Rai Thistlethwayte – Thirsty Merc / Joe Satriani / Sun Rai

We speak with the amazing Rai Thistlethwayte on his incredible international career as an acclaimed keyboard player across a range of genres. As you’ll hear / see, Rai is an incredibly down-to-earth and insightful musician with some great perspectives on the keyboard playing life. Enjoy! To listen / watch: * Audio-only: click on the play button in the audio player above, or: * Video: watch the embedded video below or check it and previous episodes out on our YouTube Channel Discussion topics covered during the show (links will open in new tab):   Rai’s website Moving from ‘nerdy’ keyboard player to guitar wielding front-man of a rock band (and doing both) Rai’s musical upbringing Early exposure to the music industry and record contracts Rai and Thirsty Merc in action – The Grind Thirsty Merc Live Balancing the different aspects of a music career in both Australia and overseas Rai’s inspirations Starting out in the US: ‘It’s Sixty bucks and a punch in the face’ Rai in action with Louis Cole and KNOWER: Overtime Working with Joe Satriani Rai with Joe Satriani – The Elephants of Mars Rai’s Joe Satriani tour gear video Cosmic Psychos – Better in the Shed Working with Aaron Sterling Aaron Sterling – Sound of Sterloid Vol 1 Sun Rai – San Franciso Street (featuring Aaron Sterling)  Rai’s inspiring song Man Oh Man  Dealing with imposter syndrome / times of feeling down Lianne La Havas – Weird Fishes On setting up sounds for a Joe Satriani tour using Nord keyboards only The Embertone Walker 1955 Concert D Love for Spectrasonics’ releases Question from listener Walter Galindo on hand independence Joe Satriani band pre-show ceremony Tag a Keyboard Player:  Dennis Hamm, Aaron Parks Desert Island Discs: Machine Head – Deep Purple, The Sixteen Men of Tain – Alan Holdsworth, Mr Bungle – Mr Bungle, Standards Vol. 2 – Keith Jarrett, Mama Said – Lenny Kravitz, honourable mention to Hejira – Joni Mitchell Key links: Buy some keyboard related merchandise Drop us a line via the website, Facebook,