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KVC-Arts

KVC-Arts 500 part 2 - Al Pitrelli & a NON Trans-Siberian Orchestra Interview

By David Fleming
Published October 30, 2023 at 4:28 PM PDT

From David Fleming: The celebration of KVC-Arts #500 continues!

You've easily read something similar on a previous post or three. Every time I speak with Al Pitrelli (Music Director for, and one of the lead guitarist with, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), we're speaking about TSO's upcoming tour. Also every time, if I have 3, 5, 12 minutes left, I'll ask for a quick mention of one part or another of Al's extensive and varied career. Last time we spoke I just finally asked if we could do a NON-Trans-Siberian Orchestra at some point, to which he agreed. We not only arranged for such an interview, but it was also set to go for an extended length of time to be used for KVC-Arts #500. I was hoping for an hour... I closed at an hour and a half.

Last KVC-Arts we heard primarily about Pitrelli's work with Randy Coven. Tonight we have a special one-hour edition of the program talking about music from, or his work with - get ready - Alice Cooper (where I ask if one of his most searing and soulful solos was, well, a segue), Dee Snider & Widowmaker, Asia, Morning Wood, lightly on Savatage, a bit of session work, a REALLY cool grouping with O'2L, touching only SLIGHTLY on TSO, and one more from his work with Randy Coven...

I skipped over Megadeth, and other Savatage and TSO material...

I'm sure there's some material in there I've forgotten to mention, but I can say confidently that the first half hour has (for the most part) more of the hard rock kinda stuff, and the second half more acoustic material. This was a FUN one to assemble!

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David Fleming
David Fleming is from Murray, Kentucky. Between college, David worked for the Public Affairs Division of the USS Ranger’s radio and television station. He has served with NPR member stations for over 30 years and also works as a visual artist specializing in temporary Sharpie tattoos. Hear David Fleming weekdays on All Things Considered.
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  • KVC-Arts #500 - Al Pitrelli... BEYOND his work with Trans-Siberian Orchestra
    David Fleming
    KVC-Arts #500!From David Fleming: I’ve spoken with Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Al Pitrelli quite a few times by now, and it’s always 90% or more TSO, and then just a glimpse at some of his past, with some REALLY cool music and experiences there. I finally asked him if we could do a NON-Trans-Siberian Orchestra interview sometime, to which he agreed… and then he agreed again to make that a rather lengthy interview to be used for show number 500. He agreed before I could even finish asking.We started with his work with Randy Coven. Maybe around age 22 or so, Pitrelli played 2nd guitar on one of the tracks for Coven's "Funk Me Tender." By the 2nd Coven release, "Sammy Says Ouch," it was solidly a three-piece band (with guests), with Coven, Pitrelli, and John O'Reilly at the core. They recognized that by the third release, and instead of calling it The Randy Coven Band, then naming the cd, it was simply called CPR. The CPR release is mostly instrumental, though one of the two songs include Stevie Wonder's "I Wish," with the mighty Zakk Wylde on vocals. You can find a video of this easily enough on YouTube by the way. It clearly comes from an old VHS tape which was starting to stretch out, but it's SO much fun, and beyond vocals, Wylde really burns it up on the final guitar solo (of course). A reference point: For Wylde, this would be the year after Ozzy’s “No More Tears,” and a couple years before his bands Pride & Glory and Black Label Society.This is the next KVC-Arts - Sunday October 15th at 6 pm PST, and Tuesday the 17th at 2 and 6:30 pm PST. Streaming live at kvcrnews.org, and locally at 91.9 FM.We spoke at such length exploring the non-Trans-Siberian Orchestra side of Al, that there’ll be a special one hour KVC-Arts Saturday October 21st at 7 pm PST. More funk and fusion, some Alice Cooper, Dee Snider, Morning Wood (a wonderful acoustic project), Asia, and touching quite lightly on Savatage and TSO. I could've easily included more Savatage and TSO, as well as Megadeth, but after the 50-minute mark I started leaning more toward sounds or bands of which people are not (or less) aware.