World-renowned guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, who is currently touring North America in support of his new solo album The Elephants Of Mars, was recently interviewed by Gary Graff of Cleveland.com. An excerpt follows:

You’ve made some news recently as the guitarist for the rumored Van Halen tribute concert or tour. Where are you fitting in all of this?

Satriani: "I was shocked to get a call from Alex (Van Halen) and Dave (Lee Roth) and getting their invitation to be part of a tribute tour for Eddie and Van Halen. I jokingly told them on that first phone call, 'If I had half a brain I’d hang up right away and not accept such a crazy offer,' ‘cause nobody can replace Eddie and whoever tries to do it is gonna get a whole lot of negativity from the world of social media. But I heard myself saying 'yes' before my better judgment kicked in because I am such a fan of Eddie and his work, and I thought it would be such a great labor of love to dive into that and try to understand the essence of what he was doing."

Do you expect anything will actually happen?

Satriani: "Everyone’s got their own idea about how to do it best, and I’m staying out of that. I have nothing to do with that kind of decision-making. I think it’s really up to Wolfgang (Van Halen) and his uncle Alex to figure out what to do. When I saw Wolfgang playing (Van Halen songs) at the Taylor Hawkins Benefit I thought it was the most natural, beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. It was such a wonderful thing to see him play his dad’s music like that, and he’s such an incredible musician. I thought, 'Well, if the thing is ever gonna happen, he should do it.' It just seemed more natural than reaching out to somebody like me."

Your pal (and Chickenfoot bandmate) Sammy Hagar, of course, is thumping the drum for something that would include both him and Roth.

Satriani: :I can’t imagine that ever happening, ever. That happened once, and it fell apart. It’s so complicated; once you sit down and start talking about it, there are so many roadblocks that you can’t imagine just how it’s gonna happen. I think Wolfgang... the world should just wait for him to make up his mind how he wants to do it, and we should leave him alone. Let him figure out the best time and place for it. Whatever he comes up with will be the best way to do it, I think."

To read the complete interview with Joe Satriani, head here.

Satriani's next show is October 19th in Durham, NC at Carolina Theatre. His complete tour schedule can be found at this location.