Reb Beach - A View From The Inside, Winter 2020
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. The address of the Whitehouse. The home of the President of the United States of America. 2020 saw perhaps the mostly hotly contested presidential election in US history. For days following the closure of the ballot box, the world still didn’t know who the winner was. Joe Biden would of course emerge the victor and interestingly it would be the state of Pennsylvania that would decide this to be the case, or more specifically Allegheny County, Pittsburgh. And it’s one such resident of the fine river county that we catch up with today. Reb Beach has one of the most stunning, technically proficient and popular guitarists for more than 30 years. Perhaps best known for his work with Winger, Whitesnake, Dokken and Black Swan, Reb has equally impressive sessions successes and achievements as a solo artist. And it’s his latest solo record that we are keen to delve into. Released 17 years after his last solo record Masquerade, A View From The Inside is an absolutely mesmerising record steeped in technical prowess but balanced with the most gorgeous, hypnotic melodies. We meet Reb at home and as you would expect, he is in fine spirits! Despite the late autumn calendar, the east coast is enjoying fluke warm weather and with his garage door wide open, Reb is making the most of it. Sadly, the view from a November Manchester window is something that can’t quite compete, though it’s only with a twinge of jealousy that our conversation begins…
It’s been 19 years since your last solo album Masquerade. How does it feel to be releasing a new Reb Beach solo record?
I saw Joe Satriani last year on his G3 tour which was fabulous, and I got to go backstage and he talked to me for about 20 minutes. I was a little nervous because I’m a huge fan but I told him about the record and he said ‘ look, send me the record as soon as it’s done and I can get you out on this – just let me hear the record’. So I sent it to him a week ago I will see what he says! I would love to do a G3 tour! Or a Generation Axe – they have these tours for just guitar players – and of course I’d love to play this stuff live. It would be so cool, with a keyboard player and a funky bass player. It would be amazing to get Phill Bynoe and Paul Brown. Incredible!