“I had to learn all the B-52s’ songs on a red-eye to New York. The tuning was hard to figure out – especially on a plane without a guitar in my hands!” Session pro Greg Suran explains what it takes to play on American Idol – and trade licks with Joe Walsh

Greg Suran and Joe Walsh.

“I’m like a squirrel,” Greg Suran says. “I’m thinking, ‘Look – Eddie Van Halen!’ then ‘Oh, Stevie Ray Vaughan – that's cool’ then ‘Holy shit, Robert Fripp, that’s amazing!’ I was always darting around, trying to learn different things.”

That’s brought him versatility, which he’s used to effect with Joe Walsh, The B-52s, Lionel Richie, The Goo Goo Dolls and Sunny Day Real Estate – and he’s also in the American Idol house band. “I kind of throw myself in the fire a lot,” Suran laughs.