Stevie Salas

Although his name isn't as instantly recognizable as Steve Vai or Joe Satriani amongst the guitar masses, Stevie Salas is just as renowned as the aforementioned guitarists in other parts of the world. Stevie has also served as a sideman for the likes of Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger.

A Native American, Stevie Salas was raised in San Diego, California, where he learned guitar and absorbed a wide variety of musical influences early on -- everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. Relocating to Hollywood with hopes of launching a music career, Salas quickly realized it wasn't going to be as easy as originally planned. As a result, he was reduced to working at a recording studio, where he answered phones and did chores -- barely scraping together enough to get by.

One evening, when he was sleeping on a sofa at the studio, none other than Funkadelic leader George Clinton, who was recording, awaked him and needed some guitar work done. Salas obliged, and before he knew it, he became a much sought-after session guitarist. He appeared on late-'80s era recordings by the likes of Bootsy Collins, Was (Not Was), and Eddie Money, etc. He even landed a brief spot as the 'house band' on the TV show Fame. It was around this same time that Salas formed his own group Stevie Salas Colorcode, which was momentarily put on hold due to the guitarist being offered a gig he simply couldn't pass up -- being invited to join Rod Stewart’s touring band.

After the Rod Stewart tour wrapped up (which included multi-night stays at such prestigious venues as the L.A. Forum and Madison Square Garden), Salas was offered his own record deal with Island Records, resulting in the release of Stevie Salas Colorcode in 1990.

Despite landing an opening slot for Joe Satriani at the time, who was touring behind his hit release Flying in a Blue Dream, Salas' debut didn't exactly light up the U.S. charts. It was very successful though in Japan and Salas quickly built a large and devoted following there. Salas' sophomore effort 1993's The Electric Pow Wow included guest appearances from Slim Jim Phantom, Matt Sorum, Zakk Wylde, plus Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen and Tom Peterson. All the while 1994's Back From The Living was named "Album of the Year" in Japan (over releases by such heavyweights as the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith).

Salas has continued to issue solo releases (most of which were only available in the U.S. as imports), including 1997's Alter Native Gold and Le Bootleg/Live in Paris, 1998's The Sometimes Almost Never Was, and Viva La Noise, 1999's Sol Power, and 2001's Shapeshifter. Additionally, Salas continues to work with other artists, including Duran Duran, Terence Trent D’Arby, Sass Jordan, and is forming a one-off power trio with Bootsy Collins and Buddy Miles, called Hardware. As if his schedule wasn't busy enough, Salas was handpicked by Mick Jagger to play shows alongside the longtime Rolling Stones' front man in support of his 2001 release, Goddess in the Doorway.
Last year, Stevie released The Earth and the Sun, a collection of 26 songs with guests from Ron Wood, Bootsy Collins, Sass Jordan, Ivan Neville, Bernard Fowler and many more. The Earth and the Sun won in the ‘Alternative Rock’ category at the 2007 Indian Summer Music Awards (ISMA) and at the 2008 NAMMYs for ‘Best Rock Recording’. This album was also nominated at the 2007 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards for ‘Best International Album’.

The year 2008 brings Stevie’s newest release entitled Be What It Is that includes 12 rocking songs that proves to be yet another great success for Stevie Salas. So far Be What It Is has already won the 2008 ISMA for ‘Best Alternative Rock Album’.