Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell took over the airwaves earlier yesterday (Wednesday, November 12) on the KLOS 95.5 FM radio station in Los Angeles, California as a guest DJ with Melissa Maxx, during which he had nothing but praise for legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Here’s the transcription, thanks to Blabbermouth.net:
“Eddie Van Halen, for me… As a guitar player, there’s a handful of guys that are the pinnacle, and Eddie’s always been that for me. And for a lot of [other] guys. Just completely unique, untouchable… There’s nobody like him.”
He continued: “We had an opportunity on our first record to tour with Van Halen [In 1991, during Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour] for about six months… They kept us on for a couple of legs or whatever. I remember the very first show we played, we flew in and I think we were late to the stage. I got up there and we were getting our gear together, and I hadn’t met him yet. So I get my guitar on and we’re getting ready to go, and I turn around and Eddie’s standing there with his guitar, and he’s, like, in my guitar pit. And he’s sitting there warming up, like, waving, ‘Hey, dude, what’s up?’ And I’m, like, ‘Oh, man.’ It was, like, ‘Go away. Don’t stand that close to me, man. Don’t listen to how crappy I am.’ It’s like, I’ve got Eddie Van Halen standing, like, six feet from me and getting ready to go play. I was extremely nervous. But it was one of the coolest tours and a really big break for us early on, and it got us experience at kind of a big level, and they took us under their wing.”
The VHND dug up some additional EVH-related quotes from Jerry Cantrell from previous Guitar World interviews:
- “Eddie’s very cool; he loaded me up with a couple stacks of his Peavey 5150 stuff and gave me a guitar and a practice amp. He gave me more gear than I had. He’s a real sweetheart. He hung out in our room more than he hung with his own band.”
- “His style is his style, and I really have no inclination to pick that up. I went through a period when I was very much into that type of guitar playing, but there are so many guitar players who sound like Eddie Van Halen. I think that’s sad, because it kind of takes away from what he did, which was just be himself. So what I got from him, as corny as it may sound, is a dedication to just be myself.”