Jerry Cantrell

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Pushkin Industries

Music, Society & Culture

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jerry Cantrell has been the lead guitarist and songwriter for Alice in Chains since the band formed in 1987. By the mid ‘90s after a run of multi-platinum albums, Alice secured their spot as one of Seattle’s “big four” grunge bands along with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana.

Legend has it that Alice In Chains’ early whirlwind of commercial success wreaked havoc on the personal and professional lives of the band. In 2002, lead singer Layne Staley overdosed and died after more than a decade of battling drug addiction.

Amidst the turmoil, Jerry Cantrell found solace in continuing to write and release music both as a solo artist and as a member of Alice In Chains. And he’s never stopped playing. In 2021, he released his critically acclaimed solo album, Brighten, followed by last year's hard rock opus, I Want Blood.

On today’s episode Leah Rose talks to Jerry Cantrell about how he's drawn to art that exists in the shadows. He also talks about how getting sober over 20 years ago has influenced his songwriting, and he remembers the time he tried to pass a demo tape to Axl Rose, only to see his security guard toss it in the trash.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Jerry Cantrell HERE.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin.
0:08.0	Jerry Cantrell has been the lead guitarist and songwriter for Allison Chain since the band formed in 1987.
0:17.0	By the mid-90s, after a run of multi-platinum albums, Alice secured their spot as one of Seattle's big four grunge bands, along with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana.
0:28.1	Legend has it that the band's early whirlwind of commercial success wreaked havoc on the personal and professional lives of the band.
0:34.5	In 2002, lead singer Lane Staley overdosed and died after more than a decade of
0:39.1	battling drug addiction. Admitz the turmoil, Jerry Cantrell found solace in continuing to write
0:44.4	and release music, both as a solo artist and as a member in Allison Shains. He's never stopped
0:49.2	playing. In 2021, he released his critically acclaimed solo album Brighton,
0:54.5	followed by last year's hard rock opus, I Want Blood.
0:58.1	On today's episode, Leah Rose talks to Jerry Cantrell about how he's drawn to the art that exists in the shadows.
1:03.7	He also talks about how getting sober over 20 years ago has influenced a songwriting,
1:08.1	and he remembers the time he tried to pass a demo tape to Axel Rose,
1:11.4	only to see a security guard throw it in the trash.
1:16.9	This is Broken Record. Liner Notes for the Digital Age. I'm Justin Richmond.
1:26.2	I wanted to ask you a couple questions about the new album, I Want Blood.
1:32.5	Yeah.
1:33.2	It's your fourth full-length album released back in October.
1:37.1	I was curious now that the album is out and you've had a chance to sort of like hear what people are saying about it.
1:44.5	Is there anything that you've heard that surprised you,
1:47.3	like anything people are picking up on or noticing?
1:50.7	I mean, I'm really digging that people are connecting with it.
1:54.0	You know, that's always the first goal.
	...

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