Michael Angelo Batio

MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO (pronounced "Bay-tee-ohh") is an American instrumental rock guitarist from Chicago, Illinois. He attended Northeastern Illinois University and received a bachelor's degree in music theory. Having played guitar since the age of ten, Batio is often referred to as the fastest guitar shredder of all time.

Batio began his recording career with Jim Gillette on Gillette's solo album, "Proud To Be Loud". The two metal stars, as well as bassist T.J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock went on to found the metal band Nitro, releasing two albums. Nitro also filmed a music video for their song "Freight Train" which received air time on MTV. He also played in the band Holland with vocalist Brad Holland. Their Atlantic Records album, "Little Monsters", met with moderate success in the mid-1980s

Batio is not ambidextrous, but can play two guitars at the same time — either in synchronized or separate harmonies. He also invented and successfully played the very first 'quad' guitar. However, the instrument was stolen during a Nitro show in El Paso, Texas, and only two of the four parts required for its assembly have ever been recovered. It is because of this that he has not played the quad guitar in many years. The Double Guitar is another of his innovative inventions (along with the 'string dampener'), which he commonly uses live and in studio recordings.

Guitar One magazine named Batio the #1 fastest shredder in the world in April 2003.

Batio has recently revealed that the name for his latest album, "Hands Without Shadows" was inspired by Chinese fans who said that he slaps his hands on the guitar neck so fast that he does it without shadows.

He has also had a long-term relationship with Dean Guitars, promoting their equipment and leading Dean-sponsored guitar clinics around the world to teach his techniques. Batio has released two popular instructional DVDs, entitled "Speed Lives" and "Speed Kills", to teach fellow guitarists how to play his pieces of music. Furthermore, he is releasing a DVD featuring his "Double Guitar Solo", which can now be seen on the Dean Guitars website. It features tribute covers of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and Ozzy Osbourne´s "Crazy Train", with Batio's full backing band.