Steve Vai [ tickets ]'s pedigree of rock associations reads like a progressive intrumentalist's dream: Tutoring by Joe Satriani, a stint at the Berklee School of Music springboarding into a job in Frank Zappa's band and a solo recording career intertwined with album and tour work backing Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. Live Daily contributing editor Michelle Wong recently spoke with Vai recently about his latest projects and insights.

Those projects include Merry Axemas, Volume 2 and Flex-able Leftovers. Axemas revisits the notion of placing holiday standards in the hands of guitar virtuosos. The collection features Steve Stevens, Ted Nugent, Robin Trower, Steve Lukather, Zakk Wylde and John Sykes, Stu Hamm, Neal Schon and Trevor Rabin, and Al Di Meola. Leftovers is a re-release of a limited-edition EP, originally released in 1984, with five new tracks added.

Much of Vai's energy in 1999 will be devoted to finishing work on a boxed-set, promising ornate packaging and as many as 10 CD's of Vai material, including many never-before-heard tracks from his many studio sessions.