During a recent interview with Guitar World, former White Lion guitarist Vito Bratta revealed the players that influenced and shaped his sound. Following is an excerpt from the rundown.

Leslie West - Mountain

Bratta: "I didn’t have much money for records and things like that growing up, so for a while, it was all Clapton, and nothing else. But eventually, I started getting into other music via the radio and stuff. Now, you have to remember that back then, there was no ‘heavy metal.’ There was stuff that seems very heavy, and I guess could be considered precursors to metal, but there wasn’t much of that sort of stuff going on. But when I heard 'Mississippi Queen' on the radio, and what Leslie West was doing, suddenly, things went from what Clapton was doing, to hearing Leslie West absolutely shredding these blues lines in this insanely heavy fashion. He changed everything for me again."

Jimi Hendrix

Bratta: "After Jimmy Page hit me, from there, I’d say I got into Jimi Hendrix. And I absolutely wore the Electric Ladyland record out several times over. But it’s funny, Hendrix was all supplemental at that time, and was only a continuation of what I’d found with Jimmy Page and Zeppelin. I love Hendrix, and his whole Stratocaster into a Marshall thing influenced me later in on the ‘80s, but nothing he did was ever going to replace Page for me. So, Hendrix didn’t replace Page, he instead supplemented that for me through a whole different sound and vibe." 

Read the complete rundown here.

White Lion released four albums before calling it quits: Fight To Survive (1985), Pride (1987), Big Game (1989) and Mane Attraction (1991). Bratta dropped out of sight in 1992, having left the music business entirely. Although he has not released any music since 1992, many musicians, both singers and guitar players, have continued to praise his songwriting skills and technical ability.