Years ago when I was trying to make a go in retail music with 5 partners, we had a pretty nice little store with full lines of most anything you’d want.  One day the Randall amps representative (if memory serves me) came in and (after begging everyone else in town) offered us the line for a rather small investment.  If we took the line, we’d also get a clinic with Michael Angelo Batio (from the band Nitro). Everyone thought this was a good idea at the time (even though we already had Marshall, Ampeg, and Crate lines), so we took the line and booked a clinic.  Michael Angelo was an incredibly nice guy and brought his double-neck and another guitar and drew a pretty big audience for B’ham, Alabama in the late 1980s.  Frankly, I’d not heard of him, but when he played, I was very impressed.  This video illustrates why you should learn to play your tetrachords! (@45 sec.s)

 

 Michael’s headed to the studio in a few weeks to begin work on a new project.  He writes regularly for Guitar World magazine (Time to Burn column) and his fans just began a petition to get him included on the next version of Guitar Hero. 

 If you’re a fan, please visit this link and add your voice to the crowd!

Batio mentions on his official website ,”I am left handed so my right or “picking” hand was overall, the weakest part of my playing. I worked for 2 years in my early teens to master alternate picking while later working on tapping. Basically, anything and everything I could to strengthen my right hand. I started out being a purely legato player. You would never know that now. I concentrated on my 2 weakest areas- Alternate picking and tapping and perfected those. I am a firm believer in working on something you are deficient in. Once you master a technique that gives you “trouble”, other areas of your playing improve dramatically.”  (Wilkipedia).

Wanna know what he’s up to now?  Find out more at:  www.angelo.com

(I wonder how old he is now...)