Chris Caffery is a busy man. That much is for sure. And he has a lot to talk with MetalTalk about, between the long-awaited Savatage reunion or his upcoming solo compilation – 20 Years Of The Music Man. Between all the above and massive tours with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Chris also finds time for other means of artistic expression, including sea glass artwork and even his own hot sauce. And one could not forget his charity work featuring Wilbur The Metalphant.
Chris Caffery is on his third interview of the day, but his enthusiasm when it comes to discussing everything Savatage and solo career-related is palpable. What follows is over half an hour in which he was happy to answer everything I asked.
Musical Beginnings And Joining Savatage
Chris is happy to hear that I will be there for the Savatage London show on 16 June, as well as their Hellfest appearance. But before we talk about the band being back together, I want to know more about his beginnings as a musician.
Chris Caffery says he was always infatuated by what an electric guitar looked like. As a child, on a small record player, he would listen to The Beatles and go to stores to look at the electric guitars.
With Wings Over America as a Christmas present, he became into music that was a bit heavier, with tracks like Live And Let Die and Rock Show.
On his eighth birthday, “I went out to a record store with some of the money I had from newspapers and raking lawns, and I bought Kiss Alive and the first Boston record on the same day. And I think that I was pretty much gone from there.
“I’d had a guitar that my parents got me when I was really young, but I wasn’t really playing it yet. Then, I bought myself a guitar and started taking lessons when I was 11. But it’s kind of the only thing I ever wanted to do, you know? That’s what I saw myself being when I got older. Luckily, it worked out ’cause I had no other plan.”
Chris Caffery then started playing live at a very young age. He remembers playing his first bar at around 13, with his mother having to be present. Then, at 15 or 16, when he was in high school, he had a club band. He would open for Metallica or Twisted Sister, then go to school the next day.
I ask Chris how he got to Savatage, whether it was through playing in bands as a teenager. “When I was 17 years old,” he says, “I was able to use my brother’s ID. He was 19. Then the drinking age got pushed to 21 in New York and you were grandfathered in.
“Not that I was drinking, but I had his license and his social security card, and I was able to go to these really cool events, places to hang out, at a very young age.”
He says how, at an event, he got to meet the singer from the band Heaven, “and I managed to get that gig, like right when I was almost done being 17 – into 18. I got gigging into that band. They were managed and produced by Paul O’Neill [the late producer for Savatage and later Trans-Siberian Orchestra], you know?
“And then that’s when my story of the next 30 years of my life was going to be put together—or the next 40 years of my life, actually—were put together from that point in time, when I had met Paul.
“Some of it was being in the right place at the right time. But I also was really driven to be a good guitar player when I was younger. I was pretty talented. I had a good image, and a good attitude, and a lot of people liked working with me. So I got into the business at a very young age.”
20 Years Of The Music Man
Chris Caffery releases his new collection, 20 Years Of The Music Man, via Metalville on 13 June 2025. I remark on how diverse the tracks are.
“What I wanted to do was take that period of time—which was 2004 to 2024, when those songs were recorded—and put together a cool little timeline that included all the different styles of music that were in my solo records.
“I had really heavy songs, but I had acoustic songs, I had instrumental songs. I had songs that had the holiday winter feel of TSO, I had funny songs, and I had not-so-funny songs. I had long songs, short songs and fast songs.
“I was trying to piece together what I thought would be a good representation of me. I mean, there was some unreleased stuff, so I picked things around them that I thought would just make a really good listen—a fun listen for everybody.”
As we discuss the album, the track Pisses Me Off comes up, and Chris Caffery remarks that he preferred using the radio edit of the old version. When asked if he would do a new version, his reaction was, “…well, the only problem with that is nowadays people are so sensitive. So if I was to write what pisses me off now, it would probably anger people.” He decided to go with the older version of the song – the most played on Spotify out of his solo tracks.
Chris also wanted to do a vinyl. “I didn’t want to have to have my fans that buy most of my releases have to get eight different records. So they have this, and it has a lot of different songs on it.”
For those wondering if this album will have a solo tour going with it, the answer is that Chris Caffery would be willing to play solo shows, provided the circumstances were right, band and business-wise.
“It would be fun,” Chris says. “If it comes down to it, the opportunity happens, and somebody says, ‘Hey, you want to go do a week of shows if I can put the thing together,’ it would be fine.
“My voice is stronger than it’s ever been. I’m able to play and sing live better than I ever was. So now I’m just so happy that Savatage is back around, that I’m just going right at that now. Then, once that is done, I’ll go to what’s after that.”
Savatage Reunion: A Curtain Call & A New Beginning
That brings us to the topic of the Savatage reunion. I ask how it felt to be back with Savatage and how the vibe is in comparison to TSO. Chris’ enthusiasm for this is visible.
“Those guys in the band are people that I see every year,” he smiles. “Zak and Jeff are people that I tour with. Al, me, Johnny and Jeff, too, were together with TSO on Beethoven’s Last Night tours.
“They’re my closest friends. When we played again, it didn’t seem like it was 23 years. It seemed like it was three years. It was weird. It just seemed like we never stopped. It’s so crazy. It just felt the same but different. It’s ’cause we’re a little bit older and a lot of time’s gone by.
“We went up there, and it was just like we were back home. Savatage’s music is so powerful on those stages and so much fun to play live. The music that Jon, his brother and Paul assembled for this band’s career is so magical when it’s played in front of audiences. I know the fans missed it as much as I did.
“I’m doing Savatage press, and I see letters and posts, and we have shows booked. It’s just a great feeling to have that back and I know everybody in the band is so excited to be back on stage again. We’re all just bouncing around like a bunch of little kids. It’s so much fun.”
It is impossible to avoid the topic of a new record by the band, and it is funny to hear that when Jon Oliva initially breached the topic in an interview, Chris Caffery was as surprised as anyone.
“That – Jon mentioning that record – is probably a lot of the reason why we’re playing,” Chris says. “Because he did it in one interview around the COVID time, and the next day, I got all these emails and messages and DMs. ‘This is great. Savatage is doing another record.’ I saw Blabbermouth and I’m like, we are?
“But I think that got agents going—to me and the band and the management—and through that, our management came up to us and said, ‘Hey, we want to have a conference call with you guys. They said, ‘Well, there’s a lot of good offers for you guys to play some shows,’ and that kind of spurted out of that.”
The Savatage axeman is hoping that Savatage is back for the long run.
“Jon wants to do this music,” Chris Caffery says, “and we’re gonna get it done. I am hoping that his idea of Curtain Call is not the curtain going down but the curtain going up.
“I have two different versions of where I think that should go. I think that this version of Curtain Call should be the new chapter—starting over again—and hopefully, that’s where it goes.
“I mean, for me, nothing would make me happier. I know we plan on playing. And you know, I hear the guys talking. We talk about a 10-year touring plan and this and that. So if we’re gonna be out there, we might as well do some new music. It will be fun to add a few things into the crazy-good freaking back catalogue.”
I ask him if that means at least 2035? Chris says he does not know but that he is just happy that Savatage is playing again.
The band has been to South America and are coming to Europe imminently. Therefore, a question about tour dates in the US and other parts of the world comes naturally.
“Well, that’s the plan,” Chris Caffery says. “The plan is for us to go anywhere that wants to have us. I don’t book the shows. I haven’t seen dates. But whenever they show up to me, it’ll kind of be like The Song Remains The Same.
“If I’m in the backyard doing my garden and that email comes, I’m gonna pack the suitcase and go. That’s the way it’s gonna be.”
One could not talk about Savatage without discussing The Mountain King, Jon Oliva, as well as his involvement in this reunion and the possibility of him joining them on stage.
“Oh, he was very, very involved,” Chris says. “He was picking the setlist and the songs he wanted us to do – helping. He was at every single rehearsal.
“You know, if he was able to handle the travelling right now… The airport travel and overseas travel is a little bit too much for where he’s at. You get dropped off by a car outside of an airport, and sometimes, you have to go two miles to get to the terminal. He’s not ready for that just yet, and I wouldn’t want to put him through that. It wouldn’t be healthy for him at the moment.
“So, when he can, he’ll be there. There wasn’t a second that went by when we were putting this together that he wasn’t there. He went and recorded that new version of Believe to sing and have Zak sing along.
“He’s the Mountain King. Savatage is his band. We’re blessed to have him in our lives. And the fact that he said to me, ‘Would you go play this fucking music?’ He wants us out there to play the songs. So, I’m gonna go out there and make him and his brother as proud as I possibly can. And when he’s able to go, he’ll be there. That’s all I know.”
Wilbur The Metalphant, Sea Glass Art & Hot Sauce
We are quickly approaching the end of our allotted time, but I cannot let Chris go without discussing his extensive non-musical endeavours. Chris is selling a lot of products related to Wilbur The Metalphant, including some interesting sea glass art. If you watch the video, he even makes an appearance on our call.
On top of that, Chris has released his own hot sauce. Here is how he sees these non-musical activities.
“[Wilbur is] a lot of fun because I’m able to give money to charities through the stuff that I sell with him and things to do,” Chris says. “I think, and I’ve talked to people all the time, down the road there’s going to be a lot of legs with what I can do with him as far as books and clothing. He has his Zazzle site and stuff like that.
“I do the thing with the hot sauce companies. I was just staying busy. I think a lot of that came out of the fact that Savatage wasn’t playing. Being an artist, I wanted to create, and that is art. The food is art, the glass art is art. You know, there’s more to me than just being a guitar player.”
Ending On A Musical Note
We could only return to music at the end of our chat, albeit in a different way. I ask Chris Caffery what the latest concert he attended as a fan was.
“One of the last Judas Priest tours I went to,” he says. “It’s always fun to watch Richie Faulkner. He’s a good friend, but he’s so good, and I like watching them.
“I got to see Accept and KK’s Priest together. I think they were the last thing I did before I went on the last TSO tour. So I got to see the guys I knew in KK’s Priest, and I’ve known the singer in Accept, Mark since I was 16. He’s a really good friend of mine.”
I also want to know what the latest music in heavy rotation is for him and whether he prefers singles or listening to entire albums. He tells me that he generally listens to a lot of artists’ singles online. Chris mentions that he liked the new Arch Enemy record, Blood Dynasty.
“There’s some really great Heavy Metal that comes out all the time,” Chris says. “The new Accept stuff is always great. Every time Accept puts out a record, it’s great. Every time Priest puts out a record, it’s great. KK’s record was really good. I like listening to the music that the bands that influenced me do.
“I think the new Falling In Reverse single that Ronnie Radke did with Marilyn Manson is pretty cool.”
Chris says he would like to see Falling In Reverse live, but it does not look likely that they and Savatage will be playing at the same festivals this summer. This can happen when you are very busy, and I think by now you have no doubt saying Chris Caffery is a very busy guy is no overreaction.
We close things off by both looking forward to the Savatage shows, and I am let in on a little surprise from the gig. The set in London will likely be the same as the festival headline one.
“I just got an email yesterday that has a musical piece that was like 12 minutes long to learn,” Chris Caffery says. “It’s kind of like a little montage of some songs and instrumentals to put together into that set. That’s a little bit different than what we did in South America.”
A lot to look forward to for Savatage fans, then. Both on this tour as well as on this side of Curtain Call.
Keep an eye out for more coverage from MetalTalk, starting with the London show at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 16 June.
Chris Caffery will release 20 Years Of The Music Man on 13 June 2025 via Metalville. You can find out more about this and everything that Chris Caffert is doing by visiting linktr.ee/ChrisCaffery.
