A couple of years ago, Myles Kennedy turned to Jim Carrey for some life-changing wisdom. The mercurial Hollywood star, a "genius" in Kennedy's eyes, had announced his retirement from acting, when he said this: "I have enough. I've done enough.
I am enough." For the Alter Bridge frontman, a lifelong worrier learning to manage his anxieties, it parted a lot of internal clouds.
"When I heard him say that, it was like: 'Wow, there's somebody who's figured it out,"" Kennedy says now. "It's like, just be here, just be grateful for what you have, let go of all that other stuff." In a strange way, there's something in Kennedy's gentle, sharp-cheekboned look - brightened easily with a wide smile that's not a million miles from Carrey. The Mask one moment, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind the next.
Committed performers coming to terms with fearsome inner critics.
For Kennedy that process - coupled with a nod to Bruce Lee's 'be like water' philosophy - comes out in his third solo album The Art Of Letting Go.
"He [Carrey] has got versatility as an actor, as a comedian," Kennedy enthuses. "That's why he's one of the all-time greats, in my opinion, because he's able to cover so many different bases. I aspire to that. I mean, I don't feel like I'm nearly at his level in what I do, but I work at it, and I like to explore different sounds and do different things." If Kennedy's first two, more acoustic-based, solo records - 2018's Year Of The Tiger and 2021's Ides Of March - were about facing his personal demons, The Art Of Letting Go is the sound of him releasing those demons.
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Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av Classic Rock.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Dream Theater
With friends (and bandmates) reunited for the band's 40th anniversary, it'll be a special night for fans at Wembley Arena.
Royal Republic
Livewire, turbo-harmonised, disco-rocking Swedes get ready for upgraded UK and Europe dates.
GOTTA KEEP MOVIN'
In 1968 the MC5's Kick Out The Jams album was a grenade thrown into the music scene. In the decades since, Wayne Kramer acted as guardian of the band's legacy until he died earlier this year, after making one final album.
THE KILLING FLOOR
Now revered as a linchpin moment in the history of the blues, Howlin' Wolf's London sessions in 1970, with a superstar cast that included some of England's rock royalty, came out of a chance encounter several months earlier at a gig in San Francisco.
ROGUE TRADER
Recording almost everything on his latest album himself and putting it out on his own label, Tuk Smith followed the adage that if you want something doing properly, do it yourself.
BILL WYMAN
WW2 evacuee, RAF airman, Rolling Stone, hit solo artist, bandleader, author, restaurateur, archaeologist, cricketer... Even just his time in The Greatest Rock'N'Roll Band In The World is storied, but there's been much, much more to his life than that.
LIFE IS A JOURNEY
For some people, travelling life's road is easy. For lifelong worrier Myles Kennedy it's anything but. But with his brand new solo album The Art Of Letting Go he's learning just what that title says.
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In an exclusive extract from his Fast Eddie biography Make My Day, long-time Motörhead associate Kris Needs looks back at the making of their game-changing Overkill album and the subsequent killing-it UK tour.
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The Mötley Crüe bassist on making new music, replacing Mick Mars, work-life balance, learning when to say no...
Bobbie Dazzle
Meet the West Midlands singer bringing back upbeat music, fun and fashion of the 70s.
