Joe Satriani: Earth 2022-2023 Tour

Joe Satriani’s version of carpe diem seems to be continuously in play, a mantra ready to shift into position no matter what the exact circumstances might be. The Elephants of Mars, the virtuoso guitarist’s 19th studio album and his first for earMUSIC, sprang to life as an unexpected worldwide pandemic enveloped the globe. Like so many others, the San Francisco musician had a busy year planned. This will be Joe Satriani’s first appearance in Buffalo since his sellout at UB Center for the Arts in 2016, as part of a 50 date national fall tour!

Shapeshifting, his then-current album, was set for release in April of 2020. The usual Satriani cycle of album, tour, album, tour, meant that he was gearing up to circle the planet in support of the highly anticipated record. Instead, he had a new date added to the tour schedule. Home.

Initially, Satriani had the idea that they would wait it out in regards to the pandemic, staying occupied by recording “two loose albums” as they lay in wait for the day that they could get back to the road and promote Shapeshifting. One would be an instrumental and one would be structured around vocal material. Both would showcase and introduce his new band so that when they did finally get to tour, fans would be aware, “This is what they can do.” As the pandemic period lengthened, he realized that it made more sense to change focus and work on making the next proper instrumental album instead.

From the outset, Satriani set goals for himself. “I’ve done a lot of records that have swung back and forth stylistically,” he admits. The guitarist had an aim to create a “new standard” when it came to crafting an instrumental guitar record. There are a lot of different ways to do that, he allows, mentioning jazz, fusion and rock records, in addition to “the current crop of young, brilliant players,” who are playing “all kinds of stuff.” Recognizing all of this, he notes, “I am a product of my generation, and I am the end result of all these influences.”

Satriani strove to openly challenge himself to move away from what he describes as “the classic rock” tone of the past few albums he’s put out, replacing that with “a new platform of his own design. “Okay, I know what everybody else is doing. But I want to be in this new area,” he explains. “I do want to show people that the instrumental guitar album can contain far more complexity of creative elements than I think people are using right now.”

The band for The Elephants of Mars marries players from Satriani’s universe both past and present. Legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty, Smashing Pumpkins) is back for his second consecutive tour of duty with the guitarist following his initial debut on Shapeshifting. Bassist Bryan Beller slips inside the liner notes for the first time since 2015’s Shockwave Supernova.

Longtime associate Eric Caudieux has been in the Satch orbit since 1998’s Crystal Planet and also produced the album, collaborating on the mixes with Greg Koller (Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce). Rai Thistlethwayte is the newest addition, beaming in from overseas where he was splitting his time between Australia and Tasmania.