Joey Alva
©arpiphoto
I discovered my desire for the stage in my early teens when a TV commercial for a KISS Concert at Anaheim Stadium caught my attention. Bought my first guitar at a pawnshop ( a Flying V) that I actually still have today, I had it completely restored at Fender Musical Instruments in Corona. Started self teaching myself on guitar and meeting other musicians in school. Some fellow students I met that were better players than Myself, but they needed a bassist to put a band together. This is when I made the switch to bass guitar so I could play in a band with more advanced players. This first band I joined ended up on a compilation album for Metal Blade Records and Soon after we recorded an EP with a Hollywood producer that has credits with Kiss and The Runaways. After the collapse of the 80’s Rock scene I decided to take a break, and it turned out to be a very long break.
Around 2008 I was invited to a meet and greet Kiss concert, and that’s where I realized I really missed the live music experience and performing on stage. At this point I decided I wanted to start playing again and started looking for a band. The Tribute scene was really starting to fire up, and before I knew it I was playing in it. From Led Zeppelin to Van Halen to Whitesnake to Billy Idol and Ozzy / Black Sabbath Tribute bands, it has been a great run and I’ve been able to play in many different states to hundreds of different people on some of the largest stages.