Joseph "Joe" Satriani (born July 15, 1956) is an American instrumental rock guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and multiple Grammy Award nominee. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, such as: Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons,Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan and Alex Skolnick.