Dweezil Zappa means business. Of course, if you're going to accept the challenge of tackling some seriously difficult material--never mind that your father, Frank Zappa, wrote it--you've got to put in the time.

"The stuff that we're doing this year that's harder is much harder," Dweezil admits, "and the stuff that is easier is much more blues-oriented, so there's a good combination. I feel the music is going to connect with people, not that it wouldn't under any circumstance, but the primal connections to the rhythms and the substance in this selection of songs, I think people are really going to enjoy the show."

For this, the second year of the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, the guitarist spent a couple years overhauling his technique, assembled a band of young upstarts and Frank Zappa-band veterans (special guests include guitarists Steve Vai and Ray White, drummer Terry Bozzio, and vocalist Napoleon Murphy Brock), and pulled several vintage performance clips out of The Vault to give the audience members the full Zappa experience. Those that can't make the show can look forward to a DVD package that should surface later this year.

Dweezil took some time out to speak with LiveDaily before launching the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, which will touch down throughout the US and Canada in July and August, then take the band to Europe through October.

LiveDaily: When did you get the idea to put this tour together and take on this material?

Dweezil Zappa: I had been thinking about it for a long time. The question was where to start and how to do it. For me, there is also the emotional aspect of it, which I knew was going to be unavoidable. The music just means a lot to me, so I knew there would be times where it could be emotionally overwhelming, but I still wanted to go ahead and try to make it work.

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