The third incarnation of the Vai Academy ran from January 2nd - 6th at the beautiful Asilomar Center, positioned in the oceanfront village of Carmel, California. Video of guitar legend Steve Vai performing his hit "For The Love Of God" can be viewed below.

 

Vai recently checked in with a Vai Academy recap:

"Well, the Vai Academy 3.0 this year in Asilomar CA was truly epic. All of the folks that contributed put their best foot forward and raised the bar for all of us. The atmosphere was alive and vibrating with learning, creativity and enthusiasm. We all made new friends and connected a lot of dots that will inevitably add to the quality of our musicality and life.

The guest clinicians, Carlos Alomar, Zakk Wylde and Al Di Meola, all delivered generously, inspirationally and humorously. But perhaps my favorite part of the camp was when I had the opportunity to jam with any of the campers that were willing. I enjoyed focusing on them and their musical ideas and watching and listening to how those ideas manifested with the band.

My deepest appreciation and gratitude to all those who attended. We are looking very forward to the next camp that will probably happen around the same time net year (early January).

All the best to you for 2017 and beyond beyond."

Vai has designed a series of incredibly cool removable and reusable graphic fingerboard designs/protectors for the guitar with Neck Illusions. They are designed to fit standard electric and acoustic steel string guitars up to 24 frets (6 strings) from 24" to 25.625" scale lengths; nut widths starting from 1.55" (39mm) and wider. All designs are available in matte of gloss. Visit Neck Illusions for more information and to purchase yours.