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[Matt Picone]

Hey all,

Wanted to say hi as I have come out of digest mode.

Had a trip to Florida this month to visit my Uncle. From there I picked 
up on a nice string of events that I thought the bar would want to hear 
about. When I read it back, it seems pretty unbelievable, but one thing 
kind of leads to another in the small circles I found myself in.

You probably know I've been working (nights/weekends/some road dates) as 
a "Virtual Guitar Tech" for Dweezil Zappa. He and I met up in there in 
Florida for some hands-on sound design during a rehearsal/gig. Our 
friendship has basically sprung around growing shared 
expertise/creativity with guitar tones on the Fractal Axe-FX Ultra, a 
virtual guitar amp/cab/effect system. Well, as it happens, I have been 
able to frogger from that gig to the mothership: the partners of Fractal 
Atomic have taken me in as a friend and consultant, and I've gotten in 
on product design, marketing, etc., plus I am redesigning the GUI and 
workflows for their editor software, doing artist relations, and more.

Fractal invited me to represent them at Winter NAMM in California. 
There, for once, I did not have to work a booth, but got to just invite 
artists to my suite at the Hilton for hands-on demos. Doing these, I 
met/hung out with/tweaked for/jammed with some great musicians. 
Highlights included Andy Wood, Billy Howerdel, Ben Lacy, Paul Jackson 
Jr., Lincoln Brewster, Devin Townsend, and one Thomas Nordegg, perhaps 
the best known guitar tech of the last 30 years.

Thomas took a real liking to me, and through him, I was invited to Steve 
Vai's home studio, where I spent a long rainy afternoon dialing in amps 
and pedals and talking gear. I'm told Vai is "still there in the same 
spot, composing" for a new record. His endorsees are now sending guitar 
and amp to Mysticworks so I can "begin and end from the same place".

After dinner in the Hollywood Hills, I ended up (full circle) 
reconnecting with Dweezil back at the Zappa family studios (Utility 
Muffin Research Kitchen) which was really a great place.

Next... Adrian Belew was in queue, but schedules got crunched, so 
instead, he and I are going to work together at his place in Nashville 
for a week in Feb. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, I will share the Axe-FX with 
Allan Holdsworth, and then John Petrucci shortly thereafter. It's a bit 
mind boggling (-numbing?), really.

So music is being a really big part of my life right now and I'm feeling 
happy, appreciated and enthusiastic about taking it even farther.

But EVERYWHERE I go, I think of you 'barians--your knowledge, 
friendship, and character, from on hand or afar, and the role these have 
played in shaping me as a person and a gear geek. Despite my standing 
among stars, nothing outshimmers your collective psyche!

-m@