Joe Satriani and Steve Vai form SATCHVAI Band

Guitar greats Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have teamed up to start a new band and will be hitting the road together this summer.

The artists have announced they will tour Europe as the SATCHVAI Band. The Surfing with Hydra tour will kick off June 13 in York, England, with stops in London, Paris, Manchester, Munich, Prague and more before wrapping July 21 in Sofia, Bulgaria. More shows are expected to be announced.

"I'm so looking forward to sharing the stage with Steve again," Satriani said. "Every time we play together, it takes me back to when we were teenagers, eating and breathing music every second of the day, pushing, challenging, and helping each other to be the best we could be. I guess we've never stopped!"

"Touring with Joe is always a pleasure and an honor," Vai added. "He is my favorite guitarist to jam with, and now we have another opportunity to take it to the stage. I feel as though we are both at the top of our game, and the show will be a powerful celebration of the coolest instrument in the world, the electric guitar!"

A complete list of dates can be found at satchvaiband.com.

Satriani and Vai’s relationship has lasted nearly five decades, starting out in their teenage years when Satriani was Vai’s guitar teacher. They went on to tour together frequently on the G3 tours, which launched in 1996 with Eric Johnson as the third guitarist. This will be their first tour together as part of the same band.