Steve Vai releases 'Vai/Gash' after 30 years to honor friend

Steve Vai has traveled the world many times over the course of his decades-long career.

The guitarist recently wrapped a tour in Latin America, where he played a festival in Brazil.

“We also went to Chile and Costa Rica,” he says. “I cover all the nooks and crannies around the world. Though, I’d really love to perform in Tahiti. I haven’t done that yet because it’s rough getting gear to the island. I’ve been there on vacation.”

The Grammy-winning musician is slated to bring his current tour to Revel ABQ on Wednesday, July 19.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been back to Albuquerque,” he says. “I’ve been enjoying my time on the road. It’s always felt like my home.”

Over the past two years, Vai released a new studio album titled “Inviolate” and a record titled “Vai/Gash,” which he had been holding in his archive for three decades.

Vai recorded the album in 1991 during a stream of consciousness while he was engulfed by the biker culture alongside his friend Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto.

“When he was 21, Gash climbed a high tension tower and was hit with a bolt of electricity to where he fell 30 feet on a barbed wire fence and caught fire,” Vai says. “He burned 60% of his body ... (At the time) I was making the music. When it came time to put a vocalist on it, I tried to sing and it was a failure. I got Gash into the studio and I couldn’t believe what came out of his mouth. He would have made a great rock star. He had the lead singer DNA — an East Coast tough Italian biker.”

After recording with Sombrotto, Vai held onto the record. In 1998, Sombrotto died in a motorcycle accident and Vai locked it deeper into the vault.

“Through the years, I would listen to it,” Vai admits. “It has the energy and it was very uplifting. I thought about releasing it one day. Last year, I released it the way it was sent to Mike (Frazier), who mixed it. It’s a time capsule that I’m sharing with everyone. I didn’t want to release it back then, because in the 1990s, it would have been completely buried by all the music. Now is a good time and I have fans that are interested in everything I do. It’s done well since its release.”

With more than 40 years worth of music, Vai continues to blaze his own path through music.

He says for his setlists, he covers a lot of bases.

“It’s important to have a set that has a dynamic flow to it,” he says. “Keeping the energy levels up so that there’s not too many ballads. With ‘Inviolate,’ I wanted to make a record that I could take on the road. The songs are challenging to perform. I enjoy the challenges of the road.”

Vai admits that his love for performance has changed throughout the years because of his outlook.

“I refuse to see shows as work,” he says. “Each is a blessed opportunity to be with people for a couple of hours. I’m inspired by every audience, and it becomes an exchange of energy. I’m also a seeker of spiritual truths. That’s always the key to releasing resistance to yourself.”