Wolfgang Van Halen + Mark Tremonti Talk About Joining Forces for Current Tour

Tremonti, the solo project of Creed/Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti, recently kicked off their first tour, but it was not without a few bumps in the road. Days before the tour was set to get under way, bassist Brian Marshall had to bow out due to personal reasons, leaving Tremonti without a bassist. After a quick phone call to a friend, Tremonti had a new bassist with quite a pedigree in rock, Wolfgang Van Halen had agreed to fill in the position on the trek.

We covered Tremonti's show in New York City on Sept. 12. Check out our review and photos here. In a backstage interview with Artisan News, both Tremonti and Van Halen weighed in on the crazy series of events that helped bring the two together, and how their brothers in rock Sevendust played a role.

“We rushed into the rehearsal pad and that day Brian had something personal come up and was like ‘Man I’m sorry I can’t do the tour,’” explained Tremonti. “We were like, ‘I love you man but this is like really bad timing.’ These guys (bandmates) kind of whispered to me, Wolfgang is in town with the Sevendust guys just rocking in the studio with them." Tremonti continued, "So I immediately called him, and he was like ‘Hey, how ya doing buddy?’ and I was like ‘Not so good.’ So I said, Brian can’t do the tour and I heard you’re around what do you think. He was like, ‘are you kidding me.’”

Van Halen talked about the experience as well, saying, “Literally it was just so perfect how this mysteriously worked out. I just happened to have all of my bass equipment, like everything, ready to go.”

As far as preparation goes, there was little time for that. “We rehearsed at midnight the day before the first show,” Van Halen said. “Just ran through every song once, and that was it.”

Tremonti also talked about the warm reception Van Halen received from the crowd the first night out. “Our first show last night, I introduced everybody and I told the story how 24 hours prior to this he had no idea this was happening and we’re onstage together right now,” explained Tremonti. “The crowd immediately started to go ‘Wolfgang, Wolfgang.’”

Crowds can continue to cheer for Wolfgang Van Halen as the tour rolls on as he has agreed to finish out the entire run with Tremonti. Check out all the dates here.

Watch Tremonti and Van Halen Talk About Joining Forces