Jerry on the album: “I was so intent on what I was doing on this record – I was on a creative role I’ve never experienced yet until this record. I was never so prolific in one sitting. And it was going so well, I didn’t want to break it at all until it was finished in my head – until I was done writing. Until I had nothing left to give.” “Goddamn, this looks like a fuckin’ rock show to me,” tells Jerry Cantrell, in regards to the show he played this past Saturday night (Mar 16th) at the annual SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Preceded by Anyone (a rock show, indeed), Jerry started the show with one of the new tracks off his upcoming June 24th release, Degredation Trip. The song, “Psychotic Break”. And as the Hollywood Reporter puts it, “the dark and lumbering “Psychotic Break,” full of familiar minor-key vocal and harmonies.” Jerry’s first live show (outside his appearance with Nickelback in Canada) on the Roadrunner label was indeed a rock show. Bassist Robert Trujillo was in town and joined Jerry and company for a few songs, and even Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul from Pantera made an appearance – playing on the Alice In Chains’ classic “Them Bones”. Just what was the set list for the night? Many new tracks, and many old. So many tracks, that Jerry kept playing until the venue had to close down…and not one person in the packed house even thought about leaving until then. What next on the Jerry Cantrell touring front? It’s the Road To The Rackhouse tour, sponsored by Jim Beam and to be headlined by Nickelback. This tour is confirmed to start in Albuquerque in May 13th, and will run until sometime in early July. This, will be a ‘fuckin’ rock show’. Indeed. “It sounds unlike any other record I have ever done. It’s is probably one of the heaviest records I have put out including Alice,” says Jerry. The album took close to 2 years to record. DEGRADATION TRIP was the last record to be recorded in the “haunted” studios of A&M in Los Angeles, CA. Jerry Cantrell and Jeff Tomei (Smashing Pumpkins, Matchbox Twenty, Soul Asylum, Collective Soul) produced this monumental effort. “Jerry’s new material picks up right where Alice In Chains left off. This is the style of music he was born to write and play – and the sound that the fans have been craving from him. The new material sounds fresh yet instantly familiar,” Monte Conner – VP of A&R for Roadrunner Records enthuses. “It’s not every day that you get to work with a musician and songwriter of Jerry’s caliber. He has written some of my favorite songs – modern classics that people will still be listening to 30 years from now. How many musicians can you say that about these days?” Last week in Calgary and Edmonton, Canada Jerry met up with labelmates Nickelback and performed the Alice in Chains classic, “It Ain’t Like That” from the AIC 1990 release, FACELIFT. Both nights Cantrell took the stage to the sound of deafening chants of “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry”. The exclusive live performance at Edmonton’s Sky Reach Centre will be featured on Nickelback’s upcoming DVD release. The performance buck does not stop in Canada. The stage has been set at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas on Mar 16 for Jerry Cantrell to give fans old and a new a preview of the material that will appear on his upcoming Roadrunner release, DEGRADATION TRIP. Most recently jamming with Nickelback during a couple dates in Canada, it has been confirmed that Jerry Cantrell’s next appearance will be a feature performance. Jerry will be playing the finale during this year’s SXSW in Austin, Texas. Details are as follows: Saturday, Mar 16th – Stubb’s BBQ – Austin, TX – Jerry will be closing the night, but not before fellow labelmates Sinch and Anyone grace the stage. This will be a night to remember, and to hear some of the greatest new music you will ever be afforded. more details to come… Dan Kaye, a well known journalist who writes for the likes of Kerrang!, Metal Edge, Revolver, and others, has been spending some time listening to the new Jerry Cantrell music. What’s the word? “Jerry Cantrell’s new album, Degradation Trip, is a masterful return for one of heavy rock’s most unique and innovative players and songwriters. Ominous, swirling tapestries of haunting melodies and vocals merge with crushing barrages of thunderous guitar to fashion an eerie sound that other acts may imitate, but never duplicate. Add some of the most personal and unsparing lyrics the man has ever written, and it’s easy to hear why Degradation Trip may be one of the most authentic and electrifying rock records of 2002.” — Don Kaye