A Call To The Wild

      Voted as a top-10 finalist by guitar legend Steve Vai in the 2001 Steve Vai Guitar Challenge, and Billboard charts top-10 hit session guitarist, Neil Rambaldi has made quite a name for himself as both a solo artist in his self-coined Southwestern blues rock fusion style—as well as instrumental rock and progressive rock; and as a session guitarist / former sideman touring guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, film / TV composer, and producer in many other styles spanning pop, Americana, soul, classical, Latin jazz, and more.

Neil Rambaldi with bassist Stu Hamm (from Steve Vai's & Joe Satriani's bands) and vocalist Carl Restivo (music director for and touring member of Tom Morello's band) performing live at Soundcheck Live in Hollywood, CA - February 2019

      With two solo albums under his belt and a third underway, his highly-acclaimed latest release A Call To The Wild conjures up the spirit of the wild with its fire-red, blues-laden guitar lines and epic multi-instrumental soundscapes. Neil’s guitar sound and compositions, time and time again, have been described as powerful and virtuosic, with one influential critic calling them “a stunning barrage of sound” (20th Century Guitar Magazine, USA/Canada). He paints a scenery with “the brush that is the virtuoso guitar of Rambaldi” (Patricios 95.5 FM, Buenos Aires, AR).

Neil Rambaldi's acclaimed second solo album, A Call To The Wild (front & back cover) - Released March 2017

     Upon the album’s release in March 2017, Neil peaked at #6 on the Reverb Nation rock charts for Los Angeles, surpassing artists such as rock guitar legend George Lynch. The San Francisco area veteran radio DJ Don Campau (KKUP 91.5 FM) had even called Neil’s A Call To The Wild one of his “favorite albums of the year” upon its release.

     Currently based out of both his native NJ and the Southern CA / AZ region (having initially built his career for a decade in N.Y.C. and later in L.A. for 12 years as his full-time residence), he mainly splits his time writing and producing his solo albums / solo material and touring the U.S. as a solo artist on guitar and vocals in both his 3-piece live band and solo-electric format performing his solo discography and beyond—with emphasis on his blues and rock fusion side, as well as his forthcoming third album material revealing (in part) an additional dimension—his broader American roots music side beyond just the blues. For his longer shows, he also includes his own spin on some of his favorite classics among blues, blues rock, and soul music—incorporating his “sound” into them. Whether it is a solo show with his guitar, vocals, and masterful use of a loop pedal and percussion, or solo band show, his live performances are not to be missed.

Neil Rambaldi performing in concert in Los Angeles, CA - December 2018

Neil Rambaldi performing in concert in San Antonio, TX - November 2023

Neil Rambaldi performing in concert in New York City, NY - December 2018

      Neil’s music and songwriting are heavily inspired by his vast and somewhat nomadic life experiences, having especially soaked up both the U.S. Southwest and West Coast landscapes and energy, along with his long-time immersion and working in the L.A. scene—ultimately infusing these experiences into his music.

      Entirely producing, writing, and performing all of the instruments and the occasional vocals on his latest released album (including guitars, bass, keyboards, and various percussion with the exception of some drum programming), his monumental 67-minute A Call To The Wild is Neil’s second solo release on his own label Prismism Music, with worldwide distribution on CD, download, and streaming through all major platforms including CD Baby, Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Apply Music, Tidal, Deezer, Pandora, iHeart, and many more online music retailers and services, as well as additional CD distribution through Alliance Entertainment and its affiliates worldwide.

      Influenced by classic rock, blues, progressive rock, hard rock, soul, funk, and even classical, jazz, Latin jazz, and flamenco, Neil’s second album has crossover appeal—and although Neil’s sound on this album is eclectic, it has a distinctive thread throughout that is all his own. His guitar playing has been known to be highly melodic, soulful, sometimes aggressive, and often deeply-textured with sounds spanning his wide stylistic palette. He has been likened to guitar greats such as Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Joe Satriani, among others.

      Some of Neil’s greatest musical influences include Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Di Meola, Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Greg Howe, Vinnie Moore, Jon Finn, The Hellecasters, Freddie King, Albert King, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Danny Gatton, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Francisco Tárrega, Niccolò Paganini, Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonio Vivaldi, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck, Michael Schenker, Cachao, Eddie Palmieri, Paco de Lucía, Jaco Pastorius, Brecker Brothers, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, Miles Davis, Jeff Buckley, and Michael Hedges among others.

      Marc Roy of ProGGnosis (USA/Canada) says:

"I'm very much impressed by what I hear on A Call To The Wild... Obviously Rambaldi is a great guitar player that can shred with lightning speed, but he does not use his music as a vehicle that allows him to showcase his technical abilities. His emphasis is more on the melody, not just on prowess. References can be made with great Blues Rock guitarists like Joe Bonamassa, Jeff Beck or Stevie Ray Vaughan, but his playing style is quite unique... He even sings (very well)... One thing that really got me hooked on A Call To The Wild is that Rambaldi inserts a good number of pieces in a 'Non Blues Rock' style; Latin Rock, Spanish guitar... Luckily he manages to do this without breaking the general mood of his album. A Call To The Wild is an excellent album that is good from beginning to end. Highly recommended indeed." ...And from Facebook (@ProGGnosis): "Fans of Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa... this album should really interest you."

      Pete Pardo of Sea of Tranquility (USA) says:

"Much more than just an instrumental guitar-oriented album... Neil Rambaldi not only has all the chops, but the songwriting skills to match them every step of the way. This guy is a monster player. ...Each (song) a sizzling vehicle for Rambaldi's serious chops of doom. The songs here contain a wealth of variety, tones, textures, and colors. ...and he knows how to cross different genres and really mix it up a bit. He's a guy that deserves to be heard by the masses. Lion Music and all the guitar labels out there – check this guy out. I think he is well deserving of finding a spot on one of your rosters."

      Vinnie DeMasi, a writer for Guitar Player Magazine (USA) says:

"It (A Call To The Wild) really is exceptional! Somewhere between shred and blues. Great balance of both! ...Shred equal parts Satriani, SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughan), and Eric Johnson. This is a fantastic CD! Highly recommended. Neil has a lot of diverse aspects to his playing and writing which are all highly developed!"

     Neil’s solo albums thus far have amassed terrestrial radio airplay in at least 15 countries to date, including the U.S., Canada, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Italy, Czech Republic, France, Belgium, Austria, Poland, Australia, and others. He has also amassed countless rave reviews and features in the U.S. and abroad for his solo albums thus far—including 20th Century Guitar Magazine (USA/Canada), The Aquarian (USA), MLWZ (Poland), ProGGnosis (USA/Canada), Guitar Chef (Italy), Sea of Tranquility (USA), Mundo Rock (Chile), and on CNET (USA) as an “Editor’s Pick,” among many others.

     In December 2005, Neil signed with Rumblefish as a recording artist and songwriter / composer for non-exclusive music licensing representation and placement into TV, movies, and other media. This marked the beginning of sync licensing for Neil’s (at that time) all-instrumental released catalog. This now-renowned music licensing firm grew to become one of the most influential within the music licensing space due to not only its volume of licensing, but particularly its development of technology in that space. They were new at the time, and earlier that year, Neil had discovered them on the cover of Inc. Magazine, of which the May 2005 issue was fortuitously sitting on the coffee table at a New Jersey studio he was working for part-time at that time—not knowing that later that year, he would become a recording artist on their licensing roster (and subsequently working with other music licensing firms non-exclusively as well).

     His music or music featuring his guitar playing has since been licensed and heard on national and international TV in at least 35 countries for numerous programs, as well as in feature films, video games, commercials, and other media including a commercial spot for Audi of America, the Wii video game Dancing With The Stars: We Dance, AMC TV's Hollywood Icon, the ESPN feature film 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story, the extreme sport DVD series Nitro Circus, and many others including productions for or featured on MTV, AMC TV, National Geographic, and Fuel TV, among others.

     In addition to these forms of sync licensing, Neil has also signed direct agreements with brands such as Equinox Media, Apple Fitness+, and the virtual reality technology company Within, whose Supernatural fitness experience is used in the Oculus Quest virtual reality headset. In all cases, Neil’s music is accessible and/or sourced for these exercise experiences. Additionally, Neil has signed licensing agreements with the educational music services Yousician and Fender Songs—both of which feature or have featured Neil’s song catalog for guitar students who wish to learn his songs using A.I.-based song-transcribing technology.

     Among his many past collaborations as a session guitarist, former sideman touring guitarist / vocalist, songwriter, arranger, music director, or producer, Neil is formerly the live guitarist for Lilian Garcia (Universal/WWE) (including performances with her on live national TV for Univision and pre-recorded national TV for TNN and regional TV), and has worked with or shared the stage with many “greats” and others well-known in the music world, including Kenny Simmons of The Commodores (Motown), Nuno Bettencourt of the band Extreme (A&M), Stu Hamm (Satriani, Vai bassist), Aaron Kamin of The Calling (RCA), Michelle Kash (INgrooves Music Group) (with whom, Neil’s slide-guitar arrangement of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” was used by Kash, and reached #4 on the Billboard Dance Club Charts in 2020), Gabriela Rae (Bettencourt’s protégé artist and touring vocalist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Julio Reyes (Sony Music Latin), Ty Oliver (Orgy / Powerman 5000 guitarist), Chris Reeve (Avril Lavigne / Filter / Tom Morello drummer), Carl Restivo (Tom Morello / Perry Farrell / Rihanna multi-instrumentalist), Demian Arriaga (Miley Cyrus / Richie Kotzen / Nick Jonas / Jonas Brothers drummer and percussionist), Derek Frank (Gwen Stefani / Shania Twain bassist), Randy Cooke (Smash Mouth / Dave Stewart / Ringo Starr, etc. drummer), Andrew Rollins (Emmy-winning songwriter), Spacey T. of Fishbone (Columbia Records), and Stoll Vaughan (Americana charts top-10), among many others.

     Along with these honors, having the honor of being introduced to associates as "an amazing guitarist" by the guitar titan himself, Nuno Bettencourt, and even being voted as a top-10 international finalist by guitar legend Steve Vai in the Tonos / Steve Vai Guitar Challenge, Neil is humbled and grateful to see his hard work yield his many rewards received.

Neil Rambaldi performing with legendary guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's protégé recording artist Gabriela Rae in San Juan Capistrano, CA (Gabriela is also a touring vocalist member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra) - June 2019

Neil Rambaldi's slide-guitar arrangement of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” used by Michelle Kash (INgrooves Music Group) reached #4 on the Billboard Dance Club Charts - March 2020

Neil Rambaldi in the studio with Aaron Kamin of The Calling (RCA) in Los Angeles, CA recording what became Michelle Kash's #4 hit single of Neil's slide-guitar arrangement of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", which Kamin produced - January 2018

Neil Rambaldi performing with Lilian Garcia (Universal / WWE) in New York City on national TV in the U.S. on TNN - October 2002

      Parallel to his performance and recording career as an artist and musician, Neil has also been passing on his guitar and songwriting knowledge for years now as a “guru” for many (pre- and post-fame) highly-successful musicians and actors, first in New Jersey and New York City, and later in Los Angeles. His roster has included multi-Grammy-winning solo artist Phoebe Bridgers (PAX-AM Records, and member of the supergroup Boygenius), platinum-selling producer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wells (Jason Mraz / Celine Dion / Halsey / Phoebe Bridgers), actress Zoey Deutch (Zombieland: Double Tap / Buffaloed), touring bassist Alicia Vigil for DragonForce (Roadrunner Records / Universal Records), guitarist / songwriter Waylon Rector (Charli XCX / Phoebe Bridgers / Kitten), guitarist / producer / songwriter Mark Raggio (Boogie), guitarist / songwriter / frontman Finn Bell (Love Ghost), members of The Regrettes (Warner Brothers Records), actor Will Bradley (Pretty Little Liars), and many more.

     Neil has also received artist sponsorships from guitar companies and related companies including Taylor guitars and Spectraflex cables, and has even been selected to do beta testing for a then-new line of guitar strings by D'Addario strings. He is currently an officially endorsed artist with Spectraflex.

      Early in his career as a musician, Neil also spent a lot of time building his music production skills in New York City-area recording studios, including Sony Music Studios, among others. During that time he got to work in sessions with renowned artists such as the late jazz organist Charles Earland (Mercury / Columbia Records), Grammy-winning Latin pop star Marc Anthony (Columbia Records / Sony Music), and late jazz singer Irene Reid (Verve Records), as well as working with Grammy-winning mix engineer Michael Brauer, recording / mix engineer David Swope, and Grammy-winning producer and engineer Bob Power, among others. This experience has carried over into Neil’s solo albums and the many projects he has been involved with. 

      Unlike his all-instrumental critically-acclaimed first album Perpetual Horizon, the mostly-instrumental A Call To The Wild expands even deeper into Neil’s range of styles, featuring some of his vocals as well, where the listener can clearly hear some of his blues and soul influences projecting over catchy blues rock guitar riffs, drums, and bass on the all-out jam “Everything You Say”—but those influences carry much further beyond just Neil’s vocals. On the album, his bluesy influences permeate throughout many of the tracks, which are often centered in a rock context. Along with plenty of “shred guitar” instrumental rock and hints of progressive rock, his bluesy influences can also be heard on tracks such as “The Day The Tides Stood Still,” “When The Days Were Young,” “Wild Seed,” “Brave New World,” the futuristic / bluesy “The Punchline,” and others. Neil’s study of classical music can particularly be heard as well on pieces such as “The Sleeper” and “Into The Twilight,” among others, but these pieces are truly a fusion of rock, classical, and world / ethnic styles. Latin, Flamenco, and Jazz influences can also be heard on the tracks “Mi Corazón,” “And The Sun Goes Down…,” and “Paradise Lost,” respectively—and the genre-defying track “Shadow Armada” falls into a style all its own with its instrumental rock sound infused with a hypnotic Middle-Eastern-flavored motif.

     All of Neil’s solo tour dates and other updates can be found at NeilRambaldi.com, BandsInTown.com, and Songkick.com, with additional information being posted on Facebook, Instagram, and X / Twitter under his “@NeilRambaldi” handle. Parallel to his touring in support of A Call To The Wild and his forthcoming third album, along with his writing of new material and album production, Neil also continues to occasionally do recording sessions on guitar for other artists where his schedule permits.

     With the accolades Neil has garnered thus far, and the broad span of his musical talents, we must heed the words one Dutch music critic has said about him: “We need to keep our eyes wide open for this talented man” (Strutter’zine, NL); and Pete Pardo of Sea Of Tranquility (USA) states: “He's a guy that deserves to be heard by the masses.” With no need to concern himself with current trends to make great music, Neil walks his steady path as he clearly is turning heads—and he is doing so from a seemingly endless source of inspiration, whether it be through his broad life experiences residing for many years on both sides of the U.S., or soaking up the desert highway sunsets where he feels most at home. Come join him for the ride and buy, download, or stream A Call To The Wild today, and stay in touch on his platforms and mailing list to be ready for his next release!

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