Alter Bridge frontman and guitarist Myles Kennedy recently looked back on the guitarists who helped him shape his signature sound. Among the guitar players named in a recent interview with Guitar World was Warren Haynes
According to Myles, Warren plays all the “right notes” instead of playing “a lot” of them. The man in question, Warren Haynes, is known as the frontman and leader of Gov’t Mule, as well as a long-term guitar player for The Allman Brothers Band. Explaining how Warren Haynes impacted him, Myles said:
“Warren is another one of those guys who doesn’t play *a lot* of notes, but he plays the *right* notes.“
But aside from that, there are other qualities that Myles admires about Warren’s playing:
“Beyond that, I love his tone. Warren’s got a sound that just grips you. And I’ve had a few incredible experiences where I got to perform and jam with him over the years, all of which were absolute highlights.“
“Out of all the cool moments I’ve had in my career, if someone asked me to name the best moments, being onstage with Warren is up there.“
Kennedy also added:
“Watching him do these long, extended solo sections while I was standing there, man, for a second, I forgot what my name was. He will always be one of my favorites, not only because of how great he is, but because he’s like a Jedi Master. He’s so calm and full of wisdom that you can’t help but feed from him.”
Among other musicians that Kennedy praised in the interview was also fusion jazz master Pat Metheny. Myles said of him:
“A lot of people think of me as only a hard rock guy, but I’m influenced by jazz players, too, and Pat Metheny is at the top of that list.”
“I remember hearing him back as a teenager when his ‘Still Life (Talking)‘ album came out. And there’s a song on that album called ‘Third Wind‘ that has this break where Pat attacks the guitar in a way I’d never heard before. To me, it was super-transcendent. You might not think it, but Pat is highly influential on me in a lot of ways.“
Elsewhere in the interview, Myles also discussed what got him into playing guitar in the first place. And, to no surprise, it was Eddie Van Halen’s instrumental “Eruption” from Van Halen’s debut record:
“What made me fall in love with the guitar was hearing Eddie Van Halen’s ‘Eruption‘ on a boombox while playing wiffleball with my friends as a kid, I’d never heard anything like that in my life before.“
“It was so out there that I couldn’t even fathom what the hell it was. It was one of those moments where time stood still. I was frozen in place listening to whatever Eddie was doing.”
“I was completely enamored to the point that I immediately ran to my mother and begged for her an advance on my allowance to go buy the cassette.”
“Thankfully, she gave me the money, and a few hours later, I had my Van Halen cassette. But beyond Eddie, not too long after I heard ‘Eruption,‘ I heard ‘Whole Lotta Love‘ by Led Zeppelin, which further changed everything. It’s those two songs that nudged me to want to pursue guitar.”
During the interview, he also praised Eddie as one of his biggest influences, explaining:
“With Eddie, obviously, his sound was all his own. And when you put that into the context of when the first album [Van Halen] came out, it’s just crazy. Back then, nobody had that sound. And nobody played that way, either. Eddie’s ‘brown sound’ was revolutionary – [it inspired] an entire generation of guitar players in the ’80s. And people can say what they want, but ultimately, people back then were chasing that sound. But it was a special time, and we have Eddie to thank for that.
“His two-handed technique was a game-changer that inspired a whole bunch of shredders back then, and it still does to this day. We owe a lot to Eddie for what he brought to the party.”
Apart from Alter Bridge, Myles Kennedy is also known for being the lead singer for Slash’s solo work. Known under the full name of Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, he has recorded a total of four albums under this moniker.
In fact, a few years back, Slash even praised Myles Kennedy for being a more technically proficient guitar player than him. When asked about this in an interview with Ultimate Guitar in 2019 and how he feels about Slash’s compliments, Myles replied:
“That’s really… It blows my mind. It’s very nice of him to say that because I have such tremendous respect for him as a guitar player.“
“Pretty much every night when we’re playing a set, he’ll do something on the guitar which will just blow my mind. He’s the next-level guitar player. He’s really got something special that only he does.“
“So when he says something nice like that, obviously it carries a bit of weight and it means a lot.”
Myles Kennedy and Alter Bridge are currently promoting their 2022 record “Pawns & Kings.” The album, which is the band’s seventh full-length studio effort, features a total of 10 tracks. You can find more info about their tour dates at the band’s official website here.
Photo: Alfred Nitsch (20170615-091-Nova Rock 2017-Alter Bridge-Brian Marshall, Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti)
