Music
Solo Work | Other Projects
ALICE IN CHAINS
Jerry Cantrell is a founding member of Seattle-based band Alice in Chains. Jerry, along with lead singer Layne Staley, drummer Sean Kinney and original bassist Mike Starr, started off a glam band before moving on to darker, deeper music.
Alice's first full-length album, Facelift, hit stores in 1990 and immediately started to create buzz about the band. Then in 1992 the band released Dirt. Featuring such hit songs as "Rooster," "Them Bones" and "Would?" Dirt was a monster hit that brought Alice in Chains critical fame and commercial success. The timing of this album, and the fact that Alice was from Seattle, resulted in the band being lumped in a "grunge" band despite the fact that Alice was heavily influenced by metal.
Dirt was followed up in 1994 by an EP entitled Jar Of Flies. It debuted at number one, becoming the first EP in history to do. Alice's next album, a self-titled full-length CD, debuted at number one on Billboard and continued to bring the band more commercial success.
In 1996, the band recorded a MTV Unplugged session. The recording from this show has gone to become one of the best-selling Unplugged CDs of all time. But despite the success of the MTV taping, internal problems prevented Alice from touring or releasing new material, essentially putting the band on hold for the next several years.
In April of 2002, Layne Staley was found dead in his Seattle home. Many Alice fans believed that Layne's death was also the death of their beloved band. But in February of 2005, the surviving members of Alice reunited to play the ROCK Tsunami Continued CARE Relief Concert with Tool's Maynard Keenan helping out on vocals.
The benefit concert was a sign of things to come. In the spring of 2006, Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez (who replaced Starr in 1993) announced that they were hitting the road once more. Their choice for lead vocalist was William DuVall, a singer and guitarist who had toured with Jerry during his solo tours. The reunited Alice in Chains played for sold-out crowds from Japan to England to the US. They will likely continue to tour in 2007.
For more info on Alice in Chains, visit the band's website.
CARDBOARD VAMPYRES
In 2004, Jerry created the Cardboard Vampyres with Billy Duffy, best known for being a founding member of The Cult. In addition to Jerry and Billy, the Vampyres also featured Chris Wyse (The Cult) on bass, Eric Dover (Jellyfish, Slash's Snakepit) on vocals and Bevan Davies (Danzig, Comes With The Fall) on drums.
According to the band's official bio, the Vampyres "deliver a new take on the hard rock experience." Jerry explains that, "This band is really just about having fun and playing tunes that we were fans of growing up."
While the Vampyres never released any material, they did play a number of gigs.
To find out more on the Cardboard Vampyres, check out their website. You can also buy Cardboard Vamypers merch over in the Store.
TOP OF PAGE | | PRINT THIS PAGE