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"I'm all about new things, staying out of the comfort zone," says Orianthi, pictured on stage in Las Vegas, April 2011. © R D/ Kabik/Retna Ltd./Corbis

"Things are great!" Orianthi practically chirps into her cell phone. She's driving in sunny LA, en route to a rehearsal with Alice Cooper and his band. "We're going to play The Whisky tonight, which should be loads of fun." she says. "We'll have some special guests, so it'll be really cool, everybody'll be rockin' out – I can't wait!"

Enthusiasm is obviously no problem for the 26-year-old Australian-born guitar virtuoso, who is taking a break from recording her next album to tour with the original king of shock rock. "The last week has been a pretty intense period of rehearsals, but I'm having a blast," she says. "I'm really looking forward to hitting the road with Alice. To play with such an icon is a huge honor for me."

While navigating the rolling hills of La La Land, Orianthi took a few minutes to give MusicRadar the skinny on her preparations for the Alice Cooper tour and to talk about her upcoming album, which is due early next year.

How exactly did you hook up with Alice?

"I got an e-mail from Bob Ezrin. I worked with him on a Fefe Dobson song, and he reached me in Nashville, where I've been working on the new album. He asked me if I would be interested in joining Alice's band. I had played with Alice before – we did School's Out on American Idol – and the whole thing really appealed to me.

"It's been pretty crazy, as you can imagine, learning all of Alice's songs in a week. But I love a good challenge. Pushing yourself and digging into something new, that's what being a musician is all about."

You're what, 15 years old? How extensively do you know Alice Cooper's body of work?

"I'm a little older than 15! [laughs] You know, I've listened to School's Out, obviously, and songs like Poison, but I never really played any of the material in cover bands before. I always thought Alice was super-cool and a total originator, though.

"During the past week or so I've been manically learning the repertoire, and I've been really impressed by how well written the songs are. There's so many cool guitar parts and places for a player to stretch out. It's a lot of fun when Steve Hunter and I play together. This is unlike anything I've ever done before."

You're replacing Damon Johnson in Alice's band. Why did he leave?

"He had an opportunity to play with Thin Lizzy. He's been with Alice for several years, but the situation presented itself for him to play with Thin Lizzy, which is his type of band, so he's going to do that. He's going to play with us tonight at The Whisky, so that should be great."

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