Australian guitarist, Orianthi, has two records in the works and recently spoke to Guitar World about them, as well as the way her career has shaped up since releasing her pop rock hit, “According To You”, in 2009. Following is an excerpt:
Guitar World: You’ve dialled in your sound over your last couple of records. What’s been the key to that?
Orianthi: “I’m trying to get better. I’ve never stopped learning and want to be a better guitar player. I also want to be a better singer and songwriter because everyone has their own mind, fingerprint and journey. There were quite a few records where I was told the parameters, like, ‘This is what you have to do. You have to make a heavy record,’ or ‘You have to make a pop record.’ I was told what to do, but I wanted to play guitar. There’s freedom in that. You learn that there’s people out there that you’ll find who think they own you… but the label I’m working with now (Woodward Avenue Records) truly believes in me as an artist.”
Guitar World: Are your two latest tracks, “First Time Blues” and “Ghost”, indicators of where you’re going?
Orianthi: “Yes. And soon we’re putting out ‘Some Kind Of Feeling’ (available now), which is quite different. I wrote ‘Some Kind Of Feeling’ a while ago on acoustic and it’s got a soul kind of feel. People might think it’s quite a departure, but I figured, ‘You know what? I put out enough heartbreak songs. Why not put out a happy song to manifest some good shit? I don’t want to be a person who only writes songs about a horrible relationship. This is about love, connection, what music does and what somebody can do when they come into your life. It can be love, a friend or a person… It’s just about feeling good. Life is all about connections for me, and this song represents that. I really dig the new vibe… it’s really different.”
Read the complete interview via Guitar World here.
Alice Cooper recently announced that guitarist Orianthi will be joining his band for shows January 31 through February 16, filling in for Nita Strauss, who has conflicting obligations of her own. Orianthi toured with Alice from 2011 to 2014, along with longtime band members Chuck Garric, Glen Sobel, Tommy Henriksen, and Ryan Roxie.
“Working with him was such a blast, and it’s such an honor. Alice is a legend,” Orianthi tells Guitar World. “I know the shows are going to be really fun. It’s going to be just a whole different dynamic and sort of a change from Nita.”
The invitation came via an email that cut straight to the chase. “It basically said, ‘Hey, Alice would love for you to join him because Nita [Strauss] is busy.’ I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ Well, actually, at first, I said, ‘I’m not sure because I have my own stuff going on right now with my tour.’ But we moved things around and made it work.”
Read more at GuitarWorld.com.
Announcing Orianthi’s return, Alice Cooper said, “When Orianthi moved on to pursue her own career in 2014, we were lucky to find Nita. Over the past decade, Nita, Chuck, and Tommy have also launched their own projects, and we always try to coordinate our schedule so we can keep the band together, but these shows came up after Nita had already committed to another tour. So I reached out to Orianthi, and thankfully she was available to jump back in, so we’re all really looking forward to doing these shows with her. I’m so fortunate to always have such great musicians to work with.”
The tour schedule for these shows is as follows.
January
31 – Augusta, GA – Bell Auditorium
February
1 – Cherokee, NC – Harrah’s Casino Resort Event Center
2 – Greensboro, NC – Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts
4 – Mobile, AL – Saenger Theatre
6 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock
7 – Ft Myers, FL – Barbara Mann Performing Arts Hall
8 – Clearwater, FL – Coachmen Park
11 – St. Augustine, FL – Amphitheatre
13-17 – Miami, FL – Rock Legends Cruise
Alice Cooper will be announcing further 2025 tour dates, with Nita Strauss back in the fold, including the already-annnounced shows May 9 at the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio and August 15 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field with My Chemical Romance.
More information, including ticket and VIP package purchases, can be found here.