Myles Kennedy on the making of Alter Bridge's Blackbird.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Hey, I'm Miles Kennedy from Alter Bridge.
00:22Blackbird, which has become a fan favorite,
00:27is probably my favorite song that we have in the Alter Bridge catalog.
00:32At least the song with the most meaning.
00:34I think it's a very powerful song that resonates with myself and a lot of others.
00:39Furl your black wings and wave across the horizon.
00:46He's coming to sweep you away.
00:56He's coming to sweep you away.
01:00I had a friend, his name was Mark Morris.
01:05He owned his own music or guitar shop in my town, Spokane, Washington.
01:10And Mark was a great guy.
01:12He sold me my very first guitar when I was a kid.
01:15And we just kept in touch.
01:19And unfortunately he got sick.
01:21It was a few months of struggle for him and his family.
01:25When I got the news that he passed away, the lyric came pretty quickly.
01:30It was one of those very inspired moments, very honest moments
01:34that you just kind of wait to channel as a songwriter.
01:38And so that's how Blackbird was born.
01:43The anatomy of Blackbird, if I can remember back that far.
01:56It's been almost 10 years.
01:58Mark had the initial verse.
02:01I believe he had the verse guitar part and the verse melody part.
02:06What was challenging was coming up with a chorus.
02:10We could not find a chorus forever.
02:13I think we had the heavy guitar part that kicked in after his verse part.
02:19And that was something I came up with.
02:21It has a very Pink Floyd vibe.
02:23In fact, there's quite a bit of Pink Floyd influence on that song,
02:27at least from where I was coming from.
02:31The solo, actually the guitar solo that I played, the first one,
02:35it was definitely Gilmore inspired.
02:37Because the words carry on,
02:42and then die away,
02:46and may you never be broken again.
02:53I'll never forget, we recorded a real rough version of it,
03:00and I had it on my laptop.
03:02And I was staying at Mark's house at the time,
03:04and he came in and he was like,
03:06let's check out how it sounds.
03:08So we have a little perspective now.
03:10We've been away from it for a few hours.
03:12And I remember we sat there and listened to it,
03:14and we looked at each other and we're like,
03:16wow, okay, this is, this is,
03:19as a songwriter, as songwriters, this is what you,
03:22this is, these are the moments you dream of.
03:24These are the moments that makes all of the searching
03:27and soul searching more than worthwhile.
03:30And that was, that was a great, that was a great moment for both of us.
03:55As far as how difficult it can be to sing a song like that,
03:58because of the profound meaning,
04:00there's some nights when it's, it's a real challenge, you know,
04:04because you, if you, if you immerse yourself in the lyric,
04:07and those memories all flood back, it, you know,
04:11it, it, it can, it can, it can sting a little bit.
04:15So, I remember one night, actually we were playing Wembley Arena,
04:19and another friend who had, had recently passed, passed away,
04:26Ashley, a photographer friend of ours,
04:29and his wife was, was standing on the side of the stage,
04:32and she knew what that song meant and the meaning of that song.
04:35And so having, having her there and performing that,
04:38it was, that was really, that was a real challenge to get through.
04:41But, but you know, that's, that's the thing about music.
04:45If it's, if it's, if it's that honest,
04:48and the emotions are that, I guess, pure, that should happen.
04:54I mean, that's, that's what, what art should do.
04:56It should resonate with you like that,
04:57and it should, should create some real, real moments of, of introspection,
05:05and, and trip, you know, a tribute, as a tribute to my friends.
05:10And, so yeah, that's, that's, that sums that up.
05:35I'm going to talk to you like that.
05:38I'm from P.D.
05:40I'm from P.D.
05:44I'm from P.D.
05:45I'm from P.D.
05:50I'm from P.D.
05:52guitar solo
06:22guitar solo