demo for the Pigtronix Philosophers Tone pedal that I really liked!’ I was knocked out – he fact he was even aware of me, I was humbled.
“Next time I met him was at the Malibu Guitar Festival in 2017, two days after Chris Cornell had passed. A friend who did some work for Steve invited me to get me out of the house. I really was in a funk, obviously, but I decided I should go.
“After Steve played I was summoned to the little backstage area. He sat with me said, ‘I know you lost your friend, and I just want you to know that you can still have a relationship with him. It’s too soon now, but the time will come where you think of him and it’ll be good thoughts – happy, good memories.’
“I will never forget that. I’d lost a close friend and collaborator; and a hero of mine from the time I was 11 took the time to console me. And that’s Steve. He has an amazing ability to make you feel seen; I believe he genuinely cares about what others are doing and what they are up to. He always asks about you and how you are every time.
“When people say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes,’ they aren't talking about these guys. Recently I saw Steve backstage at the fantastic Beat gig in LA. He asked me if I’d met with Joe and I said, ‘Yes. It was a great meeting!’ He said, ‘Hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other very soon.’ I left that night on cloud nine and thought, ‘I better get serious about this and get my head around it.’”
What makes you the right player for this gig?
“That’s probably best left for Joe and Steve to answer! But I’ve been a fan and deeply immersed in this style of guitar, this world, since seeing and hearing Joe and Steve in the early ’80s. I remember when The Attitude Song came out, and Not of This Earth. Also, I’ve been touring fairly steadily since the late ’90s, so it’s something I’m familiar with and comfortable doing.”
Don Henley likes things to be really close to the record. When it’s the Hotel California solo, it's not hard to understand why
Is playing beside two players like those guys intimidating?
“You have to have some mental self-control and confidence in these situations. When I auditioned with Don Henley – not gonna lie – I was scared shitless to a degree. I’m thinking, ‘This guy wrote Dirty Laundry. I’d hear it on the radio as a kid and now I’m standing beside him playing it.’
“I had to do both solos, the first by Joe Walsh and the second by Steve Lukather. I was 28. But I’d prepared so hard and just fell back on that. I have little things I tell myself in my head: ‘Now’s not the time to suck – lean into it. Go!’’
“And we ran maybe nine songs, and when I drove away, my phone rang: ‘Don wants you to come back and play again next Tuesday.’ I got a callback! I thought, ‘This is my validation. I can do this.’”
Do you know exactly what Joe and Steve want from you?
“That’s still TBA. But whatever they need me to do, it’s my job to do it to the best of my ability. I’ve spent many years backing lead singers onstage; this time, Steve and Joe are the lead singers, and I just have to play musically to support them. That’s in my wheelhouse.”
How have previous gigs prepared you for the challenge?
“Every gig you do, if you’re tuned in and present, provides you with experience and lessons you can draw upon later. When things go wrong is when you really do the learning! Troubleshooting your rig quickly, staying on track and recovering from musical mistakes are all things you learn.”
What did you learn from working with Chris Cornell?
“Chris was very smart in selecting people who’d know what to do. He never micromanaged. If there was something he wanted different, he would ask directly and clearly. Could be the way a part was played, or a tone, but that was rare.
“He came from bands, and I think he liked and respected chemistry and the individual strengths and quirks musicians bring to the table. I learned from Chris to take chances. He wasn’t afraid to learn a song at soundcheck then throw it into the set that night. I just embraced the role, playing those great songs. I loved it.”
How about Don Henley and Melissa Etheridge?
“Don was a bucket list gig for sure. It’s a a fairly high-pressure, precision sort of gig. Don likes most things to be really close to the record. When we talk about the Hotel California solo it's not hard to understand why – it’s epic and classic! The solo band was mostly the Eagles musicians. I sort of filled the Joe Walsh role. I was honored to be there, and I really enjoyed it.
“Melissa was just an absolute pleasure. She’s a total force of nature; she’s from the Springsteen school of songwriting and big rock energy. She loved improvisation and surprises; she didn’t like to rehearse much. She’s just fun. She’s a positive force that – despite challenges and setbacks and devastating loss – keeps pushing forward. Her fans adore her for it.”
Steve must have an acute awareness of his impact on the guitar community over the last 40 years – the effect he has on people
How did your rig evolve through those three gigs?
“When I was with Chris, the first year, I used a Komet Concorde amp and a Divided By 13 RSA31. I’d A/B the amps, with the RSA for clean and Concorde for dirt. I pretty quickly added an EVH 5150 III as my main dirty rhythm tone on channel 2. I'd run all effects in front of the amps in mono.
“In 2008, John Suhr said, ‘Why are you using all these amps onstage? Let me try and make you happy with just one.’ A few months later he showed me an amp that looked like a Custom Audio Electronics OD100, but it said ‘PT100’ on the front panel. I was knocked out!
“It sounded really great, with a Fender-ish clean and two great drive channels. So I rebuilt my rig around it; I ended up with a wet-dry-wet rig, full stereo, and a 12-space rack... too complicated? I don't know what I was thinking!
“It sounded great, and I knew how to use it, but it’s diminishing returns at some point, you know? I used that rig for both the Don Henley and Melissa Ethridge gigs, so I guess it did sound good! Eventually I decided to scale it down; I got rid of the rack in favor of a pedalboard, and just went for two PT100 heads and two cabinets in stereo.”
What will your rig look like for the Satch/Vai gig? Do they have specific preferences?
“We haven’t gotten that far yet, but I’ll aim to start rehearsals with my Signature Suhr guitars, my two Suhr PT100s and two 4x12s. I have a pedalboard with a selection of compression, mod, delay, reverb and drive effects. I run my time-based effects in parallel in the FX loops of the amps; that's where the stereo comes from. The main stereo FX is an Eventide H90 and a Boss SDE-3000 EVH delay.”
What have you already learned from Joe and Steve, and what do you hope to learn?
“Steve must have an acute awareness of his impact on the guitar community over the last 40 years – the effect he has on people. I spent countless hours learning the Crossroads solos and the Big Trouble solo. I’ve learned techniques and approaches from Steve, and I really look forward to learning many more!
“But on a soul level, he chooses to make those who come into contact with him feel valued and seen; and I think, even more than any musical skill, that humanity is something that I’ve learned from him and can strive for.
The lesson from Joe is that you don’t have to fill all the space, all the time
“Joe, from day one of listening to him in the ‘80s, taught me the supremely important skill of pacing. Listen to Always with Me, Always with You – it’s the coolest slow-burn ever! The beautiful arpeggios that are sort of reminiscent of Every Breath You Take cycle around and pull you in... then the melody starts, not on the downbeat. A couple of beats go by and then it starts.
“The lesson is that you don’t have to fill all the space, all the time. And the melody is simple and hooky. Then he’ll play the melody again, up an octave, then vary it. Pacing, phrasing, space. And then burn when the time comes! That’s why Joe’s one of the only guys that has had actual hit songs with instrumental guitar music.”
- Tickets for the SatchVai Band’s Surfing with the Hydra Tour of Europe and the UK are on sale now.
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