Ambidextrous double-guitar player to take stage at Cultural Arts Center

Guitarist Michael Angelo Batio will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 9 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, 3050 Los Angeles Blvd.

Batio invented and was the world's first player of the twinnecked, left- and right-handed double-guitar.

He plays the guitar right- or left-handed. He also plays both guitars together in harmonies or two separate parts at the same time.

The March 2004 issue of Guitar World magazine named Batio one of the "Top 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time."

Batio recently released three new instructional DVDs on playing guitar and a new audio CD.

Batio started as a session guitarist when he was 19 years old. He has recorded TV, radio and industrial film music for Burger King, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, United Airlines, United Way, McDonalds, Beatrice Corp., and the Chicago Wolves hockey team, among others.

Batio has had record deals with Atlantic Records with the band Holland and Rhino/Warner Brothers Records with Nitro.

Admission to the concert is $12.

For tickets, call (805) 5837900.

The event is sponsored by Metal Method Productions in Simi Valley, which produces Batio's instructional DVDs. For information about the concert or the artist, call Doug Marks at (805) 581-7190.