Jerry Cantrell, vocalist/guitarist for multi-platinum grunge legends Alice In Chains, has chosen to reimagine his latest solo album “I Want Blood” as a spoken word animated series. Each Thursday for the foreseeable future will find him delivering visual accompaniments to this new spin on that album’s tracks.
Album opener “Vilified” kicks off the series, which was animated by Boy Tillekens. While Cantrell provides the narration, he enlisted his circle of friends to help craft new backing music for these versions. One of those close collaborators, Maxwell Urasky, provided the music for this first video.
Cantrell spelled out his vision for that series in a recent interview with Lipps Service With Scott Lipps. He stated:
“I wanted to do something special, try to do something cool, and I’ve never done a spoken word recitation of the lyrics, and I thought it might be kind of cool to have it on the B-side of ‘Vilified.’ I recorded it, and it sounded cool. I thought maybe it needs some music or something, and I was sitting there with Maxwell Urasky, my demo partner. He’s a really talented musician, and he said ‘Let me mess around with it for a night.’ He came back the next day with that piece of music, and it sounded killer. I brought it in to Joe Barresi and he said, ‘Man, you should do this with all of them.’
So I sent it out to my friends, and they hadn’t heard the songs, which I thought was really cool. I got this creative stew going of sending the lyrics out to people, having them come up with the music, and sending it back. We ended up with nine pieces of really interesting takes on the lyrics, but the music is done by creative partners of mine, and it has nothing to do with the real music, so it is truly a standalone piece.”
That spoken word version of the album is also included with select vinyl pressings of “I Want Blood“. A North American headlining tour with Filter is next up for Cantrell, here’s the dates:
01/31 Niagara Falls, ON – Fallsview Casino Resort
02/01 Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
02/02 Portland, ME – Aura
02/04 Boston, MA – Citizens House Of Blues Boston
02/05 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
02/07 Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore – Silver Spring
02/08 Bensalem, PA – Park Xcite Center
02/11 Huntington, NY – The Paramount
02/12 Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
02/14 Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
02/15 Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
02/16 Louisville, KY – Mercury Ballroom
02/18 Columbus, OH – The Bluestone
02/19 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
02/22 St. Louis, MO – The Hawthorn
02/23 Chicago, IL – The Vic Theater
02/25 Tulsa, OK – Tulsa Theater
02/26 Houston, TX – House Of Blues Boston
02/27 San Antonio, TX – Aztec Theater
03/01 Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater
03/02 Las Vegas, NV – House Of Blues
03/04 Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
03/05 Ventura, CA – Majestic Ventura Theatre
03/07 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
03/08 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
03/09 Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
