Shinedown lead guitarist Zach Myers is used to playing arenas packed with 10,000-plus screaming rock fans. But for the month of March, Myers is turning down the volume and embarking on a solo, acoustic tour with fellow singer-songwriter and longtime buddy Chris Allen (Ingram Hill).
The souLLow Acoustic 2011 Tour, which kicked off Thursday in Toledo, Ohio, is totally different from a Shinedown show. For one, Myers and Allen play their own originals, covers and only a few Shinedown songs.
"
Shinedown is something I love, and I’ll be a part of it forever. But I can’t sing like [Shinedown lead singer] Brent Smith," Myers said in an interview with Gannett Media.
"He’s the greatest singer on the earth. I can’t do what he does, so I couldn’t do some of our songs justice. I’ll do a couple of Shinedown songs, but not really the singles. Just the Shinedown songs that are my personal favorites."
As of late, Shinedown have kept busy in Los Angeles, working on their new album. Myers reports the band has about 14 songs written, but they probably won’t start hunkering down until late summer. Expect a new album by 2012.
"We aren’t a band that goes into the studio and makes a record in six weeks," he said. "The Sound of Madness took 24 months to write. Brent has this weird thing when we’re writing, we go into the studio, and there are no clocks around; there are no calendars on the wall. He doesn’t like to have a time limit on being creative."
Zach Myers and Chris Allen souLLow Acoustic 2011 Tour dates:
03/05 - Detroit, Riverview, Michigan - Rack 'n Roll Club
03/06 - Kent, Ohio - JB's
03/08 - Richmond, Virginia - Alley Katz
03/09 - Charlotte, North Carolina - Amos South End
03/10 - Fayetteville, North Carolina - Rock Shop
03/11 - Raleigh, North Carolina - The Berkley
03/12 - Memphis, Tennessee - Hard Rock Cafe - Special Guest - Prosevere
03/13 - Little Rock, Arkansas - Juanita's and then there was Bear
03/17 - Clarksville, Tennessee - The Warehouse
03/18 - Cookeville, Tennessee - Cookeville expo - Hugo from Tantric Supports
03/19 - Chattanooga, Tennessee - The Camp House
03/20 - Nashville, Tennessee - The Rutledge
03/22 - Augusta, Georgia - The Vue
03/24 - Tupelo, Mississippi - Lucky Joe's
03/26 - Jackson, Mississippi - Club Fire - Special Guest - Prosevere
03/27 - Natchitoches, Louisiana - Bourbon Cree
Thanks for the report to Anne Erickson, Gibson.com.
