Alter Bridge | Main

Former Creed songwriter/ guitarist Mark Tremonti along with former Creed drummer Scott Phillips, original Creed bassist Brian Marshall and former Mayfield Four singer/ songwriter Myles Kennedy have joined together to become Alter Bridge. On the motivation behind creating the new band, Mark Tremonti says, "After all Creed achieved professionally, I felt that I needed to refocus on the goals that I had personally. One of those goals was to get back to my rock and roll roots. After Creed took a break, band-mate Scott Phillips and I started to jam together again and realized that we both shared the same vision and were surprisingly anxious to get back out there and start doing it again." The progress continued when original Creed bassist Brian Marshall, got a call from Tremonti. "When I got the call from Mark, I could tell by the tone of his voice that Alter Bridge was something that he was really excited about and I immediately knew that I wanted to be a part of it. He told me, ‘Your bass playing matches the sound more than any other, you're the guy.' It's great to be working with those guys again, we haven't skipped a beat," Marshall notes. In addition to Tremonti, Phillips and Marshall is Myles Kennedy. Myles, formerly of the Mayfield Four, was recruited to be the band's singer. "The three of us have always been great friends, so it was important to find somebody who could fit in and who we would be comfortable with. There is no doubt that Myles is that guy." Tremonti recalls, "He came down to rehearse with us in Orlando and he was one of the nicest and most humble people we had ever met; everything just clicked with all four of us. As we were running through the songs, the future fell into place before our eyes." On joining the fold, Kennedy mentions, "When the call came in from Mark, I was working on a solo record... and I didn't expect to ever be a part of another rock band. Now that I am here, these guys are the antithesis of the prototypical rock stars, and the setting has made me feel more empowered than ever before." The name Alter Bridge comes from a long-standing bridge near Tremonti's childhood home in Detroit, which was often regarded as a boundary to the children in surrounding neighborhoods. Beyond the bridge lied unchartered territory, therefore, the small bridge epitomized "choice" and "the unknown" for Tremonti. The landmark personifies the high level of excitement that is evoked from what is new, and ultimately unknown about the future for the band, because they are truly starting a new chapter in their lives. Tremonti notes, "It's a new road ahead of us, but the essence of this band is organic and honest rock n' roll. It is all about fun, and if it weren't, I doubt any of us would be committed to the new band to the level that we are." To further emphasize this point, and as a way of breaking Myles into the fold, they band went bungee jumping over a ledge from a 300-foot drop. As Phillips mentions, "This is representative of what is going on with the new band. Everything is a lot of fun for us." Alter Bridge's debut album One Day Remains, being released on Wind-Up Records, was produced by Ben Grosse (Filter, Fuel, Sevendust). The selection is a perfect choice considering the fact that according to Kennedy, "The music we are creating covers a fairly wide scope and crosses a lot of boundaries – there are elements of modern rock, soul, and aggressive metal all incorporated into the mix." Tremonti shared, "With this album, we are trying to learn from our past but begin with a different perspective. Ben definitely offered the setting we were looking for, and on a production level, his recordings are sonically huge... he has this knack for making each track stand out without losing any of its sonic power." The majority of the songs took root in a small handheld recorder where Tremonti started by recording riffs and melodies. "The first track I started to work on was "Shed My Skin" - it really digs into events of my past that shape who I am today. From a lyrical perspective, I spent more time on this one than any of the others." He continues, "There are a lot of themes on this record that are very personal, for example "In Loving Memory" is about my mother who recently passed away. In terms of purely personal significance, you cannot get any deeper than that. It is definitely a sad, but uplifting song." This band displays a respect for the roots of where rock came from. The lineage for the material ultimately draws its closest connection to the Seventies. As Tremonti mentioned, "Back in the Seventies, there seemed to be a greater focus on great melodies and great musicianship. Melody is the core of everything. It is more important than a vocal, drum fill, or bass line. Melodies run the show, and without them there is nothing." He went on, "The Seventies can really be defined by one word --- real. From the beginning we have tried to work within the parameters of being true to that quality, while at the same time bringing the sound into the 21st Century. I do believe that the realness comes out in this music purely as a product of us doing this for the fun of it. It begins and ends with the love of the music." Kennedy offers, "It is so important to begin with a great song. If the song is not there, it will never work. A great, timeless song is what rock n' roll has always been about. "Down to My Last," gave me the chills when I first heard it, and that hasn't happened to me in a very long time." Given the history that Tremonti, Phillips and Marshall have together, there is obviously a natural continuity that still exists between Creed and Alter Bridge, yet there are new and significant dynamics in Alter Bridge's music that can definitely set them apart. As the quartet awaits the release of their debut, there is, as Marshall points out, "A combined level of excitement and fear in starting over. It definitely does feel, for at least me personally, like the My Own Prison days." Phillips continued, "The most significant things that we are taking from the Creed experience are the lessons that we learned. From the beginning, we decided that it would be unfair to the fans and ourselves if anyone other than Creed were out there playing Creed songs. We truly believe that the decisions we've made for our future are the right ones. After writing and rehearsing the new material, we are confident that we've made the right choices." Tremonti added in summation, "It's no longer about the past – it's about the future. This is a new band and a new beginning."