Born in Carbondale, Illinois, into a middle class family, Paul started playing guitar at the age of 6, but soon gave up, becoming frustrated with just learning simple nursery rhymes -
Around age 9, he took up the guitar again, but with a skewed memory of the technique. He "played only with upstrokes, used only the low 'E' string and only used his middle finger on the fretboard." Frustrated after trying to play the intro to "Barracuda" by Heart, he took lessons and his teacher explained the error of his ways. His technique corrected, Gilbert continued practicing and by the age of 14 he developed a local band in Greensburg, PA named Missing Lynx. They played together for approximately two years and wrote their own material. After Missing Lynx he then went on to join another local band called Tau Zero, but left shortly after, and headed for California. He was spotlighted in Guitar Player Magazine alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen.


Racer X
Formed in Los Angeles, Racer X originally comprised Paul Gilbert (guitar), John Alderete (bass), Harry Gschoesser (drums) and Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Gilbert's playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis (later known for being the drummer for Judas Priest) in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet was added as a second guitar player. Bouillet was a very skilled player, as he had to play over Gilbert's always difficult and challenging phrases. Paul Gilbert gained recognition as one of the fastest guitar players in the world due to incredibly technical pieces like "Frenzy", "Scarified", "Y.R.O." and "Scit Scat Wah". Gilbert left Racer X in 1988, but he eventually would rejoin the band in 1999. Currently the band is inactive, but Gilbert has said that he'd like to do another Racer X record sometime in the future.


Mr. Big
When Billy Sheehan left David Lee Roth's band in 1988, he joined with Paul Gilbert, who had left his former band, Racer X. They founded Mr. Big, with Pat Torpey on drums and singer Eric Martin. The band was a huge success in Japan, and became famous in 1991, with Lean Into It, their second album, which featured the ballad "To Be With You", which received strong media play and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gilbert continued playing in Mr. Big until the late 90s. He left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Richie Kotzen. Mr. Big disbanded in 2002.


Projects
In May of 2003 he played on an only twice-performing project called Yellow Matter Custard, a Beatles cover band consisting of Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Neal Morse (ex-Spock's Beard), and Matt Bissonette. A CD and DVD are available. They took their name from a lyric in "I Am the Walrus": "Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye".

He rejoined Portnoy along with Dave LaRue and Daniel Gildenlöw for a Led Zeppelin tribute band called "Hammer of the Gods" in 2004, again with Portnoy in September 2005, with Sean Malone, and Jason McMaster in the Rush tribute band "Cygnus and the Sea Monsters", and yet again with Portnoy, Gary Cherone, and Billy Sheehan in May 2006, as Amazing Journey: A Tribute to The Who, playing three shows. The band (excluding Sheehan) destroyed their equipment after the show in homage.

He was also revealed to be the guest guitarist on the Neal Morse solo album, Sola Scriptura.

In 2007, Paul Gilbert toured with Bruce Bouillet for promotion of his first instrumental album, Get Out of My Yard, which was released in 2006. Paul Gilbert also joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci in the 2007 G3 tour. This was the 5th North American G3 run and the 12th tour worldwide since its inception.

Paul's new instrumental CD titled Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar was released in Japan on January 23, 2008, in Europe on March 31, 2008, and in America on April 8, 2008. This is Paul's second instrumental album.


Influences and Style
Talking about his influences, Paul mentions many different artists, including Jimmy Page, Judas Priest, Yngwie Malmsteen, Akira Takasaki, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, and The Ramones. He is also a great fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He states on the Space Ship Live DVD that George Harrison is one of his favorite guitar players.

Gilbert composes music in a wide variety of styles including pop, rock, metal, blues, jazz, funk and classical, but is perhaps best known for his versatility and speed, which helped him be named as one of the "Top 10 Shredders Of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine. He is also considered to be one of the best proponents of alternate picking and string skipping.

Photographer: Steve Goudie