Steve Vai Reveals His Favorite New Guitar Player

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(Image credit: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images)

Steve Vai has his legions of followers. But who does the guitar legend follow?

Turns out it’s a guitarist by the name of Daniele Gottardo. Vai revealed the information in the following message:

“Hey Folks, I’m often asked who is my favorite new young guitar player. Well, here he is: Daniele Gottardo. He’s Italian, and I have been following him for quite some time now. He has an elegant touch, stunning intonation, innovational style, and he honors the melody. Enjoy, and check out his new record here for a real treat.”

So who is Daniele Gottardo? As it turns out, quite a diverse player.

In addition to his stunning virtuoso solo work—an expressive and technically superb rock-symphonic fusion—he performs with the jazz project the Nuts and the self-described pop/punk/glam-metalcore experiment Plastik Boobies. (Even if we didn’t tell you the styles of those bands, the names alone would suggest Gottardo defies easy categorization.)

Here are a few videos to acquaint you with Gottardo and his music. You can find more at his YouTube channel and follow him on Facebook.

“Rimsky’s Beard,” the first track on Gottardo’s second album, Non Temperato.

“Caligula,” also from Non Temperato:

Gottardo’s cover of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”:

Gottardo plays The Simpsons Holloween Special Theme:

Christopher Scapelliti
Christopher Scapelliti

Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.

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