Breaking the Chains

Lisa Ferguson

Friday, Sept. 11, 1998 | 10:14 a.m.

Heading out on your own is never easy. Jerry Cantrell can attest to that.

The Seattle native spent 11 years as lead guitarist, songwriter and sometime vocalist for the grunge band Alice in Chains ("Would," "Rooster" "Man in the Box," "Down in a Hole") before going solo this year with the release of his own disc, "Boggy Depot," amid rumors that Alice's chains had been severed.

Still, fronting his own musical outfit was "something I never really wanted to do," Cantrell, who opens for rock monsters Metallica Saturday at Cashman Field, told Guitar World magazine earlier this year. "...To be honest, I'd just be happy being the lead guitarist and singer for Alice in Chains. It's always been my first love, and always will be."

But these days, it's just not possible.

Much of the blame for the band's troubles fell on lead singer Layne Stanley's substance abuse problems. The group had not performed together in the two years prior to its 1996 appearance on MTV's "Unplugged," and has not taken the stage since.

"The inactivity of the last couple of years kind of wore on me a little bit," Cantrell told Guitar magazine.

"We've been together for a long time, and right now it's kinda played out. It's time to let it be," he explained in Guitar World. "Now I've got to step up to the plate and take a few swings."

And that's what he did with "Boggy Depot," which has produced the single "Cut You In."

"I was pretty hammered when I wrote that tune," Cantrell admitted to Guitar World. "I just started humming this thing I had in my head, and I grabbed this guitar ... and wrote it in about 20 to 30 minutes."

For the disc, he enlisted several notable rock musicians, including players from Fishbone and Pantera. (The tour, however, will feature a line up including former Queensryche guitarist Chris DeGarmo, and fellow Alice in Chains alum Sean Kinney on drums.)

"I really wanted this record to have its own vibe," Cantrell said in Guitar World. "I didn't want Alice to carry over to these tunes. These are guys I've always admired, and it worked out great."

Prior to the tour, he said: "I want to put together a band that has its own identity, tour, then go right back into the studio and make another record. Basically, the main thing is to take as much time putting together the band as I did putting together the album. Then we'll see what happens after that."

Alice in Chains' future, on the other hand, no where near as certain. Cantrell told Guitar earlier this year that he isn't sure when to expect another disc from the band.

"Any time I try to figure out what the hell is going on with Alice in Chains, we end up planning to do it rather than trying to accomplish it," he said. "It's really best not to predict those things. ... Hopefully, we'll be able to do some more things. I fully expect that we will, someday. But for the meantime, we'll do our own thing."

Tickets for Cantrell's 7 p.m. performance with Metallica are $32.50. Call Ticketmaster at 474-4000 for more information.