Joe Satriani & Steve Vai Release New Song Together

Celebrating nearly five decades of musical friendship, guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have collaborated on music for the first time. Releasing tomorrow (Friday, March 29), “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1” showcases the unmatched synergy between these two legendary guitarists as they seamlessly trade solo sections throughout the nearly six-minute opus, Teaming up with Satch and Vai on the track are Eric Caudieux on keyboards, who also served as co-producer the song, with the rhythmic backbone provided by Matt Chamberlain on drums and Matt Bissonette on bass. 

A music video, directed by Z.Z. Satriani, takes this concept one step further with a whimsical look imagining what the beginning of that friendship might have looked and sounded like way back in the 70’s. The video will also premiere on March 29 at 9:00am PT/12pm ET. Check out the trailer below.

Of the inspiration behind the new song, Satriani commented, “When Steve and I decided the time had finally come for us to collaborate on an album I immediately thought of our humble beginnings, where we came from, and our teenage rock ’n’ roll hopes and dreams. To anybody else it may look like just a field, part of the sprawling Carle Place Public School complex, but for some of us, back in the early 70s, when the sun went down and the moon came up, it became 'The Sea of Emotion'.” 

”We would hang out there late at night and share our deepest thoughts with each other. For me and my closest friends, it was a magical place, this field right outside the back of the Rushmore gym. The memories we shared at that location so long ago became the inspiration for a musical journey in three parts. Each part of the song has little reminders of what we were so into musically back then, including a chord sequence that Steve and I would sometimes jam over during guitar lessons.”

Vai echoes the sentiment about their hometown, “This song, and its additional two parts, are inspired by a giant field outside the High School of the town Joe and I grew up in. As young teenagers, we would sit overlooking this magnificent field and wax on generously for hours about the meaning of life and many other deep, rich discussions, so we deemed this field, 'The Sea of Emotion'. Fifty years later, it has been memorialized in melody and groove.

“Connecting with Joe on this track, and the other music we are working on, is perhaps the most rewarding musical collaboration I’ve ever engaged in. Although we’ve toured and recorded jams together through the decades, for this music we are intimately bringing together our melodic impulses and playing techniques and creating something that is bigger than the sum of its parts.”

The Satch-Vai tour opened on March 22 in Orlando, FL. The tour continues on, hitting Atlanta, Boston, New York, DC, Detroit, Minneapolis and more before winding up in Santa Rosa, CA, on May 12 with 38 shows in total. This tour also marks the first time that the long-time friends have joined together as a duo bill.

Satch and Vai’s musical careers have been intertwined since their very early days. Satriani served as Vai’s guitar teacher during their teenage years on Long Island, New York. Their connection has continued to evolve over the years, even sharing record labels, starting at Relativity Records in the late 80’s, to both calling Sony/Epic Records home for a significant portion of the 90’s. Together, they have also frequently teamed up with a third guitarist on multiple occasions throughout the span of 29 years, participating in the semi-annual G3 Tours, both in the U.S. and abroad.  

The Satch-Vai Tour itinerary

March 29          North Charleston, SC     North Charleston Performing Arts Center

March 30          Durham, NC                   Durham Performing Arts Center

April 2              Charlotte, NC                  Belk Theater

April 3              Richmond, VA                 Dominion Energy Center

April 5              Boston, MA                     Orpheum Theatre Boston

April 6              New York, NY                 Beacon Theatre

April 7              Waterbury, CT                Waterbury Palace Theater

April 8              Red Bank, NJ                 Count Basie Center for the Arts

April 10             Collingswood, NJ          Scottish Rite Auditorium

April 11             Washington, DC             Warner Theatre DC

April 13             Northfield, OH               MGM Northfield Park

April 14             Rochester, NY               Kodak Center Theater

April 16             Detroit, MI                     Fisher Theatre

April 18             Chicago, IL                    Chicago Theatre

April 19             Cincinnati, OH              Andrew J. Brady Icon Music Center

April 20             Fort Wayne, IN             Embassy Theatre

April 21             Indianapolis, IN             Murat Theatre

April 23             Milwaukee, WI              Riverside Theater

April 24             Minneapolis, MN           State Theatre

April 25             Des Moines, IA              Des Moines Civic Center

April 26             Springfield, MO             Gillioz Theatre

April 28             La Vista, NE                  The Astro

April 29             Salina, KS                     The Stiefel Theatre

April 30            St. Louis, MO                 The Factory

May 1               Kansas City, MO            Uptown Theater

May 3               Austin, TX                      ACL Live at The Moody Theater

May 4               Dallas, TX                      Music Hall at Fair Park

May 5               Houston, TX                  713 Music Hall

May 7               Denver, CO                   Paramount Theatre (SOLD OUT)

May 8               Salt Lake City, UT          Delta Hall at Eccles Theater

May 10             Valley Center, CA          Harrah’s Resort Southern California

May 11             Wheatland, CA               Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

May 12             Santa Rosa, CA             Luther Burbank Center for the Arts