Myles Kennedy Preps South American, U.S. Tour With Alter Bridge

Myles Kennedy joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday (Sept. 29) and spent some time reflecting on Alter Bridge's most recent album, their self-titled LP that came out earlier this year.

He also discussed what it's like getting ready for some massive shows with Alter Bridge, including opening for Iron Maiden in South America.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

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"They probably hear this all the time, but when I was a kid and I had my Iron Maiden gear on and was cranking up The Number of the Beast way loud to piss my parents off, if you would have told me that one day you're going to be playing with these guys, like, no way, we're not worthy," Kennedy shared with Loudwire Nights' Chuck Armstrong.

"It's going to be great."

Alter Bridge were set to tour with Iron Maiden a few years ago, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those shows were canceled. Kennedy did say they had the chance to share the stage with them at some festivals this past summer, which was a good taste of what's to come with their South American dates.

"We got to play near them or before them, which was great because we play then I bolt for the mixing board and watch their show," Kennedy laughingly recalled about those summer festivals.

"This just dawned on me, I didn't realize it. But one of the festival shows, I guess Bruce Dickinson was watching, standing on the side of the stage and then I looked over at one point and I saw Adrian [Smith], he was watching. We were playing 'Blackbird' and I was like, 'Oh, man. Don't F up, do not F up now.'"

Kennedy admitted that he never gets tired of experiences like that, calling those moments, simply, "wonderful."

"It's been a crazy ride to say the least."

What Else Did Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

Touring with Big Wreck and Tim Montana this year: "There's a certain thing the four of us want — and Tim, our manager — that we want to achieve when we tour with other bands. This is going to be wonderful because we've toured with Tim Montana quite a bit, not just with Alter Bridge, but with the solo thing, I've done stuff with him as well and I love Tim and I love his new record. With Big Wreck, there's a lot of history there. I go back three decades with those guys, with Ian [Thornley], sang on their second record, actually did a vocal on the 10th track on that. And we toured Canada together back in the late '90s. And Ian is one of the most talented people in the business and he's really something spectacular."
What else has his attention these days: "I've been writing a lot. I kind of stopped writing last year. It was the longest I'd gone without consistently writing. I needed to. It'd just been decades of going nonstop and I needed to refill the well, so I got off the road back in early July and the last 10 weeks, I've just been kind of sequestered. It's just nonstop. The way I do it is, I keep using the word 'kooky.' It's crazy. I don't sleep. My poor wife, I'm up at four in the morning, five in the morning. She's like, 'You can't sleep because you can't shut those melodies off in your head. It just never stops, does it?' I mean, no, it doesn't. But I need to just stockpile again. It's also the process. I just love it. I love playing live and I love doing all that, but creating? That's the thing."
Life on the road: "I don't like using the word dedicated because that sounds kind of silly, but I'm more, I should say a little neurotic about staying healthy. I kind of stay in a hotel room and just, it's the boy in the bubble. Everybody else is off having fun, doing stuff, cool stuff, but I'm trying to save the voice and all of that. That's kind of a drag. There are times when you allow yourself a little, if you have a few days off and you'll do something that's a little unique — but I wish I could do more of it."