Mike Keneally is a virtuoso guitarist and keyboardist who has recorded over twenty solo albums. He currently performs with Joe Satriani and has performed with such luminaries as Frank Zappa and Steve Vai.
His music and friendship are a life-long collaboration. Mike and Gavin became friends their freshmen year of high school and they performed together in the drama department for the entirety of their high school theatrical career.
We kept in touch and from time to time considered some sort of collaboration, which basically meant I would have to get back on stage in some capacity.
Things picked up a bit once Mike began recording with Joe Satriani on Satriani’s Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards record, which placed Mike in Marin County to record at Lucas Studios, not far from my home.
Shortly after that time, I had been invited to teach a martial arts/dance workshop – titled Warrior’s Dance, at a Steam Punk convention and thought the Joe Satriani song, The Golden Room, would be a perfect song to open the Warrior’s Dance with.
Once I began developing the device, I reached out to Mike and I expressed an interest in incorporating his music into my performances with the device with the hopes of bringing him on stage at some point.
Moving forward to the Safehouse August 23rd performance, I can officially announce Mike and I will be on Stage in San Francisco at the same time….at different locations. The universe will provide if nothing else, a sense of humor.
Mike and I do have a long history of missed connections to the point of tradition, Mike comes to the bay area when I’m away, I’m in San Diego when he’s away, but on stage within a mile of each other, this is a first.