September 11, 2025 • 9 mins
Clint Girlie talks with Trans-Siberian Orchestra guitarist Al Pitrelli about the origins of TSO and what to expect from their show coming Dec 5, 2025 to Springfield
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Al Pa Trelli is a thirty year guitarist for the
Trans Siberian Orchestra. You know that goes back to the
beginning of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. And they're coming to
Springfield Great Southern Bank Arena Friday, December fifth. Tickets on
sale this coming Friday the twelfth at ten am Great
Southern Bank Arena dot com. And I would not be
surprised if by the thirteenth, fourteenth, maybe those tickets were
(00:21):
completely gone. So you probably should get to yours. Al
It's good to talk to you, man. I'm so excited
about this year's show.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Can't wait.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Brother, It's going to be like kooky crazy this year.
And that's what my daughter says.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
How old is your daughter?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
My youngest is nine, My older daughter is fourteen. Older
daughter is too cool to hang out with.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Me, understood.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And I'm holding on I have a nine year old
daughter myself, and I'm holding on to the fact that
she does still think I'm kind of like okay to
be around.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, well, we're both in the same boat. We're going
to have to compare notes over the years because mine,
you know, she's like my partner and crying my sidekick.
But you know, my fourteen year old became a teenager
and just got spend most of her time rolling her
eyes at me in a micros.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Okay, here we go, rolling her eyes to dad. It's
a full time job, you know.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
But I've read I've read this real quick to child
psychology book and the opening chapter said, even when they're
rolling their eyes to you, they're paying attention to everything
that you say. I was like, all right, at least
I got that.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
To hang onto.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
That's pretty cool. So my wife is is a therapist.
She's been doing it for you know, twenty plus years
or whatever, and so what I'm kind of banking on
is that she does like the therapy type stuff with
our kids, and I get to be the cool dad
who's like, I don't know about all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
You guys want to go get ice cream?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, no joke.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And my wife's finishing up for PhD in psychology. And
it's the same thing as I Cokie you do with
old the nuts and bulls. Do not try to figure
me out, and let's make sure we don't mess.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The kids up and we'll be good the whole Do
not try to figure me out. Hits so hard with me.
Let me ask you this, speaking of psychology, You're a kid,
you're growing up and you're playing guitar, and you're like, Okay,
that's what I want to do. Did you do you
ever think this, like, you know, progressive rock playing with
this big orchestra, doing all these amazing shows, that this
(02:06):
is what you'd be doing.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I hoped it was. I mean, you know, ever since
I was a baby. I got to see the Beatles
on Ed Sullivan in sixty four when I was two
years old, and they grabbed me by the innermost part
of my heart and my soul and never let go.
So I had every plan on doing something. Did I
ever see this on the horizon? I couldn't even dream
this one up. Brother. You know, I just wanted to
(02:28):
be a guitar player. I wanted to be in a band,
or I wanted to be doing so. I just wanted
to be a working guitar player.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Whether I lived in.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
A box storage hawker, don't care. This is what I
want to do. And the fact that you and I
are having this conversation about something that I helped create
thirty one years ago, Man, this is awesome. So my
daughter can roll horizal what she wants to me. But
one day she's going to realize, Hey, you know, Gutty
is pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yeah, so so speaks of that. Right thirty one years.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
This has been going on for so long, and it
the has become maybe I'm not gonna even say maybe.
I think it is the most beloved tour around Christmas
every year across this entire country. I mean, it sells
out every everywhere it goes. Did you know, did you
have a feeling like back in the day, I think
we're onto.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Something here, well incrementally, yeah. I mean when we first
recorded Christmas City Sarajevo, we recorded it in winter ninety five.
Then late November early December, a couple of DJs put
it on the radio and it lit up like nobody
had ever seen before, and we had the number one
requested song in America. And you know, you got to
hit If talk radio is playing your song, that's when
you're onto.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Something really big, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I was like, oh, this is awesome, man. You know,
listen to my guitar coming through with the cost Starrea.
I love it. Happy now. Then Paul O'Neil said, we're
going to write a whole record around that song and
called the Transcembury and Auxest'm like fantastic, And from the
out of the gate.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I think it's all three or four million copies.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I was like, God, this is just a fun run.
I didn't you know. I was just so happy in
the moment. You know, every record we would do would
sell a lot. And when we started touring ninety nine,
so like, we're selling out theaters and what do you
mean we're moving to a ring.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's hope.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And now in the last year or two, you know,
I think my first grandson was born back in November
last year is when I actually started being more reflective
and kind of thinking back of the legacy. Then I'm
going to leave to him or what I wanted to
know about me, and you know, dedication, hard work and
an absolute love affair with one thing and one thing
only and focused on what I wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, now I'm.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Starting to look back and go, oh my god, this
thing really exceeded everyone in my expectations.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
As did all my children.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You know, I have three older boys who are out
in the world crushing it, you know, and they may be,
you know, approaching forty years old, but they're still my
baby boy. It's just like Tso, you know, if Paul
and Neils is this thing father, than I'm the crazy
uncle in the corner and I love it and I'll
protect it on nur Schurt forever. You know.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Man.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Well, we're excited you guys are finally coming back to Springfield.
It's been a little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
It's been a minute.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I apologize that's.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Not on you, Honest to goodness. The show got so
dang big. I don't think we could have handled it
here in town. And I think when I was talking
to people, they were like, I think we figured out
a way that we could fit it in that arena.
But it is a humongous show. And for those maybe
who have never been before, or because it's been a
while since it's been here and this is their first
time to get a chance to go see it, can
you explain kind of what this show is?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah? Well, I think the shorter answer to a very
good question is that whatever you think it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Is, you're not even close.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
You know, like a lot of people say, oh, well
it's going to be you know, it's an orchestra, so
it's going to be a rock monoof esque presentation of
Christmas themes, it's not happening, well partly, but you know
that's like fifteen percent of what it is. Or you think,
you know, you remember Being Automatic is such an awesome
metal show with lots of.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Pyro again partly right, mostly wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Or you know the theatrical presentation with the narration, the
narrator reciting the poetry and the characters and the story
and the story arms. Well, yeah, that's part of too.
If you wrap all that together and add everything else,
all the other styles of music and the genres of music,
and the biggest production on God's Earth. You know, Pyroles
is moving. Trust his video content. Look, if we haven't
(05:56):
been in town with you guys for a minute. Last
year we had twenty one tractor trails and buses. That's
that a thing has grown up and involved, you know,
and we want to put on the biggest spectacle ever,
yet keep it intimate because a lot of people have
adopted Paul on the old story that goes to Chris
to see as part of the holiday traditional and they
love celebrating that, you know. So there's a balancing act
between being over the top and very very delicate and
(06:18):
honest and intimate with the folks in the audience.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
It is an incredible show, truly, thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah when you said it's everything you think it's going
to be, and then some it's like yeah, I mean
I remember, I remember going in with a thought in
my head of what to expect and then just being like.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Nope, I was.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I was kind of right, but then there's a lot
more and holy smokes, I will say, and maybe I
don't know that I've ever had this happen in my career,
where the day that we announced the show, people from
all different walks of life, not like country music fans
or rock music fans or pop music fans.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Everybody everybody goes yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And I feel like that's a massive responsibility on your
guys' part. Do you feel the weight of having I
mean just me, is it fans in totality coming to
your show.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I don't know if I ever told you the story,
but opening night ninety nine, first show ever Cali Theater
at Philadelphia the House, I just went down, the curtain
came up, and I looked in the audience and I
nearly had a heart attack because you gotta understand Prior
to that, I felt like I was in the Steely
Dana Christmas. We never did a live show, and we're
selling millions and millions and millions of records. So I'm like,
who's going to be at these shows? Sold that forty
five minutes? All right, let's find out. Right in front
(07:23):
of me, this older couple, my grandparent age is wearing
those crocheted reindeer sweaters right yeah, and right next to it,
right next to them as a dude wearing a Selayer hoodie.
I think, think about that for a minute, and that
was I should have known that was going to be.
Like the entirety of the Transferbarian Orchestra, you know, like
the audience, thanks, you know, everybody from every walk of life.
(07:47):
You know, you got infants being held up by their
parents like Graffiki holds up you know the lion, and
the lion came right to ninety year old great grandparents
and I just look at I look at the stars,
and I just you know, look at Paul O'Neill and
I bow my kiss. So look what you created, brother.
Everybody loves what you did, you know, and I'm so
so proud of that.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I think that's the perfect you know, encapsulation of the
Christmas season. And it doesn't matter who you are, you know,
it's everybody coming together and you guys do that better
than anybody else. We're excited to see Friday, December fifth,
Great seven Bank. Yeah, tickets are going to be on
sale here Friday at ten a m.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
You can go to Great Southern Bank Arena dot com
to get yours.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You coming to the show?
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Absolutely, I'm coming. I'm not going to miss that show.
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Good? I'm glad and I can't wait too. You know,
I bring to shake hands in person and have a
coffee or beer or whatever it is. But this is
the first time since COVID that we're going to do
the after show meet and greet and the autograph. Fine,
but everybody in the arena, so I want to let
you know that. So there's no more across the parking
lot waving with masks on nonsense.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I'm over it.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Awesome though, It's back to normal for us.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Awesome Well again, all the info Great Southern Bank Arena
dot com and yeah, get to get to meet the
guys too.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Al thanks for taking.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Some time today, man, I know they're running you through
the gauntlet here, but I appreciate.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
It no now, this is one of my favorite times
a year and it's always a pleasure talking to you.
So love to you and the family and I'll see
you soon.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Bruh.
Al Pa Trelli is a thirty year guitarist for the
Trans Siberian Orchestra. You know that goes back to the
beginning of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. And they're coming to
Springfield Great Southern Bank Arena Friday, December fifth. Tickets on
sale this coming Friday the twelfth at ten am Great
Southern Bank Arena dot com. And I would not be
surprised if by the thirteenth, fourteenth, maybe those tickets were
(00:21):
completely gone. So you probably should get to yours. Al
It's good to talk to you, man. I'm so excited
about this year's show.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Can't wait.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Brother, It's going to be like kooky crazy this year.
And that's what my daughter says.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
How old is your daughter?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
My youngest is nine, My older daughter is fourteen. Older
daughter is too cool to hang out with.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Me, understood.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And I'm holding on I have a nine year old
daughter myself, and I'm holding on to the fact that
she does still think I'm kind of like okay to
be around.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah, well, we're both in the same boat. We're going
to have to compare notes over the years because mine,
you know, she's like my partner and crying my sidekick.
But you know, my fourteen year old became a teenager
and just got spend most of her time rolling her
eyes at me in a micros.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Okay, here we go, rolling her eyes to dad. It's
a full time job, you know.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
But I've read I've read this real quick to child
psychology book and the opening chapter said, even when they're
rolling their eyes to you, they're paying attention to everything
that you say. I was like, all right, at least
I got that.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
To hang onto.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
That's pretty cool. So my wife is is a therapist.
She's been doing it for you know, twenty plus years
or whatever, and so what I'm kind of banking on
is that she does like the therapy type stuff with
our kids, and I get to be the cool dad
who's like, I don't know about all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
You guys want to go get ice cream?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, no joke.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And my wife's finishing up for PhD in psychology. And
it's the same thing as I Cokie you do with
old the nuts and bulls. Do not try to figure
me out, and let's make sure we don't mess.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The kids up and we'll be good the whole Do
not try to figure me out. Hits so hard with me.
Let me ask you this, speaking of psychology, You're a kid,
you're growing up and you're playing guitar, and you're like, Okay,
that's what I want to do. Did you do you
ever think this, like, you know, progressive rock playing with
this big orchestra, doing all these amazing shows, that this
(02:06):
is what you'd be doing.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I hoped it was. I mean, you know, ever since
I was a baby. I got to see the Beatles
on Ed Sullivan in sixty four when I was two
years old, and they grabbed me by the innermost part
of my heart and my soul and never let go.
So I had every plan on doing something. Did I
ever see this on the horizon? I couldn't even dream
this one up. Brother. You know, I just wanted to
(02:28):
be a guitar player. I wanted to be in a band,
or I wanted to be doing so. I just wanted
to be a working guitar player.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Whether I lived in.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
A box storage hawker, don't care. This is what I
want to do. And the fact that you and I
are having this conversation about something that I helped create
thirty one years ago, Man, this is awesome. So my
daughter can roll horizal what she wants to me. But
one day she's going to realize, Hey, you know, Gutty
is pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yeah, so so speaks of that. Right thirty one years.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
This has been going on for so long, and it
the has become maybe I'm not gonna even say maybe.
I think it is the most beloved tour around Christmas
every year across this entire country. I mean, it sells
out every everywhere it goes. Did you know, did you
have a feeling like back in the day, I think
we're onto.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Something here, well incrementally, yeah. I mean when we first
recorded Christmas City Sarajevo, we recorded it in winter ninety five.
Then late November early December, a couple of DJs put
it on the radio and it lit up like nobody
had ever seen before, and we had the number one
requested song in America. And you know, you got to
hit If talk radio is playing your song, that's when
you're onto.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Something really big, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
I was like, oh, this is awesome, man. You know,
listen to my guitar coming through with the cost Starrea.
I love it. Happy now. Then Paul O'Neil said, we're
going to write a whole record around that song and
called the Transcembury and Auxest'm like fantastic, And from the
out of the gate.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
I think it's all three or four million copies.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I was like, God, this is just a fun run.
I didn't you know. I was just so happy in
the moment. You know, every record we would do would
sell a lot. And when we started touring ninety nine,
so like, we're selling out theaters and what do you
mean we're moving to a ring.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's hope.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And now in the last year or two, you know,
I think my first grandson was born back in November
last year is when I actually started being more reflective
and kind of thinking back of the legacy. Then I'm
going to leave to him or what I wanted to
know about me, and you know, dedication, hard work and
an absolute love affair with one thing and one thing
only and focused on what I wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, now I'm.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Starting to look back and go, oh my god, this
thing really exceeded everyone in my expectations.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
As did all my children.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You know, I have three older boys who are out
in the world crushing it, you know, and they may be,
you know, approaching forty years old, but they're still my
baby boy. It's just like Tso, you know, if Paul
and Neils is this thing father, than I'm the crazy
uncle in the corner and I love it and I'll
protect it on nur Schurt forever. You know.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, that's fantastic. Man.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Well, we're excited you guys are finally coming back to Springfield.
It's been a little bit.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
It's been a minute.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I apologize that's.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Not on you, Honest to goodness. The show got so
dang big. I don't think we could have handled it
here in town. And I think when I was talking
to people, they were like, I think we figured out
a way that we could fit it in that arena.
But it is a humongous show. And for those maybe
who have never been before, or because it's been a
while since it's been here and this is their first
time to get a chance to go see it, can
you explain kind of what this show is?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah? Well, I think the shorter answer to a very
good question is that whatever you think it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Is, you're not even close.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
You know, like a lot of people say, oh, well
it's going to be you know, it's an orchestra, so
it's going to be a rock monoof esque presentation of
Christmas themes, it's not happening, well partly, but you know
that's like fifteen percent of what it is. Or you think,
you know, you remember Being Automatic is such an awesome
metal show with lots of.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Pyro again partly right, mostly wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Or you know the theatrical presentation with the narration, the
narrator reciting the poetry and the characters and the story
and the story arms. Well, yeah, that's part of too.
If you wrap all that together and add everything else,
all the other styles of music and the genres of music,
and the biggest production on God's Earth. You know, Pyroles
is moving. Trust his video content. Look, if we haven't
(05:56):
been in town with you guys for a minute. Last
year we had twenty one tractor trails and buses. That's
that a thing has grown up and involved, you know,
and we want to put on the biggest spectacle ever,
yet keep it intimate because a lot of people have
adopted Paul on the old story that goes to Chris
to see as part of the holiday traditional and they
love celebrating that, you know. So there's a balancing act
between being over the top and very very delicate and
(06:18):
honest and intimate with the folks in the audience.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
It is an incredible show, truly, thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah when you said it's everything you think it's going
to be, and then some it's like yeah, I mean
I remember, I remember going in with a thought in
my head of what to expect and then just being like.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Nope, I was.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I was kind of right, but then there's a lot
more and holy smokes, I will say, and maybe I
don't know that I've ever had this happen in my career,
where the day that we announced the show, people from
all different walks of life, not like country music fans
or rock music fans or pop music fans.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Everybody everybody goes yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And I feel like that's a massive responsibility on your
guys' part. Do you feel the weight of having I
mean just me, is it fans in totality coming to
your show.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
I don't know if I ever told you the story,
but opening night ninety nine, first show ever Cali Theater
at Philadelphia the House, I just went down, the curtain
came up, and I looked in the audience and I
nearly had a heart attack because you gotta understand Prior
to that, I felt like I was in the Steely
Dana Christmas. We never did a live show, and we're
selling millions and millions and millions of records. So I'm like,
who's going to be at these shows? Sold that forty
five minutes? All right, let's find out. Right in front
(07:23):
of me, this older couple, my grandparent age is wearing
those crocheted reindeer sweaters right yeah, and right next to it,
right next to them as a dude wearing a Selayer hoodie.
I think, think about that for a minute, and that
was I should have known that was going to be.
Like the entirety of the Transferbarian Orchestra, you know, like
the audience, thanks, you know, everybody from every walk of life.
(07:47):
You know, you got infants being held up by their
parents like Graffiki holds up you know the lion, and
the lion came right to ninety year old great grandparents
and I just look at I look at the stars,
and I just you know, look at Paul O'Neill and
I bow my kiss. So look what you created, brother.
Everybody loves what you did, you know, and I'm so
so proud of that.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I think that's the perfect you know, encapsulation of the
Christmas season. And it doesn't matter who you are, you know,
it's everybody coming together and you guys do that better
than anybody else. We're excited to see Friday, December fifth,
Great seven Bank. Yeah, tickets are going to be on
sale here Friday at ten a m.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
You can go to Great Southern Bank Arena dot com
to get yours.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You coming to the show?
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Absolutely, I'm coming. I'm not going to miss that show.
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Good? I'm glad and I can't wait too. You know,
I bring to shake hands in person and have a
coffee or beer or whatever it is. But this is
the first time since COVID that we're going to do
the after show meet and greet and the autograph. Fine,
but everybody in the arena, so I want to let
you know that. So there's no more across the parking
lot waving with masks on nonsense.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I'm over it.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Awesome though, It's back to normal for us.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Awesome Well again, all the info Great Southern Bank Arena
dot com and yeah, get to get to meet the
guys too.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Al thanks for taking.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Some time today, man, I know they're running you through
the gauntlet here, but I appreciate.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
It no now, this is one of my favorite times
a year and it's always a pleasure talking to you.
So love to you and the family and I'll see
you soon.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Bruh.
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