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From: Santa Cruz Sentinel Derek Sherinian's bio reads like every young rock 'n' roller's ultimate fantasy. Born and raised in Santa Cruz and a graduate of Soquel High School, Sherinian began playing piano at age 5. When he heard Elton John at an early age, he knew he wanted to explore the more theatrical side of piano playing and naturally started listening to rock. He was offered a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, which he attended immediately after finishing high school. And that's when the fates intervened. While there, he met and jammed with the likes of Will Calhoun who would go on to play drums with Living Colour and became close friends with Al Pitrelli. After a year at Berklee, he headed back out West to make it big in Los Angeles. His talents soon landed him a gig with legendary R&B drummer Buddy Miles, who hired him to tour clubs across the nation. "It can be very scary in L.A., it's so enormous and there's so much competition," said the down-to-earth Sherinian during a recent phone interview. "You can feel so insignificant. People judge you on your credentials, not on who you are." Landing that gig with Miles gave Sherinian immediate credentials, but his next gig propelled him into the rock fantasy life. His old pal Pitrelli — who later served as Megadeth's guitarist — had just been hired as guitarist and musical director for Alice Cooper's band. Pitrelli called Sherinian for an audition. Sherinian landed the gig and he made his debut with Alice Cooper on Halloween night 1989. "Alice had a big production, full lights, the whole big deal," recalled Sherinian. "That first night, I remember Alice coming out on stage with a snake around his neck and the crowd going nuts. I was like, 'Holy shit, this is really happening!" From there, Sherinian's career took off. After the Alice Cooper tour, he tried out for a spot as offstage keyboard player for KISS's "Revenge" tour. After hearing and seeing Sherinian play, he was hired on the spot. "The first thing GENE SIMMONS said to me was that I looked like PAUL STANLEY and Cher's love child," Sherinian said, laughing at the memory. Sherinian appeared on KISS's live album from that tour, "Alive III," his first on a major label. But the best was yet to come, as Dream Theater — the most recognized modern prog rock band on the planet — tapped him to fill the keyboard spot beginning in 1994. He stayed with the band for four years and three records, after which Sherinian was well-known throughout the rock community. When he started working on his first solo record, folks lined up to guest on the album. His various solo albums feature spots by Toto's Steve Lukather, bassist Billy Sheehan and crossover jazz guitarist Al DiMeola. Sherinian released his fifth solo album, "Blood of the Snake," earlier this year, and it's his best one yet. Featuring such heavyweights as guitarists Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dream Theater's John Petrucci and Slash — as well as Billy Idol, who Sherinian is currently touring with — the record combines the technicality of progressive rock with the rawness of old fashioned rock 'n' roll, with a little jazz thrown in for good measure. "Most fusion artists come to rock from a jazz background, but I approach jazz from a rock background," explained Sherinian. "The end result is the music has a lot more edge." Wylde stands out on every track he appears on, and his persona guided the recording sessions. "I've known Zakk since he first joined Ozzy's band in the late 1980s," said Sherinian. "Doing the Zakk Wylde sessions is always a five-day Oktoberfest — lots of beer drinking." Despite playing with some of the biggest names in rock history, Sherinian is most definitely not your smugly arrogant musician from Los Angeles. "I've always had an attitude of thinking big," he said. "I never wanted to put a limit on what my dreams were. At the same time, I try to keep a cool head. I'm really grateful to have worked with all the musicians I have, and so I try to give back to young players in the same way." Six degrees of Derek Sherinian Connecting the dots between Derek Sherinian and any rock star would be pretty easy; he's played with a good deal of hard-rock royalty. Here's a quick look at who Sherinian has played/recorded with: 2006: Derek Sherinian's 'Blood of the Snake.' Features guest spots from Billy Idol, Slash, Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist since the late 1980s and frontman for Black Label Society), Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci (guitarist for Dream Theater). 2004: Sherinian's 'Mythology.' Features guitarist Allan Holdsworth, as well as Wylde. 2003: Sherinian's 'Black Utopia.' Features crossover jazz guitarist Al DiMeola, also Wylde and Malmsteen. 2002: Yngwie Malmsteen's 'Attack.' 2002: Gilby Clarke's 'Swag.' Clarke was the rhythm guitarist in Guns N' Roses after original member Izzy Stradlin left. He now plays in reality TV supergroup Rockstar Supernova. 2002: Todd Rundgren & Friends. Influential prog rocker. 2001: Sherinian's 'Inertia.' Features guitar work from esteemed session player and Toto founder Steve Lukather. Lukather has said that this album contains some of his best recorded fret work. 2000: Platypus's 'Ice Cycles.' A Dream Theater side project with John Myung, bassist of Dream Theater, Ty Tabor of King's X on guitar, and Rod Morgenstein of Dixie Dregs on drums. They also released an album in 1999. To this date, Sherinian said, he hasn't seen any royalties or publishing money from either album, even though he was in on the songwriting process and came up with the band's name. 1998: Dream Theater's 'Once in a Livetime.' A live album from modern prog rock's biggest stars. 1997: Dream Theater's 'Falling Into Infinity.' Sherinian's second appearance on a Dream Theater album. 1995: Dream Theater's 'A Change of Seasons.' Sherinian's debut with Dream Theater, replacing original keyboardist Kevin Moore. 1994: Alice Cooper's 'The Last Temptation.' Sherinian's first recording work for a major label release. 1993: KISS's 'Alive III.' A live record. 1993: Brad Gillis's 'Gilrock Ranch.' Night Ranger guitarist's solo album. Sherinian's first appearance on an album. |
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