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KVC-Arts 10/26/25 - Al Pitrelli & Trans-Siberian Orchestra

David Fleming, 2024

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is just about to start their 2025 tour. They're presenting once again "The Ghosts of Christmas Eve." This is the story of a young girl who has run away from home and has taken refuge in an abandoned theatre. She wants to come home again, and this is pretty much where we pick up the story. It doesn't matter why she ran away. The argument or whatever it was... doesn't matter. The point is that she wants to come home and we get a wonderful Frank Capra-esque ending. Paul O'Neil was rather fond of those.

While TSO has toured this album many times, each year there's something else added. It's always bigger somehow. This was something the group wanted to make SURE to happen every time they hit the road. When they started touring in 1999 they hit the road with a panel truck and a fog machine. Now there's 18 or more trucks for the equipment, tour buses, and the band has divided into TSO East and West - ensuring they can hit as many cities as possible.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of "Beethoven's Last Night," so while they almost always play at least "Requiem" from this album, this year there' going to be a special gathering of several songs to be presented in the second half of the show.

Al Pitrelli and I spoke about this quite recently in what has become an annual conversation... something that has kept me doing what I do when I've considered stopping several times. I'm quite thankful for that. Every year when we speak, it doesn't feel like "just some interview." It feels like I'm speaking with an old friend. SO greatly appreciated!

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!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.
  • 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!
  • David Fleming speaks with Al Pitrelli, music director for, and one of the guitarists with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This year they're touring "The Lost Christmas Eve, one they haven't performed in about a dozen years, though filled with TSO favorites.
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  • David Fleming speaks once again with Al Pitrelli, guitarist, music director and original member of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We'll hear a bit more about Savatage (the group out of which TSO was born) - specifically, Paul O'Neil, the main storyteller for Savatage AND Trans-Siberian Orchestra. A bit from and about TSO of course, and also touching lightly on some funk/fusion projects Pitrelli was a part of at one point - O'2L and CPR and/or The Randy Coven Band.Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be in the region December 3rd touring The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, and KVCR has tickets at a couple different giving levels during our Fall Membership Campaign. Listen - and give - at kvcrnews.org.
  • David Fleming speaks once again with Al Pitrelli, of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. On the previous program we heard about the virtual Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert from last year, and the current tour, with a stop in Ontario December 4th. On this program, they speak just a BIT of TSO, then it's off to the sidebars. We'll get a bit on Derek Sherinian - some REALLY funny moments there, including mentions of Sherinian's approaching meeting with Alice Cooper. There's also a past project with quite the funny name. We'll also explore, in one way or another, why and how Pitrelli does what he does, which includes discussion of Jeff Beck, front porch improv, and continuous exploration.
  • David Fleming speaks with Al Pitrelli, Music Director for, and one of the guitarists with, Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We’ll hear about the current tour of The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, as well as touching lightly on a few other albums… including Savatage (thank you Devin Perkins). Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be in the region December 3rd, and KVCRhas tickets at a couple different giving levels as we go into our Fall Membership Campaign. kvcrnews.org/support for more.
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