Vai/Gash

Released on January 27, 2023, Vai/Gash is a collaborative studio album by guitar virtuoso Steve Vai and his late friend, vocalist Johnny "Gash" Sombrotto. Though it hit the market in 2023, the project was originally written and recorded over a two-week period in 1991. It serves as a time capsule of straight-ahead, 1970s-style biker rock meant to be listened to at high speeds on a motorcycle.

In the early 1990s, Steve Vai became deeply immersed in motorcycle culture and met Johnny "Gash" Sombrotto, a fellow avid biker who had survived a severe motorcycle accident years prior. After hearing Gash casually sing, Vai invited him into the studio and was blown away by his raw, powerhouse classic-rock vocals.

They recorded an 8-song project, but Vai shelved it to focus on his 1993 album Sex & Religion, planning to return to it later. Tragically, Sombrotto was killed in a motorcycle accident in September 1998, leaving the project abandoned for three decades until Vai finally decided to master and release it as a tribute.