My Years with Dave Lee Roth - Steve Vai Interview!

Steve Vai, at this point renowned for his work with Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz and his solo album Flex-Able, brought his exceptional guitar skills and unique musical style to the forefront, which made him the perfect fit for Dave Lee Roth's post Van Halen career. Together, they created an album that became a commercial sensation and forever etched their names in rock history.
Our interview delves into the emotions experienced by Steve Vai as the album Eat Em And Smile achieved great commercial success. As the lead guitarist, his ideas played a pivotal role in shaping the sound and direction of Eat Em And Smile and we explore how Steve's love for classic rock growing up, influenced his creative process during this collaboration.
Discover the genuine camaraderie shared between Steve Vai and Dave Lee Roth, fuelled by their shared quirky sense of humour. With complete artistic freedom, Steve was able to push boundaries and experiment, resulting in unforgettable guitar riffs and solos. Interestingly, Steve reveals that he never felt pressured to compete with Eddie Van Halen, allowing him to stay true to his unique style.
Join us as Steve Vai recounts the journey of working with Dave Lee Roth, and the incredible recognition he received and how he adjusted to the level of fame and recognition that came from working with one of rock's great front men!
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[rangerwhite]

Eat em and smile is a brilliant album. Dave surely picked the best of the best for that album.

[ClifHaley]

"I love the way Edward played, but I wouldn't want to play like anybody else but me, " is exactly what Eddie would encourage anyone to do.

[Pappy]

Saw them in 1988. Killer show! Steve was soloing and he broke a string. He stops, puts his hands up as if he were saying WTF. He slings his guitar off his shoulder and his tech tossed him another guitar and he rips the solo exactly at the note he left off on! The crowd went bonkers! One of the best guitar hero moments I have ever seen! Much respect to Mr. Vai! You are a legend!

[mookyyzed]

So much respect for Steve. A class act.

[barryrammer]

I remember Cross Roads he was perfect devil guitarist. Loved it.

[epic]

Eat 'Em and Smile is a great album.

[wjatube]

Yankee Rose was flash. Style. Unusual sounds and yet in your face fun hard rock all in one. It truly personified Diamond Dave AND the freshest shredder around. What a time to be a teenager who played guitar- I'm so grateful to have such innovative musicians to learn from.

[brucerichard]

He is a super talented guitarist who seems remarkably humble. Yankee Rose is incredible, fun, and never gets old.

[timgust]

I love the fact that Steve feels humbled by Edward. Thank you Steve.

[ajnumbahwon]

Steve is so awesome. I've never heard him talk shit about other guitar players and he's always super humble. Truely someone to emulate.

[woodtool]

Steve Vai seems like such a nice guy. Grounded and real.

[bigmaxy]

Dave put one hell of a band together in Steve, Billy and Greg, absolute power house.

[jjh]

Lucky to have seen them on the Eat ‘Em And Smile tour. Steve, Greg and Billy were a powerhouse and their talent was off the charts. What a time!

[OdinHammersmith]

Eat ‘‘em and smile was the perfect follow up to 1984. ❤ 🎸 🎶🎶🎶🎵 🎶🎶🎶🎵

[tragicallymalicious]

I played this album over and over, couldn't get enough of Dave and Steve. Drove my coworkers crazy

[jasoncarter]

The older I get the more I realize what we had during the 80's through the mid 90's and that it will never be the same musically for better or worse.

[Obxhatman]

The fact alone that Vai went into DLR band without any thought of playing similar to Eddie says a lot for him. Eddie in his own right, earned his stripes more than once, and Vai has earned his, Two insanely good guitarist, behind the same very talented front man. You honestly could not go wrong just being yourself. I'm sure Eddie is smiling down on Vai for his accomplishments, as much as Vai is smiling back at him for his. When you get to this level of talent, comradery is out the door, its just sheer respect. All of the greats had that. SRV, BB King, Jimi, Rhoads, EVH, Vai, Satch, Gilbert, Goven, and the list goes on.

[Rasputin-]

Vai is an incredible player. Eat em and smile is a classic, blistering album. Three fantastic players and one of the greatest frontmen ever.

[bobhunt]

Steve is a living example of humility meets seif worth. He never takes away from anyone what they don't want him to have. He always pays his way through the muck and mire with an optimistic smile and laugh. Always locking forward having studied what has passed. The humble soundwave servant providing more than we thought we asked.

[claymor]

Eat ‘em and Smile was a landmark guitar album. And as SV says, great playing from all involved, even my sniffy non-rock-fan bass player friends were impressed by Sheehan.