Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge Interview – ‘Pawns & Kings’ and Beyond

2022-09-06

Alter Bridge by Chuck Brueckmann

Alter Bridge – Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Chuck Brueckmann

Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy joins Anne Erickson to discuss the band’s new album, “Pawns & Kings,” and more

Alter Bridge are coming up on the release of their latest album, “Pawns & Kings,” out Oct. 14. Musically, the new set shows off a more aggressive sound but still bends to the melodic nature of Alter Bridge’s classic style.

Speaking with Audio Ink Radio, lead vocalist Myles Kennedy explained the meaning behind a few choice track on the set. The first is “Sin After Sin,” which Kennedy describes as “a track that Mark brought in so I just came up with the melody for that but he came out with the music.”

“Those are fun, because that’s closer to how we do things with the Slash & KC records, Slash and the gang, where he’ll hand over a music bed, and I’ll put a melody and a lyric over the top of that,” Kennedy says. “So this is kind of the same same sort of process with ‘Sin After Sin,’ which is fun.”

As far as the meaning behind “Sin After Sin,” Kennedy explains, “It’s kind of calling someone out for presenting themselves a certain way kind of purely as someone who is virtuous and never in the wrong but knowing that behind that is something is very different, and we’ve all experienced people like that in our lives, so that’s what that song is about.”

One song on the set that sounds very classic Alter Bridge is “Season of Promise.” Kennedy explains, “That’s definitely more old school, so for the Alter Bridge fans from way back in the day, that’s a track that they would recognize as possibly fitting on ‘One Day Remains’ or something.”

Now that Kennedy has been back on the road following the pandemic, he says he feels a greater appreciation for live music both in the U.S. around the world.

“When I went over to Europe for my solo tour in June, and when I was over the in U.K. in December, it’s palpable,” he says. “You can feel how grateful people are to be back in the same room celebrating music together. It’s really a beautiful example every night when you get onstage- it’s a beautiful manifestation of how that has shifted. Not so to say that before everything shut down that people weren’t grateful or excited, but it’s a new level now, and it feels different to me.”

So, does Kennedy have any new solo music in the works? “Not at the moment,” he says. “I’ve intentionally powered down and wanted to refill the well, because it seems like for the last- I can’t even remember the last time I really stopped creating. I thought it would be advantageous to hit the pause button and let the well fill back up, and that way, when I tackle another batch of tunes, I’ll be inspired.”

Kennedy is also the lead vocalist in Slash’s band. When asked whether Kennedy thinks Slash will continue to create solo music for years to come, he gives a good answer.

“That’s a good question. I honestly don’t know,” he says. “I think that we’re all really grateful and to some degree surprised by the run that we’ve had. When I first signed on to do ‘Starlight’ back in 2009, and then we ended up doing ‘Back from Cali,’ I thought that would pretty much be it. Then, he brought up, ‘Well, let’s do a tour together,’ and I thought, okay, it’ll be a tour and that’ll be it. But if you had told that 12 years down the road, 13 years down the road, that we’d have this long run and multiple records and tour the world multiple times, I would have been blown away. So, I guess time will tell how that continues.”

Listen to the full interview with Kennedy via the YouTube player above or on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify here.

Anne Erickson
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Posted by Anne Erickson | Features, Interviews, Music, Rock

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