Metal guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert was born November 6, 1966 in Carbondale, IL and raised primarily in Greenburg, PA; he began playing music at age five, and by age 15 was not only touring local clubs with his band Tau Zero but was even spotlighted in ~Guitar Player magazine alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen. In 1984 Gilbert relocated to Los Angeles to attend the Guitar Institute of Technology, becoming an instructor there the following year; concurrently he formed the band Electric Fence, which by 1986 evolved into Racer X. Their debut album Street Lethal appeared later that year, but in the wake of the follow-up, 1987's Second Heat, Gilbert exited to join Mr.