Whitesnake's guitarist, Joel Hoekstra is the perfect portrait of what today’s guitar god looks like. The man comes across as humble with true personal values, but on stage just enough attitude and swagger that draws you in, and has you standing on your chair with your fist raised high above your head. Oh, and we can’t forget the most important trait in a guitar hero. You must be able to wield your guitar like a sword in an all out musical war, which Joel does without a doubt. In this episode we talk with Whitesnake guitarist, Joel Hoekstra. Joel is a guitar hero in demand and has built a solid resume that is second to none. Joel is currently part of one of the best twin guitar attacks in rock n roll playing alongside Reb Beach in Whitesnake. In addition to Whitesnake, Joel spends the rest of his year sharing the stage with Cher, and Trans Siberian Orchestra. Joel Hoekstra has not only recorded several solo albums, including Joel Hoekstra’s 13, an album Joel released in 2015 which is more a collection of actual songs, rather than a collection of instrumentals which you might expect in a guitar players solo effort. Joel spent several years as a partner in crime with Brad Gillis to the dual guitar efforts of Night Ranger and playing in the Broadway production of Rock Of Ages. We talk with Joel about his earliest memories around his musical upbringing and discuss his gateways into Rock n Roll. We get into all the musical relationships he has built with so many of today's superstars and how his work ethic and positive attitude has made him in demand and given him many opportunities that most musicians in his line of work would kill to have. Joel picks a handful of songs from Whitesnake and Joel Hoekstra 13 to share with the listeners and we talk about the upcoming Whitesnake tour with Foreigner as well as a new album coming from Whitesnake. PHOTO CREDIT : IGOR VIDYASHEV Help us fund the Rock N Pod Expo 2 this year in Nashville. August 25th - Hopefully you can come but if not, please consider being a VIP and making a donation to make this happen. Use the link below. Rock N Pod 2 Go Fund Me Everyone’s got a Rock N Roll story to tell, so tell us yours @ growinuprock.com Like us and leave us a review on our FaceBook page - @ growinuprock Follow us on Twitter @growinuprock Subscribe to our Podcast at the platform of your choice and leave us a review You can help out the Podcast by doing all of your shopping at Amazon using our link below. Click on the Amazon banner below and it takes you to the Amazon site where you shop as normal. It coast you exactly the same, but the podcast gets a very small fee as a partner which help us pay to get our shows out each and every week. Support Music / Artist / and Your Favorite Podcast Growin’ Up Rock Amazon Store Joel Hoekstra Whitesnake Night Ranger Michael Sweet TSOLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices