ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell was the featured guest on BBC‘s “The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker” during the “Rock God” segment. Jerry picked THE ROLLING STONES frontman Mick Jagger and stated about his choice: “I had the good fortune to see him perform with THE STONES in Los Angeles a couple of days ago. I’ve been lucky enough to catch a few STONES shows over the years, but it was really great to be reminded of their place in rock and roll history and Mick‘s place as the genesis, I believe, of what fronting a rock and roll band really looks like. It’s amazing, the longevity, the attitude, just his ability to connect with the audience, to work a room, I don’t think you’d have Steven Tyler or David Lee Roth or any epic frontman without Mick Jagger. He is the archetype and the forerunner for what fronting a rock and roll band is all about.”
Last year, Cantrell discussed his early musical influences during an interview about his career for Gibson‘s “Icon” series. He stated at the time: “Music was something that was always in our house from a very early age. By that time, I was heavily into rock, like AC/DC and KISS and all the English metal. And I grew up on bands that wrote good riffs. I just wanted to play guitar, write songs, and I’m proud to have sprung from the community and so many of my friends. And the reasons and the meaning behind why we all do it, where we all come from and what that means, that’s not lost on any of us.”
Jerry‘s new solo album, “Brighten”, was made available on October 29. The LP was co-produced by Jerry over the past year with film composer Tyler Bates and Cantrell‘s longtime engineer Paul Figueroa. They welcomed a dynamic cast of supporting players, including drummers Gil Sharone and Abe Laboriel, Jr. (Paul McCartney), pedal steel master Michael Rozon, Vincent Jones on piano, Wurlitzer, and organ. Other rock legends added to the fun of this LP, including Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) on select bass tracks, Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) handling all of the background vocals and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) overseeing the mixing of “Brighten”. Together, they recorded eight originals and the LP closes with an approved-by-Elton John cover of his classic “Goodbye” as the finale.
