Rising Sun

“The ability to play a song all the way through with feeling is so much more important than understanding the song from a theoretical place!”

AMONG THE NEW generation of instrumental guitarists, there are polyrhythmic proggers aplenty, a legion of djenters doling out extended-scale bludgeonings — and even a fistful of notable roots rockers making interesting guitar records without the need for any singing. And then there’s Detroit’s Sammy Boller, a young player who has studied and embraced the fundamentals of instrumental guitar rock as defined by the greats of the Eighties and infused the form with a flare for the unexpected. With his debut solo album, Kingdom of the Sun, Boller has issued an absolutely stunning first statement as a trans-generational instrumentalist whose music won’t just inspire you to grab your guitar and hit the woodshed — its melodies will be bouncing around your head long after you’ve unplugged.

While Boller’s songcraft and astounding melodic sensibilities are undeniably the bedrock, fans of fretboard histrionics will be delighted by the Joe Satriani-co-signed and former Citizen Zero guitarist’s expert shred chops and deft use of tapping techniques to build multi-part passages that recall Stanley Jordan and Eddie Van Halen’s work in equal parts, but with a uniquely Eastern harmonic twist (Check out “Cloak of Light” for the record’s shining example). spoke with Boller about his meditative approach to penning universally catchy guitar instrumentals, how he avoids letting technical prowess get in the way of his songwriting, his unexpected singer/songwriter influences and how Instagram has changed the game for guitar culture in 2020.