Grammy award-winning guitarist Steve Vai has created VaiTunes, which will be a digital series of single-song releases intended to share some rare pieces of his unreleased catalogue with fans. The latest release from the series is The Moon and I and is available now.

It’s not uncommon for a musician to record more work than they release. In Vai’s case, the guitarist has a digital ocean of snippets in various degrees of completion. Some are leftovers from assorted sessions, projects that were never completed, soundcheck jams, or songs that were specific to a particular venture. “There are enough lonely, unreleased notes in my world to fill an infinity shelf,” says Vai.

Each release comes with a pdf booklet containing detailed notes about the creation of the song, the story behind the recording and gear involved. The Moon and I evolved out of a soundcheck jam in Athens, Greece in the spring of 2000.

“Where The Other Wild Things Are”

The Second Companion Disc to
the Original Live Concert Film

“Live In Minneapolis:
Where The Wild Things Are”

Triple GRAMMY® Award winning guitarist Steve Vai will release a new album, “Where The Other Wild Things Are,” on April 13, 2010 on his own Favored Nations Entertainment imprint. The 12-track album is the second companion CD to be released alongside the 2009 concert film “Live In Minneapolis: Where The Wild Things Are,” which is currently available on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD entered the UK chart at number 11 in October 2009. It went Gold in both the USA and Canada and the track “Now We Run” was nominated for a 2010 Grammy® Award for Best Rock Instrumental. This new album features songs from the DVD that were not previously released on the first CD.

Vai explains: “The original CD release for ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ consisted of songs from the concert DVD that had never been released in a live format before. It's a robust CD! The other songs that were performed at the concert but were not released on the CD were burning a whole in the hard drive and beckoning me for the light of day, so I thought, even though these songs have been released in live versions with other bands from the past, my new band gives them a whole new life. So we decided to release a second disc that contains all the tracks that were not on the first disc. And there you have it, “Where the Other Wild Things Are,” and it's even ‘robuster’ than the first one.”

The live concert featured on the DVD and CDs was filmed and recorded at the historic State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN before a sold-out crowd during Vai’s acclaimed 2007 String Theories World Tour. Vai chose the State Theatre for its lush acoustics and equally inspiring interior—his unprecedented guitar wizardry amazes throughout the film, as do the talents of the stellar band, an ace group of players, including two violinists, Vai put together and called String Theories.

2010 marks Steve Vai’s 30th Anniversary in the music business. Vai first stepped into the spotlight in 1980 as a touring member of the legendary Frank Zappa’s touring band but his indelible contribution to music came during his solo career, which includes combined sales of nearly six million albums over the last three decades.

Vai is currently in the studio recording his next solo album for Favored Nations Entertainment. He will then embark on a World Tour that will take him through all of 2011.

For more information: www.vai.com/wildthings

The DVD also features bonus footage that includes exclusive interviews with band members and Steve’s viral hit promotional video for the Jemini distortion pedal. The DVD contains both 5.1 and stereo mixes, plus a commentary track featuring Steve and some of his band members

The addition of virtuoso violin players Alex DePue and Ann Marie Calhoun add a dazzling dimension to Vai’s compositions and stage show and deliver to fans the unexpected edge they always expect. Other world-class musicians chosen for this band are: Bryan Beller (bass), Jeremy Colson (drums), Dave Weiner (guitar and sitar) and Zack Wiesinger (lap steel).

“When I put a band and a show together I try to create an entertainment experience that I would like to have if I was sitting in the audience,” explains Vai. “I like to witness great musicianship but nothing too cerebral or overindulgent, I like to be stimulated by a large dynamic range of emotional intensities and melodic richness, I enjoy when people love their instrument and it shows by their oneness with it, I like to feel as though I'm part of a family with the audience and the band, and I like to walk away feeling uplifted and not beat up by somebody's ego or the things they hate about themselves and the world. And of course I want a cool t-shirt.”

Twenty-five years after the release of Vai’s now legendary solo debut, Flex Able, Vai has enjoyed a long and acclaimed career that has yielded 12 Grammy nominations, including 3 wins. He has been part of some of the biggest bands in rock, including David Lee Roth, Whitesnake and Frank Zappa. He has played on albums from artists such as Motörhead, The Yardbirds, Alice Cooper, Joe Satriani, Joe Jackson and Public Image Ltd, as well as featuring on movie soundtracks, including Encino Man and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.

Where The Wild Things Are is available on DVD, Blu Ray, audio CD and in a limited-edition deluxe package with a special book filled with beautiful photos for the ultimate Steve Vai fan!