Local guitar hero brings his ‘Kingdom’ to the stage — finally

Sammy Boller has been waiting to play live music from his first solo album, “Kingdom of the Sun,” since its release nearly 19 months ago.

Now he’s getting his chance.

The Detroit guitarist hits the road with his trio starting Friday, Oct. 15, at the Pike Room in Pontiac, with 10 more dates behind it.

“I’m really excited, man. I haven’t done a show since the album’s been out, which feels like forever,” says Boller, 28, who grew up in Farmington Hills. His parents were musicians, and he started taking piano lessons when he was 5, picking up guitar when he was 10. He briefly studied jazz at the University of Michigan, but has “always been more of a rocker.”

“I think it’s worked out the way it was supposed to,” says Boller, who cut his teeth listening to Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and other virtuosos and was part of the band Citizen Zero, which released a national album, “State of Mind,” in 2016. Boller has established his own cred with online videos and as a guest columnist and virtual instructor for Guitar World magazine, and the march continues. A second solo album is in the works, as is the first album by his new band, Pharoah, a hard-rocking quartet he formed with other musicians from the metro area.

“Now that live music’s coming back, this feels like a new beginning,” Boller notes. “It’s giving (‘Kingdom of the Sun’) a second life. I never necessarily dreamt of being a solo guitar instrumentalist, but I’ve found it so fulfilling, and I love it. This record’s gone farther than my highest expectations, so I’m just really excited to keep exploring and evolving.”

Sammy Boller performs Friday, Oct. 15 at the Pike Room in the Crofoot complex, 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac. Doors at 7 p.m. $15. 248-858-9333 or thecrofoot.com.