Stevie Salas

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Biography

Stevie Salas is an United States|American guitarist known for his work on George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton 's albums, his collaborations with Koshi Inaba of B'z , and Hardware (band)|Hardware . He was in '' Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure '', providing the fingerwork for George Carlin 's guitar solo.

He has worked with many in the music industry , including Steve Vai , Rod Stewart , Sass Jordan providing guitar for several of her albums, T.M. Stevens , Justin Timberlake , among others. He helps create studio bands for American Idol and continues to tour in Europe and Japan, as well as release his solo albums.

In 2007, the UK independent record label , Invisible Hands Music, released his first-ever career retrospective, The Sun And The Earth .

History

Move to Hollywood and meeting George Clinton (1985–86)

Salas attended high school in San Diego , where he played in a rock band called This Kids, which toured the Southwest and released two EPs. In 1985, Salas moved to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician. He lived there for a year without much success, almost starving to death (Salas says he lost because of hunger). In 1985, he received a job as custodian for a small recording studio in Los Angeles where one night at 3a.m. he was awoken by George Clinton (musician)|George Clinton , who was looking for someone to play some chords on a song he was making. Salas offered his services. When he went into the studio, Salas said he began to play all sorts of weird stuff on the guitar and in turn, he was hired to play some tracks on George Clinton's 1986 release, R& B Skeletons in the Closet .

Recording contract, ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure , and debut record (1987–1990)

In 1987 Salas moved part-time to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to work on guitar and production sessions. That same year, he co-produced Was (Not Was) 's album Out Come the Freaks . In 1988, Salas wrote the guitar score and appeared in the movie '' Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure '', playing Rufus' guitar solo. That same year, he joined Rod Stewart as lead guitar player on Stewart's world tour. Salas then received the biggest recording contract in Island Records history (at that point in time), as a solo artist. In 1989, he moved to New York City where he began to explore Native music and recorded guitar on Ronald Shannon Jackson 's album Red Warrior . In 1990, Salas released his first solo album Stevie Salas Colorcode , opening for Joe Satriani and his record Flying in a Blue Dream . Despite promotion, Salas' first album did not make a mark in the charts. However, while not popular in the United States , Salas' music began to receive the attention of listeners in both Japan and Europe.

Rise to fame (1991–1994)

In 1992, Salas recorded the album Third Eye Open (Hardware album)|Third Eye Open with one-off power trio Hardware (band)|Hardware , consisting of Bootsy Collins on bass guitar, Buddy Miles on drums, and Salas on guitar. In 1993, Salas became music director for Terence Trent D'Arby and toured with Duran Duran . That same year, he released Stevie Salas Electric Pow Wow , a cover album featuring celebrity guests playing covers of songs that Salas was influenced by growing up, to critical acclaim. Then in 1994, Salas released Back From the Living . He rose to international stardom, especially in Japan, where his single "Tell Your Story Walkin" became a Top Ten hit. During this time he also produced and co-wrote the album Rats by Sass Jordan .

Bidding war for label, continued success and retirement (1995–99)

In 1995, Salas entered a bidding with Polygram Records and ended up winning his own label. In that year, he produced and self-released the album 12 Hits and a Bump with Bernard Fowler of the Rolling Stones under the name Nicklebag . Salas then released his fourth solo album Alter Native . In 1998 Salas released The Sometimes Almost Never Was . In 1999, Salas retired after a final performance at the Fuji Rock Festival .

Personal tragedy, tour with Mick Jagger, and return to music (2000–2006)

Salas' girlfriend died soon after his retirement, after which Salas entered a depression. In 2001, Mick Jagger asked him to play lead guitar for his tour. Salas credits this tour as one of the reasons that he began to write music again. In 2001, Salas released Shapeshifter: The Fall and Rise of Stevie No-Wonder . In 2003, he released The Soulblasters of the Universe , and in 2006, Be What It Is .

Arbor Live , and recent projects (2007–present)

In 2007, he produced Jordin Sparks ' " Tattoo (Jordin Sparks song)|Tattoo ". In 2008, he played some guitar sessions for Justin Timberlake , and many of his guitar tracks ended up on the album TI , which debuted at #1 in the US. In the same year, Salas became the host and executive producer of the Canadian Music TV series Arbor Live . On July 15, 2009, Salas released his latest album Set It On Blast in Japan, featuring Tak Matsumoto . Also in 2009, Salas became music director for American Idol stars Kris Allen , Adam Lambert , and Allison Iraheta . In mid 2009, Salas co-founded with the internet entrepreneur Laurence Dorazio the company Rockstar Solos, LLC which focuses on iPhone / iPad gaming and entertainment application development. The first application also called Rockstar Solos became available in the iTunes store in December 2009.

Solo albums

Salas has released 18 solo albums, as well as several live albums (listed below).

1990 Stevie Salas Colorcode

1991 Stuff EP

1992 Bootleg Like A Mug (Live in Japan)

1993 The Electric Pow Wow

1994 Back From The Living

1995 All That...And Born To Mack (Live in Japan)

1996 Anthology Of Stevie Salas Colorcode 1987–1994

1996 Alter Native

1996 Alter Native EP

1997 Alter Native Gold

1997 Le Bootleg (Live in Paris)

1997 Seoul Power

1998 Viva La Noise

1998 The Sometimes Almost Never Was

1999 Sol Power

2001 Shapeshifter – The Rise And Fall of Stevie No Wonder

2004 The Soulblasters of The Universe

2004 The Soulblasters of The Universe – Cosmic Flutie A Mixtape For The Underdog

2006 Be What It Is

2007 The Sun And The Earth

2009 Set It On Blast

2010 Jam Power

Copyright Citations

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1. Glenn Hughes 2. Bootsy's Rubber Band 3. Bill & Ted

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