A few months ago I shared this CoD cover and the forum was very receptive to it (and much thanks to moderators for creating the Show and Tell forum as a result of the meta-debate), so I figured I’d share a shorter piece from EJ’s Venus Isle, with a short solo in the song “When the Sun Meets the Sky.”
This is currently a WIP considering there is basically 2 extra minutes of the song for me to improvise over, so I hope to complete this in the future, in a style of perhaps more “me” and less “EJ.”
Unlike the CoD cover, this song has no empty backing tracks, so I did my best to make the guitar stand out from the mix so apologies in advance that it doesn’t sound as clear as the CoD mix. If anyone knows how to do this sort of thing, please let me know! EJ is my hero but I’d rather not have him play when I’m trying to do my thing- since that makes me shy you know for obvious reasons 
In terms of technique, I’ve changed in that since now I have both the descending/ascending groups of five things down, I’m working more towards making it sound more musical and varied in a stylistic sense- in that I keep the basic down down motions intact, but I throw in a “cheat note” here and there, repeat groupings, adjust timing, play with note inflections, or even go down down down up, and not strictly make it an up and down exercise (though for how mechanical it is, the group of five technique sounds plenty musical as it is already).
In addition, always a forever thanks to Troy for his lessons- that measly few bucks I spent on all of his EJ stuff have paid back tenfold in guitar dividends. It really goes beyond EJ and has made me a much better and most importantly, musical player. Technique doesn’t mean sacrificing musicality! In addition, I’ve been able to just listen, improve my ears, and just play it off the record because of all the new insights I’ve learned which really only came from these structured methods of teaching.
Best piece of “gear” I’ve ever invested in and I know how much I’ve wasted on “instant shred guranteed!” pedals for example. The new YouTube channel is also great. 3 hours on picks alone. That’s classic Troy and no one on earth can do that.
Perhaps this is all part of the musical journey and EJ himself has likewise gone through similar- where Ah Via Musicom has all the pyrotechniques (and the songs too of course but the focus is a little different), but Venus Isle is about making that pyrotechnique sound really ethereal and musical and the focus is very different, while making it seem like a natural evolution of himself.
Regardless, please enjoy!
