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Guitarist Power Couple Richie Sambora and Orianthi Share 'Masterpiece' As Duo RSO: Premiere
Richie Sambora and Orianthi
In most neighborhoods, you might head next-door to borrow a pinch of
sugar. But on a certain block in Calabasas, Calif., you're more likely
to get a knock from Bon Jovi guitar virtuoso Richie Sambora and his fellow shredding partner, Orianthi, asking for a spare guitar pick or mic.
The
veteran guitarists have what they call an "open-door" policy at the
recording studio they built in their kitchen -- as Sambora cracks,
"we're kind of barbecuing music over here." But the home studio turned
out to be a fitting place for the real-life couple to record their
upcoming joint EP, Rise (out Sept. 29), as the duo RSO.
"People
think we’re just the guitar players -- that’s what we do," Sambora says
of the collaborative five-song EP, the second track of which,
"Masterpiece," is premiering today (Sept. 28) on Billboard. "Hopefully this will change people’s minds."
It's been a long time coming. While Sambora, a Songwriters Hall of
Fame inductee, boasts a 30-year run as the lead guitarist and
co-songwriter of Bon Jovi, Orianthi, who is from Australia, is known as
the first female member to join Alice Cooper's touring band, and was hand-picked by Michael Jackson to join what would have been his This Is It tour after performing at the 2009 Grammy Awards with Carrie Underwood. "You
absorb a lot of things -- everything is a learning experience,"
Orianthi says of her expansive career, while Sambora adds, "for a
musician, [performing with these artists] is like going to the library
and reading books."
By 2013, Sambora and Orianthi had released
three solo albums each. And when they met that same year while
performing in Hawaii, sparks flew, both creative and romantic -- "it was
instantaneous," Sambora recalls. After moving in to their current home
in Calabasas, the duo would often turn over lyrics in their kitchen
while cooking dinner, Orianthi tinkering on Garageband, but it was Bon
Jovi producer Bob Rock's idea to build the home studio where he would
eventually help the duo create Rise as RSO.
"[We're]
always coming up with different ideas, whether it could be four o’clock
in the morning," Orianthi says of the home studio. "When we first wake
up, if we have an idea, it’s great to have it where you feel
comfortable."
And that "open-door policy" is no joke. Sambora says the list of
musicians who have stopped by and ended up recording music with the duo
includes The Doors' Robby Krieger (who appears on one Rise track) and Paul McCartney
drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. "You never know who is going to wander
through," Sambora adds. (Cooper also appears on the EP, though -- and
perhaps more fittingly -- Orianthi says he recorded his vocals from
what's known as "Dracula's castle" in Transylvania.)
Out of the 25
or so tracks Sambora and Orianthi say they have recorded, the duo chose
a genre-spanning selection of five for the EP. The authenticity
throughout is palpable, which is no surprise -- for the most part, the
duo wrote every lyric about the trials and tribulations of their own
romance. "It was our relationship that we were exploring [with the EP],
and now it goes out to humanity," Sambora adds. "Hopefully people are
going to go, 'yeah, I get that.'"
The EP includes title track
"Rise," an uplifting classic rock anthem about "not taking shit from
anybody," Orianthi says; the ambitious, emotive piano ballad "Truth";
the bluesy "Take Me"; and twangy "Good Times." Then there's the
smoldering, whole-hearted love ode "Masterpiece," premiering below, a
track Sambora says he originally had the idea for 20 years ago. "It’s a
very cool way to say 'I love you,'" Sambora says of the song, adding
with a laugh, "as songwriters, we’re [always] trying to say 'fuck
you,' or 'I love you,' either one."
And the duo promises more in store, with a full album to come. "I have
like, 1,000 voice memos on my iPhone," Orianthi says, adding that she
and Sambora came up with two brand new tracks while sitting on the couch
the night before our interview.
"This is certainly a house of music," Sambora says, "that’s for sure."
Take a peek at Sambora and Orianthi's first effort as RSO with "Masterpiece," below. Rise is out Sept. 29.
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