“David wanted my solos a certain way. The record we wrote, he said to Joel Hoekstra, ‘Play whatever you want, Reb – I'm going to take you under my wing’”: Reb Beach on working with David Coverdale, and what comes next now Winger and Whitesnake are over

Reb Beach takes a solo on his Suhr S-style.

For nearly 40 years, as a member of two major hard rock acts, Winger and Whitesnake, Reb Beach has shredded his way across some of the world’s biggest stages. But lately he’s been letting it rip before much smaller crowds and in small rooms – sans guitar, in fact – and he’s having a blast.

“Don Jameison from That Metal Show on VH1 does this thing on the Monsters of Rock Cruise where he has artists do stand-up comedy,” Beach says. “They asked me to do it, so I told a bunch of stories about growing up in Pittsburgh and how I got started as a musician.