Billy Sheehan and Steve Vai have a long history of playing together, notably as bandmates in David Lee Roth’s classic “Eat ‘Em and Smile” album, and later touring together as part of Vai’s solo band.
During a conversation with Marty5150, Sheehan opened up about what it’s like working with Vai and shared the backstory of one of their most unique musical moments.
“Sheehan explained that Vai is easy to work with, describing him as “a piece of cake.” He praised Vai’s personality, saying, “He’s always polite and friendly, and I never had a problem with Steve. He’s one of the most wonderful people I know. He’s like a brother to me, and he’s just a supreme talent. If I have a musical question, I can always call him.”
The bassist also highlighted the chemistry between them, emphasizing their approach to music. Despite their immense talent, Sheehan noted that the duo never took themselves too seriously. “We always had an air of enjoyment and fun and laughs and comedy and stuff like that. It was always cool, but we got the job done. And everybody that was in the band when I was with Steve: Tony MacAlpine, Dave Weiner, and Jeremy Colson, they’re all serious players. But we also had fun. But we would never sacrifice any aspect of the quality of the show for anything else. So that was always the ‘number one.'”
Sheehan then recalled a memorable moment from Vai’s song “Get the Hell Out of Here,” which included a section where four guitarists took turns playing on each other’s guitars. “We were in rehearsal, and somebody just grabbed somebody else’s guitar while they were playing it, and then it just turned into comedy,” Sheehan explained. “And it happened. I’m not sure who was really responsible for it. I’ll have to default to probably Steve because he’s very, very smart at putting a show together and making it happen and doing some crazy thing.”
Through this, Sheehan revealed not only Vai’s musical genius but also his knack for creating memorable and entertaining moments on stage.
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