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photo by Talia Hodge
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photo by Talia Hodge
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photo by Talia Hodge
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photo by Talia Hodge
One song set the trajectory of international guitar sensation Neil Zaza’s life: Van Halen’s “Runnin’ with the Devil.”
“From the first chords, it was like electricity in the air. … I was awestruck,” recalls the 59-year-old Stow resident. “From that point on, I never wanted to do anything else.”
As a 15-year-old Nordonia High School student, he began taking guitar lessons at the YMCA and played in garage bands — taking on tunes by Journey and Peter Frampton. He majored in classical guitar at The University of Akron, studying under taskmaster Stephen Aron.
“Every lesson, I would go in intimidated and shaky because I knew that he was going to call me out if I didn’t practice,” Zaza recalls. “It really imprinted on me that you have to put the work in.”
After playing with the band Zaza for four years, he struck out on his own around 1992. Now, instead of just showing off with lengthy guitar solos, he focuses on letting the instrument sing.
“My guitar is really the lead singer in all my music. It’s melodic. It has a vocal quality,” says Zaza, who writes and records his own work. “I’m building the whole song around a melody that people can relate to and hang on to.”
It was on his third solo album, 1996’s “Sing,” where he found his sound with “I’m Alright” — one of the most definitive songs for instrumental rock guitar to this day. The explosive masterpiece has garnered over 3.9 million views on YouTube, prompted millions of covers and catapulted him to international fame — with regular tour stops in Europe and Asia. In the late ‘90s, he performed the uplifting anthem as a headliner at a South Korean rock festival.
“I started playing ‘I’m Alright,’ and the place comes unglued, people are holding up signs: I’m Alright; We Love You Neil,” he recalls. “Then I was doing the meet-and-greets, signing autographs and people have ‘I’m Alright’ ringtones — it’s surreal.”
photo by Talia Hodge
He’s since released nine more albums, including 2022’s “Vermeer,” featuring the ethereal ballad “Gumdrop Fantasy” and the jubilant “Big Rock.”
Serendipitously, the Northeast Ohioan has collaborated with his idols, including Journey drummer Steve Smith and bass player Ross Valory, singer-songwriter and guitarist Peter Frampton and even Van Halen bass player Michael Anthony.
“I played some crazy riff, and he’s encouragingly like, Yeah, that’s great bro. It really flipped me out,” Zaza says of Anthony. “I learned this riff because I probably stole it from Eddie Van Halen, and now I’m playing it in front of you!”
Zaza has found a niche with regional holiday shows. For One Silent Night, which debuted in 2001, he fuses holiday classics with rock anthems — like a mashup of “What Child is This?” and Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” One Dark Night, which started in 2018, spotlights macabre dancers, costumed actors, singers and more as Zaza plays Gothic songs like Chopin’s “Funeral March” and Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”
For Zaza — an artist who’s shaped the world of modern instrumental rock guitar with his trademark melodic style — music remains everything.
“Music is life. Music is my blood. It’s my power,” he says. “It’s helped me through the bad and good times. I couldn’t live without it.”
See Him: One Dark Night, the Agora, Cleveland, Oct. 18; One Silent Night, Goodyear Theater, Akron, December;
