Strange Beautiful Music ─ A Musical Memoir

Go behind the scenes with the musician The New York Times called “a guitar God!” 

Oft-hailed as the Jimi Hendrix of his generation, living guitar legend Joe Satriani has long transcended stylistic boundaries with a sound that raises the bar like a new horizon for the broader genre of instrumental guitar rock. Joe’s 6-string secrets have astounded listeners around the world for nearly 30 years.

In Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir, Satriani and coauthor, music biographer Jake Brown, take fans on their first authorized tour of the story behind his climb to stardom and the creative odyssey involved in writing and recording a storied catalog of classics including “Surfing with the Alien,” “Summer Song,” “Satch Boogie,” “Always With Me, Always With You,” “The Extremist,” “Flying in a Blue Dream,” “Crowd Chant,” and more. 

Plus, this edition includes an all-new chapter on Joe's latest album, Shockwave Supernova, and bonus interviews! 

Featuring previously unpublished photos and hours of exclusive, firsthand interviews with Satriani, Strange Beautiful Music offers a unique look inside the studio with Joe, giving fans a chance to get up close and personal like never before. With insider details about his collaboration with multi-platinum supergroup Chickenfoot, exclusive interviews with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, commentary from fellow guitar legends such as Steve Vai, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Primus’s Larry LaLonde, and legendary music producers including Glynn Johns and the late Andy Johns, this memoir offers a rare inside look for die-hard Satriani fans, guitar enthusiasts, and anyone who loves to rock.

Award-winning music biographer Jake Brown has written 43 published books since 2001, featuring many authorized collaborations with some of rock’s biggest artists, including 2013 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Heart (with Ann and Nancy Wilson), country music legends Merle Haggard and Freddy Powers, heavy metal pioneers Motorhead (with Lemmy Kilmister), late hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur (with the estate), celebrated rock drummer Kenny Aronoff, legendary R&B producer Teddy Riley, country rap star Big Smo, late funk pioneer Rick James, the superstar country music anthology Nashville Songwriter, all-star rock drummers anthology Beyond the Beats, all-star rap producers Hip Hop Hits anthology, and the all-star rock producers anthology Behind the Boards, among many others. Brown is a regular contributor to Tape Op magazine (including the 2016 AES cover story with Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan), has appeared as the featured biographer of record on Fuse TV’s Live Through This series and Bloomberg TV’s Game Changers series, and received national press in Rolling Stone magazine, CBS News, USA Today, MTV.com, Hollywood Reporter, Parade magazine, Billboard, and others. In 2012, Brown won the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award in the category of Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research.