In this week’s episode of Joe Bonamassa’s hit interview series Live From Nerdville, the guitar hero chats with acclaimed rock musician Nita Strauss. They discuss everything from Nita’s early childhood to touring with Alice Cooper, and even trading the bar for the barbell.

The conversation starts at the beginning. Nita’s father was a touring musician, and he was mostly a bass player, but also knew how to play guitar, so he bought her a bass. Nita wasn’t feeling it and eventually her dad bought her a Squire guitar.

“I was an angry 12-year-old and eventually, I realized that it was a cool outlet. But it was when I saw the movie Crossroads and saw Vai play the guitar, for me, that was the moment!” - Nita

They go on to discuss gear, whammy bar on or whammy bar off, and then Joe asks Nita what it is about Steve Vai’s guitar playing that resonated with her. Joe jokes about seeing Steve Vai back in 1986 when the movie came out because he's a boomer, to which Nita replies, “All of us from all generations can want to be Jack Butler.” (Vai’s Character in the movie).

“When I saw Vai playing in the movie, I thought man, I want to do that! It was his style and attitude, his impeccable technique, that’s what I wanted to be. I felt the same way when I first saw Jennifer Batten.” - Nita

Nita goes on to say that seeing Batten up there on stage for the first time, “OMG! There’s a girl up there doing it! She’s blonde, she’s beautiful and she’s with the biggest pop star in the world (Michael Jackson). She was shredding like crazy and running around in circles headbanging while playing her guitar. At the time, it was the coolest thing I had ever seen, and it looked like fun!” - Nita

The conversation moves on to Nita’s time with Alice Cooper and what she learned from being on the road with the legend. She tells Joe about the time she was performing at a big show and she slipped and fell in front of 100,000 people, but decided to “get up and just laugh it off” and kept going.

“In the Alice band we say that these are the character building gigs that you get to test your strength. You sharpen the iron of your guitar soul.” - Nita

The two get into discussing cigars, booze, and dieting, which brings up an important and personal part of Nita’s journey. She shares that in 2014 she was an alcoholic and gaining a lot of weight, and finally in September 2015, she made a deal with herself to do something more positive in her life and “trade the bar for the barbell.” She says, “It really turned my life around.”

Joe and Nita continue to discuss the biz and share stories about playing with Alice (be sure to watch the whole thing for all the juice!), before talking about life on the road, becoming the first female to get an Ibanez Signature Guitar, and ending with some useful advice that Nita has for aspiring artists.

“I had no ego, and starting out, I would do what I had to do to pay the bills to achieve the dream of playing music. It ruined a lot of relationships, and I put having a family on hold and many more other important things to pursue music.”

And for upcoming musicians – “Inspire, work harder and smarter. Always be a pro the other 20 hours. Show up early, be prepared and be mindful!”