The following article is from the Pulse Weekly. September 29, 2004.

The Beat

By Jenny Poust, Editorial Assistant

Crossing A New Bridge

Can Alter Bridge rise from Creed’s ashes and, following the leads of Audioslave and Velvet Revolver, re-emerge outside their previous band’s glory? Only time will tell.

In the 60s there was the assassination of JFK. In the 80s there was the Challenger explosion. On June 4, 2004, the Grammy award-winning band Creed announced its breakup. Do you remember where you were when you heard the news?

Although half the music world rejoiced over the disbandment of Creed, the remainder was devastated. But for those fans, all was not lost, as guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips hooked up with original Creed bassist Brian Marshall and ex-Mayfield Four singer Myles Kennedy to form the millennium’s new and improved version of Creed – Alter Bridge.

Tremonti was actually working on the Alter Bridge incarnation well before the Creed announcement. At the conclusion of Creed’s 2002 tour, when the band went into the studio to start work on their fourth album, Tremonti and Phillips saw that the end of Creed was near. They continued playing together and realized that they missed Marshall, so they called him up to enlist. By the end of 2003, Tremonti was knocking on Kennedy’s door, and the Alter Bridge lineup was complete.

Alter Bridge’s debut album dropped at #5 on the Billboard charts back in August, the same month that they did a tiny acoustic promotional tour – tiny compared to the whopper of a tour they have planned for the fall. And for all you Madden fans out there, the group’s first single, Open Your Eyes, is a permanent fixture in the 2005 videogame – so get used to it.

Aside from being the day this story was actually written, September 23 signified the kickoff of Alter Bridge’s maiden U.S. tour. Hold on to your headphones, folks, because as part of the tour, Alter Bridge is coming to Allentown. And we got a chance to talk to the lone non-ex-Creed member, Myles Kennedy, about the conception of Alter Bridge, dealing with all those comparisons to you-know-who and his death defying initiation into the group.

PULSE WEEKLY: I read that before Mark contacted you to join Alter Bridge, you never thought you’d be in a rock band again. Why? Did something bad happen with Mayfield Four?

MYLES KENNEDY: I was burned out with the whole rock industry at that point. I needed some downtime to reevaluate and reassess, which was good. The timing was perfect when Mark called, and once I got to know these guys, it was the obvious choice for me.

PW: What about the solo project you were working on when Mark called? Did you shelve that idea altogether?

MK: Right now my focus is Alter Bridge, and eventually maybe I’ll put some of that stuff on a soundtrack. It’s totally different from what we’re doing here, so there’d be really no way to use it. Maybe [I’ll] throw it on a website someday, just so people can hear it.

PW: After the release of the single Open Your Eyes, how did you deal with the swarm of Creed comparisons coming your way?

MK: For me, I know what the rest of the record is like, and I know there are plenty of fans who kind of said, ‘We weren’t sure what to expect until we heard the single.’ Now they’ve heard the rest of the record and understand that it’s definitely a departure from [Creed]. Once the fans expressed they were happy with it, we were content.

PW: Creed comparisons aside, are there any similarities between Alter Bridge and your old band, Mayfield Four?

MK: The focus on the whole melodic thing with the big guitars is very similar. As far as vocally, I come from more of an R&B background – that’s how I learned to sing – so that’s kind of common ground as well.

PW: Are you still an R&B fan today, or are you into the whole rock ‘n’ roll thing now?

MK: I still love to listen to my Marvin Gaye and my Stevie Wonder and a lot of blues artists – that’s where rock ‘n’ roll came from.

PW: Would you consider yourself a fan of modern-day R&B, like Usher, for instance?

MK: I can appreciate what Usher does – he’s probably one of the most talented guys in that genre right now. But since the 70s, there’s a certain edge that’s not there anymore. It seems like hip hop took over that.

PW: Tell me a little about your initiation into Alter Bridge. Was the bungee jumping your idea?

MK: Heck, no! It was actually Mark’s idea. It’s down here in Orlando, called The Drop. They hoist you up 30 stories and it’s a free fall; you’re attached to this pendulum and [after the drop] you swing back and forth. If you’re terrified of heights, like I am, it’s quite an initiation.