Sammy Boller has been playing guitar most of his life. He played in high school orchestra and even attended University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance. In 2012, his life forever changed when he won Guitar Center’s “Master Satriani” competition. (Watch his submission for “Satch Boogie” here.)
Catapulting off that success, the next year Boller joined Detroit rockers Citizen Zero. The band released their 2016 debut LP, State of Mind, and its lead single “Go (Let Me Save You)” climbed to #17 on Billboard’s mainstream rock chart. Two years later Boller left Citizen Zero to carve his own musical path. And earlier in 2020, his instrumental power trio released their debut album, Kingdom of the Sun, that snakes between Sunset shred and post-rock melodies.
When asked about his musical evolution, Boller reflects: “I grew up wanting to be Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, but over time I've found my own dark and aggressive style. These days, my dream as a musician is to make people feel as connected to the cosmos as I feel when I play the guitar. I'd love nothing more than that.”
Guitarist Sammy Boller virtually welcomed PG’s Perry Bean into Detroit’s Rust Belt Studios where Alice Cooper, John Fogerty, Bob Seger, and Greta Van Fleet have all recorded. In this Rig Rundown, the finger-tapping guitarist opens up about finding his Excalibur instrument, discovering the Friedman BE-100 and never looking back, and he showcases the core personalities awakened by his pedalboard.
[Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 30th video in that format.
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