The guitarist's new album of the same name is due out March 29.
Yngwie Malmsteen has premiered the lyric video for "Blue Lightning," the title track from his new album. You can check it out above.
Regarding Blue Lightning, which finds Malmsteen paying homage to the blues, the guitarist said: “I grew up in a classically trained family, and people know me for playing in what is called a neo-classical style. But when I got a guitar for my fifth birthday, what I would try to emulate were John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers—I would jam along to what they did on record with Eric Clapton. That's something people don't realize about me—I do have a strong interest in the blues. So, when Mascot came to me with the suggestion of doing an album of songs in this style, it didn't faze me at all. In fact, it seemed so natural.”
Discussing the cover tunes on the new record, he continued: “There were songs that were immediately clear I wanted to do. These were the likes of ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Smoke on the Water,’ which I have been playing since I was a kid. But then I also went for something like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ which I wasn't sure I could do. In this case, it's about trial and error. I am delighted that I was able to do justice to the original.”
Malmsteen also talked about his cover of Eric Clapton's “Forever Man”: “I heard this on the radio, and honestly I didn't know whether I could do it for this album,” he said. “But I sat down and tried things, and they worked out. I had to rise to the occasion and am delighted to have done exactly that."
Blue Lightning also includes four original tunes that bring to the fore Malmsteen's love for the blues. “I have always featured songs with a blues groove on albums,” he said. “So, having my own material in this vein was very natural for me.”
Blue Lightning is set for a March 29 release via Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group. You can preorder the album here.
Malmsteen will also hit the road this spring in support of the new album. You can check out his full itinerary below.
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Yngwie Malmsteen tour dates:
4/13 Dayton, OH @ Oddbody’s
4/25 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
4/26 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
4/27 Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live!
4/28 San Antonio, TX @ Vibes Event Center
5/01 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
5/02 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
5/03 Santa Clarita, CA @ The Canyon Events Center
5/04 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
5/05 Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
5/07 Fresno, CA @ The Tower Theatre
5/08 Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Las Vegas
5/09 Montclair, CA @ The Canyon Events Center
5/10 Vallejo, CA @ Empress Theatre
5/11 Pasadena, CA @ The Rose
5/14 Denver, CO @ The Oriental Theater
5/15 Lincoln, NE @ Royal Grove
5/16 St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
5/17 Turtle Lake, WI @ St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake
5/18 Sioux City, IA @ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City
5/22 New York, NY @ PlaysStation Theater
5/23 Derry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall
5/24 Old Saybrook, CT @ The Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
5/25 Ardmore, PA @ The Ardmore Music Hall
5/29 Sellersville, PA @ Sellersville Theater
5/30 Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse
5/31 Hartford, CT @ Infinity Music Hall
6/01 Niagara Falls, NY @ Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino
Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.
