Matteo Mancuso channels Eddie Van Halen on a cover of You Really Got Me

Matteo Mancuso
(Image credit: Mascot/The Players Lounge)

We'd like to think Eddie would love to see this – Matteo Mancuso putting his own spin on the Kinks classic Van Halen themselves covered, with a nod to the late maestro too.

Mancuso and his astounding classical/jazz hybrid picking technique performed You Really Got Me with an orchestra for the Propaganda Live TV show in Italy, with a tapping tribute to Eddie at the end of the instrumental. 

The Sicilian wonder wasn't done there, he also performed his jazzy Blues For John workout from his debut album The Journey. 

While Matteo cites Eric Johnson and Allan Holdsworth as big infuences, he recently told Guitar Bonedo that he "stole a lot of tapping from Van Halen and Greg Howe."

"It's of course a mix of guitar players," he said of his inspirations. "Sax and piano players sometimes. When I play with distortion I tend to play legato stuff, and when I play clean I try to play more with my right hand."

Ok, I think we need to go and practice. A lot. 

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of hi waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear and making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing a Floyd Rose guitar.