We think of child guitar prodigies as a product of the YouTube era. But Thomas McRocklin was tearing up an Ibanez JEM back in the 1980s – and winning over Steve Vai, Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde with abilities far beyond his years. Then he gave it all up – until 20 years later, he came back stronger, and pursued his own guitar path. He shares his story with Guitar World’s Michael Astley-Brown.

0:00 – Early Memories & Starting Guitar Young
2:10 – Meeting Ozzy & Zakk Wylde at Age 8
4:30 – First Encounters With Steve Vai
6:30 – The Vai Mentorship & Learning the Craft
9:50 – Bad4Good: Recording, Touring & Industry Pressure
13:45 – Leaving LA & Walking Away From Guitar
20:25 – Returning to Guitar After 20 Years
23:40 – Reinventing His Style for the Modern Era
26:10 – Thoughts on the New Wave of Guitarists
28:45 – Creating Polychrome DSP & The McRocklin Suite
32:52 – Building a Live Rig Around Software
38:00 – Current Music Projects & Teaching
40:50 – New Strandberg Testing