Alter Bridge Interview: Mark Tremonti on New Music and More
Mark Tremonti – Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Scott Diussa
Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge and Creed joins Anne Erickson for an in-depth interview
By now, most people have broken their New Year’s resolutions, and perhaps they don’t even remember them. But, not Mark Tremonti. The longtime lead guitarist for Alter Bridge, frontman in Tremonti and lead guitarist for Creed tells Audio Ink Radio that he always makes New Year’s resolutions, and he tried to stick to them.
“My resolution this year was to learn something every day on the guitar,” Tremonti said, speaking on the Audio Ink Radio podcast. “There’s plenty to learn. I’m juggling so many things, I want to make sure I stay focused on the guitar and that will keep me on top of things.”
Alter Bridge released their latest studio album, “Pawns & Kings,” last fall. The album, which was named one of Audio Ink Radio’s best rock albums of 2022, features soaring, melodic hard rock, which the band is performing on the road.
Alter Bridge have a 2023 tour lined up with Mammoth WVH this winter, kicking off Jan. 25 in Tampa, Florida. As for the new tunes, Tremonti says it’s been great performing “Pawns & Kings” tracks live.
“So far, I think we’ve played five of the new tunes live, and we’re going to break out another three on this next run,” Tremonti said. “So, it keeps it exciting for us to see how the crowd reacts to these news tunes.”
He added that touring with Mammoth WVH, the band fronted by Wolfgang Van Halen, has been “awesome.” He continued, “These are all friends of ours that we’ve know for year and years. I’ve been in a band with Wolfie and Garett (Whitlock), and Myles (Kennedy) has played with Frank (Sidoris). It’s one big family out there. I’m really happy and proud of everything Wolife has accomplished over these past few years.” He adds that you would “never know Wolfie’s last name is Van Halen.”
Tremonti is a Detroit, Michigan, native. Alter Bridge have a tour stop on Valentine’s Day at The Fillmore in Detroit, so it’s something of a hometown gig for the guitarist.
“Those are my people,” he said of Michiganders. “I love visiting my hometown. Hopefully I can spend some time and drive to where I grew up and see the old streets, see the old school and play for the people that like the same kind of music that I do.”
While Alter Bridge are still riding high on their latest album, Tremonti says he’s already working on new tunes for the follow-up. “I started writing a few songs, and I never really stop writing, so no matter what, I’ll be ready for the next phase,” he said.
Also on the tally for this year, Tremonti will be working on a top-secret project. “I’m going into the studio in April to record another under-the-radar, secret project that I probably don’t want to announce until later this year, so I’m excited about that,” he said. Other plans for 2022 include doing “a ton of touring with Alter Bridge wile I’m writing as much music as I can for the next Alter Bridge and Tremonti records.”
People always want to know: Will there be a Creed reunion? When asked, Tremonti said, “There’s always talks and people running ideas back and forth, but we don’t know as of yet, because we’re so in the deep with this Alter Bridge record that’s it’s tough to get side tracked right now.”
When asked if Tremonti thinks one day, the stars will align and Creed will actually reunite, or if it’s just not going to happen, he assures us that a Creed reunion is almost guaranteed to happen at some point. “I’m sure something will happen at some point,” he said. “Creed was such a popular band back in the day, it would be a shame to not do something with it. I know there’s still tons of fans out there that would appreciate it, so it’s just a matter of timing.”
Listen to the full interview with Tremonti via the Audio Ink Radio podcast on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify here.
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