Guitar legend Steve Vai has posted the following message:

"It would be difficult to conceive of how my career would have turned out if not for Cliff Cultreri. When I released Flex-Able and chose to go the route of independent distribution as opposed to a conventional record deal, Cliff was head of Important Record Distribution and offered me a distribution deal. This was virtually unheard of in the business back at that time. Distributors did not sign artists for a one-off record, but Cliff did and this allowed me to retain all the rights to my record and collect the majority of income derived from it.

Important Records formed a label called Relativity Records. I sent Cliff a CD of my favorite unknown guitarist, Joe Satriani, and they signed him to Relativity and did an amazing job on Joe’s earlier releases. I then signed with Cliff to Relativity and delivered Passion And Warfare to them. The label was eventually purchased by Sony, and we moved with it.

None of this would have happened without the dedication, support and belief in Cliff. He also signed Devin Townsend to Relativity. As a matter of fact, Cliff is the one that introduced me to Devin when I was looking for a singer for “Sex And Religion” (also released on Relativity). Cliff has been perhaps the greatest voice for the artist that has resonated in any label I ever knew. He is just an overall great guy and is the kind of person that would bend over backwards for his friends. His guidance, inspired suggestions and undying support was the catalyst to our careers.

And at this time, Cliff needs help. He has been plagued with unthinkable medical challenges over the past 16 years. In the past, Joe and I have put on 3 concerts to help raise money for Cliff’s overwhelming medical bills and to help get his family situated in an environment that was sustainable for him. It worked very well and helped contribute to Cliff getting by these last 10 years or so. But at this time, one of the medical challenges Cliff is suffering from is pancreatic cancer, and he is trying to raise funds to buy out his simple home so that his family will be relatively secure in the coming future.
 
Please visit the link here and consider donating to his GoFundMe campaign to help him reach this security goal. This is for real, right now. 

Thanks so much for your support."