ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
ORIANTHI: SOME KIND OF FIRE
By John Enot
There are guitarists who play to impress you, and then there are guitarists who play as if the instrument has become a second nervous system. Orianthi belongs firmly to the latter group. Her sultry playing style and killer ripping solos do not merely arrive… they ignite! They bend, bloom, snarl, and sing… carrying the kind of emotional voltage that made rock guitar feel dangerous in the first place.
Born Orianthi Penny Panagaris in Adelaide, Australia, she began on piano at age three. By age six she moved to acoustic guitar, and then picked up the electric guitar at age eleven. By her teenage years, she was already writing songs, playing in bands, and stepping onto stages that would have intimidated most musicians twice her age. At 18, she jammed with Carlos Santana, a moment that would become part of her origin story and facilitate an introduction to iconic guitar manufacturer Paul Reed Smith. Smith was so impressed with her playing, that the company developed several custom guitars for her, including a signature Orianthi model called the “Lotus Bloom”. This PRS Private Stock Orianthi Limited Edition electric guitar features a unique purple and pink "Blooming Lotus Glow" finish with a "Lotus Vine" fretboard inlay made from Asian Pink Coral and Mother of Pearl. The model, which is based on her customized 2017 PRS 24 guitar, is a true collector’s item and can be yours for a mere $11,700 if you can find one.
Not long after, she moved to Los Angeles, she signed with Geffen Records, and began the long and unique education of becoming both a virtuoso and a recording artist.
The wider world first caught sight of her in 2009, when she appeared as Carrie Underwood’s lead guitarist at the Grammy Awards. Soon after, Michael Jackson handpicked her as his lead guitarist for his planned “This Is It” concert tour. Those rehearsals, later immortalized in the documentary “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” made Orianthi an instantly recognizable persona on the world stage. Her hyper-explosive musical electricity fused seamlessly alongside the biggest pop star in the world.
Sadly, that tour would never happen. She would later perform at Jackson’s memorial, a globally televised broadcast that placed her front and center of Jackson’s millions of grieving fans.
But Orianthi’s career has never been reducible to one famous association… not even the King of Pop. Her 2009 single “According to You” became an International breakthrough, reaching the Top 20 in the United States and performed strongly in Australia and Japan. She later toured with Alice
Cooper, becoming the first female member of his band, as well as recorded and performed with Richie Sambora as RSO. She made a huge splash around the world when she walked onto the runway at the 2024 Victoria’s Secret fashion show adorned in glittery black angel wings with a white PRS guitar slung over her shoulder bearing her signature logo. The moment completely took the audience by surprise as she belted out a blistering solo that transitioned masterfully into the powerful rock chords of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock & Roll”… as Supermodel Kate Moss emerged from the smoke behind her to make her first runway walk in years. Talk about epic moments in Rock and Fashion history!
Over her career she has built a solid and impressive résumé that touches pop, hard rock, blues, metal, and arena-sized spectacles.
Her latest album, Some Kind of Feeling, released June 27, 2025, through Woodward Avenue Records, feels like the work of an artist no longer asking where she fits in, but is instead unapologetically kicking the door open and slamming through to take charge of the room! The 10-track blues-rock record runs a lean 38 minutes, but delivers a walloping one-two punch that knocks it out of the park! The entire album carries the confidence of someone who has lived inside the machinery of fame and come out sharper, freer, and more herself.
That sense of liberation is not accidental. In an interview with People Magazine, Orianthi described the album as a return to herself as an artist, saying the record allowed her to work without the usual label constraints and focus instead on story, emotion, and connection. She also said the songs grew out of diary-like fragments, guitar riffs, heartbreak, love, and the messy emotional weather of life in between.
You can hear that freedom immediately from the opening track, “Attention”, where she leans into a late-night, whiskey-soaked honesty, turning a familiar cycle of toxic love into something sharp, self-aware, and undeniably catchy. The lyrics cut with precision—calling out emotional manipulation and empty promises—while the repetition of “I’m done thinking ’bout you” lands less like a hook and more like a declaration of independence. Underwritten with a powerful guitar growl and her signature blues shredding, the song rocks and should be a top 10 hit!
The title track, “Some Kind of Feeling,” is one of the album’s most inviting moments… blues-inflected, melodic, and sleek, with enough guitar heat to satisfy the soul. The crisp and steady bouncy backbeat has a slight reggae feel. It is another strong track that works perfectly as the album’s namesake, as well as being another strong contender for a multi-charting crossover hit.
“What I’ve Been Looking” stretches into a more expansive mood, giving Orianthi room to let the guitar breathe rather than simply blaze. The slow weeping guitar lead that opens the song truly fits the definition of the wind crying. The rich tone that she pulls out of the instrument is truly remarkable. It is very reminiscent of “Europa” or “The Question of U” by Prince.
Her cover of ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” is a smart choice. It’s not a museum-piece kind of remake, but she definitely makes it hers and it’s perfect for her Stetson wearing, troubadour persona and the overall vibe of the record.
On the song “Ghost,” Orianthi leans into heartbreak with cinematic intensity, turning lingering love into something that feels almost haunted. The lyrics circle themes of emotional residue… memories that won’t fade, questions that won’t resolve… anchored by the repeated plea for “closure” and the striking image of “living with your ghost.” The track is darker than the rest with a more atmospheric, almost eerie edge. And her raw, soul-bearing, powerful vocal performance really jumps out and grabs you by both sides of your shirt collars. You can really feel the turmoil in the song! It is another brilliantly orchestrated cross-over masterpiece that runs the genres of blues, rock ballad, country, and has also been recently remixed by Dave Audé and released as a club dance track.
The album’s centerpiece may be “First Time Blues,” featuring Joe Bonamassa. Written and produced by Orianthi and mixed by Kevin Shirley, the track leans into a more organic 60s-and-70s blues-rock spirit, with Bonamassa serving not as a stunt cameo for clicks, but as a dueling sparring partner reminiscent of a guitar battle down at the Crossroads… winner gets your soul. The result is dynamic, intense, and deeply satisfying with the opening and repeating guitar hook being as iconic as a Jimmy Page riff. Two guitar voices circling the same flame without crowding each other but definitely stoking the fire.
On the final track of the album “Heaven,” Orianthi trades heartbreak for hard-earned warmth, turning everyday love into something quietly transcendent. The lyrics celebrate resilience… finding light through conflict and building something real out of imperfection. With the repeated refrain “we found Heaven right here” landing as both a mantra and a payoff, it serves as the perfect chapter to close out the “Some Kind Of Feeling” songbook. One of the best parts of the song is near the end when the backing vocals morph into what sounds like an angelic, full church choir. It’s definitely another candidate for a chart topping hit.
The album is not trying to reinvent blues-rock. It is doing something more useful… reminding us that the genre still has glamour, muscle, melody, and emotional consequence when placed in the right hands. Orianthi’s gift has always been precision without sterility. She can shred, certainly, but she rarely sounds like she is solving math problems. Her playing has drama. It has posture. It has the emotion of all four seasons… from the most turbulent thunderstorm to the peace and tranquility of a light falling early winter snow.
What’s even more impressive is Orianthi’s overall song writing skills and production vision. Honestly and unbiasedly speaking, “Some Kind Of Feeling” is the first album that I have heard in a very very long time in which each and every song on the album could be a standalone commercially charting hit. Especially if the state of radio and the music industry weren’t so captured and corrupt. There are very few albums across ANY music genre that can make this claim. It is one of those albums that you put it in your car’s CD player as you head out on a long cross-country drive, and you let it play over and over until you reach your destination… never realizing that you’ve listened to it about 200 times and your ears are still longing for more. AM
You can find out more information about Orianthi on her official website
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