| Alex Skolnick Tran-Siberian Orchestra |
To understand the significance of this picture with Alex Skolnick I have to
take you back some time ago.
Back in Detroit when I was in my early twenties and starting to make a name
for my self in the music world, I heard a song by Mel Torme called “Love is
just around the corner”. The song really captivated my curiosity. It was Jazz,
and I had never really listened to Jazz. To be honest I really do not listen to it
now. This particular song though, had a musical break that was pretty fast,
and Mel Torme Scatt over the top of it. It was amazing. I had never heard
anything like it. I had this idea that if I could do that with a Heavy Metal song,
it would be awesome!
At the time, there was only one guy, that I could think of, that was a Jazz /
Metal player. His name was Alex Skolnick. He was the guitarist for the Band
Testament. Testament was much bigger than I was so it was going to be
tough to get him on board. I knew some guys at Z-Rock in Detroit so when
Testament came to town I was put on the guest list so that I could meet Alex.
To my surprise, he had left the band, and was not there. Feeling defeated I
had to figure out another way to meet him. Alex had left Testament, and was
playing with Stu Hamm. He was also scheduled to play in Detroit. I knew some
guys at Harpo’s and so I signed on to run spotlight for the show. Again I was
foiled. Alex had left the band before the Detroit show, and I had to run
spotlight for the show with Joan Jett’s guitarist instead. Shortly after that, I
started touring myself and my idea for Jazz / Metal just faded away.
In 2000, I took my wife to see the Tran-Siberian Orchestra. To my surprise,
Alex was playing with them. After the show, they had a meet and greet, which
is really a line to get autographs. We stayed to get autographs for my son
and everyone was very nice Chris Caffrey even wrote a message to my boy,
asking for him to have a flying V for Christmas. When I got to Alex, I was not
going to say anything, since I had cut off all of my hair and no longer
performed. I just did not feel like a Rocker wearing my brown leather and
Dockers. As I was content to just pass by and get the signature, my wife puts
me on the spot and says there, he is the guy you wanted to meet. So I
started to tell him the story of the times I tried to meet him, and before I could
tell him why, he reached in his pocket and handed me a guitar pick. I
immediately felt like a groupie fan, and just dropped my head and moved on.
He was just being cool, and had no idea about my music career or me.
However, I felt defeated again.
This New Years Eve, at the last minute my wife and I decided to go to the
TSO show. We had to get nosebleed seats since it was the last minute, but
we figured we had seen them before, and now they were playing a much
larger venue, and had a bigger light show, so it would still be entertaining. I
couldn’t find a hotel anywhere for a decent price, so I eventually called Hotels.
com and they found me a room close to the Q where they were playing. As
we pulled up, we saw the tour buses out front. By coincidence, we were
staying at the same hotel as the Band. As we checked in, we ran into Bassist
Chris Altenhoff, in the elevator.
We went to the show and it was great, as before. Even from the Rafters it
was cool! We were surprised that they still did the “Cattle Call meet and
greet” so we decided to get autographs for the kids again. This time I just ran
through getting the signatures, and did not talk much. When I got to Alex
though I told him we were at the same hotel and offered to buy him a beer
when they got back. Unfortunately, the bar was closed by the time we got
back to the hotel, and the band was not back yet. The wife and I went
upstairs, had a couple of beers in our room, and went to bed watching “30
days of night” The next morning we decide to leave the hotel earlier than we
had to. I wanted to get home in time to watch the Michigan Vs Florida Capitol
One Bowl. As we were walking out, my wife said “Isn’t that the guy you like
from the Band”. I looked over and there was Skolnick getting his breakfast. I
thought about it for a second and said “What the Hell” I went over to talk to
him. I told him I still owed him a beer since the bar was closed. I then started
to tell him the story I had started years earlier. This time I was able to get out
why I wanted to meet him. I also told him that I was going to sing Mel Torme
tunes on his next Jazz album. He just laughed. He told me about the new
Testament album coming out and seemed to be a really nice guy. I told him
about my little Christmas show I do every year in Medina. At the end of the
conversation, I asked if he had an email contact on his website, he said yes,
and said he would watch for an email from me. As I was walking away, my
wife asked if I wanted her to take a picture. By this time, he was eating his
breakfast but like a champ stood up and took the picture.
Its really too bad that I didn’t get to meet him earlier in my career, but talking
to him was still cool, and I was truly impressed with his willingness to hold off
his breakfast to talk to someone.
take you back some time ago.
Back in Detroit when I was in my early twenties and starting to make a name
for my self in the music world, I heard a song by Mel Torme called “Love is
just around the corner”. The song really captivated my curiosity. It was Jazz,
and I had never really listened to Jazz. To be honest I really do not listen to it
now. This particular song though, had a musical break that was pretty fast,
and Mel Torme Scatt over the top of it. It was amazing. I had never heard
anything like it. I had this idea that if I could do that with a Heavy Metal song,
it would be awesome!
At the time, there was only one guy, that I could think of, that was a Jazz /
Metal player. His name was Alex Skolnick. He was the guitarist for the Band
Testament. Testament was much bigger than I was so it was going to be
tough to get him on board. I knew some guys at Z-Rock in Detroit so when
Testament came to town I was put on the guest list so that I could meet Alex.
To my surprise, he had left the band, and was not there. Feeling defeated I
had to figure out another way to meet him. Alex had left Testament, and was
playing with Stu Hamm. He was also scheduled to play in Detroit. I knew some
guys at Harpo’s and so I signed on to run spotlight for the show. Again I was
foiled. Alex had left the band before the Detroit show, and I had to run
spotlight for the show with Joan Jett’s guitarist instead. Shortly after that, I
started touring myself and my idea for Jazz / Metal just faded away.
In 2000, I took my wife to see the Tran-Siberian Orchestra. To my surprise,
Alex was playing with them. After the show, they had a meet and greet, which
is really a line to get autographs. We stayed to get autographs for my son
and everyone was very nice Chris Caffrey even wrote a message to my boy,
asking for him to have a flying V for Christmas. When I got to Alex, I was not
going to say anything, since I had cut off all of my hair and no longer
performed. I just did not feel like a Rocker wearing my brown leather and
Dockers. As I was content to just pass by and get the signature, my wife puts
me on the spot and says there, he is the guy you wanted to meet. So I
started to tell him the story of the times I tried to meet him, and before I could
tell him why, he reached in his pocket and handed me a guitar pick. I
immediately felt like a groupie fan, and just dropped my head and moved on.
He was just being cool, and had no idea about my music career or me.
However, I felt defeated again.
This New Years Eve, at the last minute my wife and I decided to go to the
TSO show. We had to get nosebleed seats since it was the last minute, but
we figured we had seen them before, and now they were playing a much
larger venue, and had a bigger light show, so it would still be entertaining. I
couldn’t find a hotel anywhere for a decent price, so I eventually called Hotels.
com and they found me a room close to the Q where they were playing. As
we pulled up, we saw the tour buses out front. By coincidence, we were
staying at the same hotel as the Band. As we checked in, we ran into Bassist
Chris Altenhoff, in the elevator.
We went to the show and it was great, as before. Even from the Rafters it
was cool! We were surprised that they still did the “Cattle Call meet and
greet” so we decided to get autographs for the kids again. This time I just ran
through getting the signatures, and did not talk much. When I got to Alex
though I told him we were at the same hotel and offered to buy him a beer
when they got back. Unfortunately, the bar was closed by the time we got
back to the hotel, and the band was not back yet. The wife and I went
upstairs, had a couple of beers in our room, and went to bed watching “30
days of night” The next morning we decide to leave the hotel earlier than we
had to. I wanted to get home in time to watch the Michigan Vs Florida Capitol
One Bowl. As we were walking out, my wife said “Isn’t that the guy you like
from the Band”. I looked over and there was Skolnick getting his breakfast. I
thought about it for a second and said “What the Hell” I went over to talk to
him. I told him I still owed him a beer since the bar was closed. I then started
to tell him the story I had started years earlier. This time I was able to get out
why I wanted to meet him. I also told him that I was going to sing Mel Torme
tunes on his next Jazz album. He just laughed. He told me about the new
Testament album coming out and seemed to be a really nice guy. I told him
about my little Christmas show I do every year in Medina. At the end of the
conversation, I asked if he had an email contact on his website, he said yes,
and said he would watch for an email from me. As I was walking away, my
wife asked if I wanted her to take a picture. By this time, he was eating his
breakfast but like a champ stood up and took the picture.
Its really too bad that I didn’t get to meet him earlier in my career, but talking
to him was still cool, and I was truly impressed with his willingness to hold off
his breakfast to talk to someone.
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| To learn more about Alex Skolnick & his music check him out at www.alexskolnick.com |