TEDDY ZANE - Lead Guitar

 ZODIAC SIGN: Aries

PLACE OF BIRTH: Syracuse, NY USA

GENRE Most inlfuenced by: Rock, Metal, Classical, Power Metal, Neo-Classical Metal

GEAR USED IN HEARTLAND: Guitars-  Zane7 guitars built by me mostly, Ibanez 560 leftys from 87,

        Pickups- Dimarzio Evolution on all guitars

        Amps   - 100 watt tube heads - Marshall, Egnater, EVH, Saldano

        Speaker Cab - 30 Watt celestions speakers in any number of 4 X 12 cabs EVH, Marshall

        Effects - Way to many to list but Cant live without my vintage analog delays

EXPERIENCE: Live Performance (25 yrs)

YEARS PLAYING: 30

TRAINING: Music Theory (4 yrs total)

INSPIRATIONS: Any person at the top of their game in any field..  Neal Schon & Eddie Van Halen

FAVORITE BANDS/MUSICIANS: Journey, Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, KISS, Ozzy, Satriani, Vai, Sanatana,   Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, Helloween, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Racer X, Vicious Rumors, Queensryche, Tony Macalpine, Uli Jon Roth, Scorpions, Dream Theater, Savatage, Michael Angelo, Vinnie Moore, George Bellas, Borislave Mitic, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rush, Pink Floyd, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Paganini, John Williams, Andrew Lloyd Webber.. etc...  the list is huge and never ending

BACKGROUND in Music:

I grew up in Syracuse NY. I became very interested in rock music when I was about 6 or 7. I used to watch this guy that lived accross the street sit on his door step and play his electric guitar.  Man I was mesmerized. To this day I have no clue who he was but He really made me want to be a musician.  When I was about nine I got my hands on a chopped up acoustic with only 3 strings on it.  I played the hell out of that thing. Listening and learning by ear Bands like: Kiss, Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Twisted Sister, Halen.. Just playing one note at a time. I didnt even realize it, but I was training my ear on that guitar. I then became obsessed with 80s Hair Metal. Bands like; Ratt, Poison, Dokken, Extreme, Winger, Warrent, Quiet Riot.. pretty much any band that had a bad a## guitarist... A lot of people dont know this but I legally changed my middle name to Randy when I was 12. Thats what a huge Rhoads fan I was.. Teddy Eddie Zane just didnt sound right. The entire fam was changin the last name so I tossed in the middle name too!

I Finally got a beginner electric guitar for Christmas when I was eleven and figured out a few things on it ,, like; I WAS A LEFTY AND THESE STRINGS NEED TO BE FLIPPED OVER!!! Haha Took my first guitar teacher to show me how to string her up as a lefty. That guitar didn't last very long though and a few months later I got a decent one that came with a chord diagram booklet and a WAMMY BAR!!. I learned how to divebomb on that guitar.. it was called a MAKO. I pretty much locked myself in my room and didn't come out until I could play a mean, shred guitar. I also got a keyboard and took two years of music theory in high school for both guitar and Keys. Had an awesome neighbor that gave me guitar lessons every monday for I think around 2 years also. The theory helped with my keyboard playing and with writing. It was around this time that I became interested in Journey. My brother had the tape "ESCAPE" and I just about wore it out... along with a bunch of his other albums. But Neal Schons playing was different than these other guitarists. Not only was he fluid and melodic, but I remember wondering how someone could pick all the notes individually so fast while hitting all the bends he was goin after... And how was he not breaking strings on those bends? It was incredible to me and I was hooked on his style of playing.... but as an 80s boy I was also determined to teach myself what I was hearing in other bands; 2 handed Tapping, synchronized picking and alternate picking, as well as sweep picking arpeggios. So today I use all these styles in my playing.

To make a long story short; Throughout the nineties and 2k I played in Van Halen tribute bands Called: Fair Warning, Diver Down and 5150. I took off from Syracuse and was lucky enough to tour the USA, Canada and Alaska. Boy the VHS Collection I have is..................................... totally useless.