Gtaranaki 2010

Born in Delaware, Vinnie Moore picked up his first guitar (a Kay) at the age of 12, after which he became, as he describes it, a “guitar freak.” His earliest influences included, among others, Jeff Beck, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen.

Vinnie took lessons with a private instructor and from the age of 14, played with various bands before deciding it was time to make the jump from covering songs to creating his own music. He got a 4-track tape recorder, and began recording his ideas and building them into songs. A demo Vinnie sent to Guitar Player magazine came to national attention via its "Spotlight" column, written by Shrapnel Records exec Mike Varney. This led to Vinnie’s first professional work in the music business which was writing and playing the music for a national Pepsi TV commercial. In 1987, Shrapnel released Vinnie's breakout album, Mind's Eye. Vinnie was quickly heralded "best new talent" in Guitar Player, Guitar and Guitar World magazines, and Mind's Eye sold more than 100,000 copies.

In 1988, Squawk/Polygram released Vinnie’s second effort (and major label debut) Time Odyssey, which solidified his reputation as a musical innovator. His third release was Meltdown, in 1991 (on Relativity/Epic Records); the song “Meltdown” received national radio airplay on both album-oriented rock (AOR) and hard rock formats. In 1996, Mayhem Records released Out of Nowhere, with Brian Tichy (Billy Idol) on drums and Dorian Heartsong (Powerman 5000) on bass.

On The Maze (1999), Vinnie was joined by former MSG drummer Shane Gaalaas, bassist Dave LaRue (The Dregs and The Steve Morse Band) and renowned master musician Tony MacAlpine on keyboards. The Maze was stunning, rooted in the progressive neo-classical style that had already generated legions of loyal fans. Vinnie also displayed a new-found maturity in his songwriting; now, many of his diverse and exotic musical influences, including Latin, Jazz, and the Blues, began finding their way into his signature sound.

Other albums followed: Live (2000), with Shane Gaalaas (drums), Barry Sparks on bass, and Wayne Findlay on keyboards, and Defying Gravity in 2001 with Dave LaRue (bass), Steve Smith on drums, and David Rosenthal on keyboards.

As a performer, Vinnie Moore's resumé is impressive. A member of Alice Cooper's band, he toured the US on the Operation Rock'N'Roll tour, and also performed on Alice’s album Hey Stoopid. Vinnie’s own band has toured extensively as a headliner and also was chosen as opening act for legendary rockers Rush on the Northeast leg of their Roll The Bones Tour. Vinnie also toured Japan as a member of the TM Stevens band, which included Bernie Worrell (Parliament Funkadelic) on keyboards, Wil Calhoun (Living Colour) on drums, and Al Pitrelli (Megadeth) on guitar.

Vinnie has done hundreds of guitar clinics all over the world including such places as Japan, Scandinavia, Italy, Poland, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, England, Germany and Australia.

“I like talking to the fans firsthand and learning from them. It’s insightful to hear what they like about what I’m doing, and what they think about the guitar genre…and the whole music scene in general. I definitely feed off of their energy. It’s cool to be part of a global guitar community, and it’s an honour to know that I can sometimes inspire others to get excited by music and guitar.”

Since 2003, Vinnie has been a member of the legendary group UFO, playing on three albums to date and one live DVD.  The latest UFO studio record with Vinnie in the band, The Visitor, was released in June 2009 on SPV Records. The band has toured the UK, Europe and the USA and will continue in Europe in the spring of 2010.

Vinnie's latest CD To The Core (Mascot Records) was released in May 2009 and has received critical acclaim worldwide.

At G-TARanaki, Vinnie will be joined on stage Saturday night by Elliott Dean on bass, Mike Ehre on drums and Tony MacAlpine on keyboards.  Yes, Tony is a phenomenal keyboardist as well and has played with Vinnie in the past so ths should be a killer set not to be missed!

http://www.vinniemoore.com