This began when he was still a teenager, being hired in 1985 by the prestigious Guitar Institute Of Technology (GIT) in Los Angeles. This is not to mention a lengthy tenure as a much-in-demand teacher and instructor. He also toured with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci in 2007 ( “G3”) and two years later with Richie Kotzen and George Lynch ( “Guitar Generation”). BIG, one of the era’s most revered names, his distinguished solo career has seen him putting out 15 acclaimed records and guesting on albums from such diverse names as Todd Rundgren, BOWLING FOR SOUP, Glenn Hughes and MC Lars. From his time in Los Angeles metallers RACER X to helping form MR. But the title, to me, still has a musical meaning.” Gilbert is a formidable force. And ‘Werewolves’ could take on other meanings that I certainly hadn’t anticipated. Unfortunately, Portland has become more ‘known’ in the last year for events that are pretty sad to watch. When we play music, it is our version of ‘howling at the moon’. “My original idea for the ‘Werewolves’ was just the guys in my band and me. “I live in Portland and thought it would be funny to substitute the name of my much lesser-known city,” Paul says.

I used to play those in the early days of RACER X, so it was fun to have a guitar that reminded me of my early shredder style.” The album title’s inspiration partly comes from the Warren Zevon song “Werewolves Of London”.

I also brought and modified a ’60s Epiphone Olympic. I brought some models from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s like the Ibanez Artist, Roadstar II and Ghostrider. “I’ve been collecting vintage Ibanez guitars lately, too.

“I mostly used my Ibanez Fireman guitars,” he says. Since my mind has the habit of searching for contrasts, I started to wonder what people might be against eating pie.” Recorded at Opal Studio in Portland with co-producer and engineer Kevin Hahn, “Werewolves Of Portland” saw Gilbert pulling out some of his current favorite guitars for the job. Eating pie seemed to be something that everyone could agree on. Amidst all the brewing angst in Portland, the pie shop was a place where everyone was happy and at peace. This lyric came from my pre-lockdown experiences of stopping by my local pie shop for a slice of strawberry rhubarb. “ ‘Argument About Pie’ is one of my favorites. I’ve even printed the lyrics in the liner notes of the album, so you can ‘read along’ as you listen to the music. Talking about the first song released from the album, he explains: “Most of my titles come from the lyrics that I write in order to get a melody going. I’ve always loved playing drums, and I can play bass and keyboards well enough to get the job done,” he says. “It took me about six months to think of it, but it finally occurred to me that I could play all the instruments myself. With the international lockdown putting the world on hold, Gilbert decided to, rather than wait, he got on with playing all the instruments on the album himself.

Paul gilbert guitar solo