Owen Wright | |
---|---|
Genres | Hard rock Grunge Heavy metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician, guitarist |
Instruments | Guitar |
Years active | 1984–present |
Labels | C.O.M.A. Records, Caroline, Chameleon, Elektra, Heart of Steel Records |
Associated acts | Mistrust My Sister's Machine Old Lady Litterbug Tanks of Zen |
Owen Wright is an American musician best known for playing guitar with the Seattle-based metal bands Mistrust [1] and My Sister's Machine. [2] [3]
In 1984, Wright formed the band Mistrust along with singer Kevin Wells (later replaced by Jeff L'Heureux from Culprit), [4] guitarist Michael Winston, bassist Tim Wolfe, and drummer Chris Gohde. [1] They released an album in 1986 called Spin the World , which brought them opening gigs with Alice Cooper, Stryper, and Loudness. [5] The band continued touring for another two years before they disbanded in 1988.
A year later, Wright and Gohde formed the band My Sister's Machine along with singer-guitarist Nick Pollock and bassist Chris Ivanovich. [3] Pollock had previously played guitar with the band Alice N' Chains, a precursor to Alice in Chains that also featured Layne Staley on vocals. [3] My Sister's Machine recorded two albums, Diva and Wallflower , and toured with other notable acts such as Alice in Chains, Pantera, and White Zombie. Wright is credited for co-writing the music to almost every song in the band's catalog. Although both albums were largely well received by critics, My Sister's Machine split up in 1994 after Elektra Entertainment folded the label they were under at that time.
Since the break-up, Wright has played guitar in a band called Old Lady Litterbug whose other members were vocalist Love on Ice Dan Krueger, bassist Nick Rhinehart, and drummer Thomas NaDeau. [6] Rhinehart has toured with Alice in Chains members Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney in support of Cantrell's first solo album Boggy Depot . [7] Old Lady Litterbug has recorded a seven-track EP called KMG-365 released in 1998. [8]
In 2009, Wright and Gohde reunited with their Mistrust bandmates at the Feedback Lounge in West Seattle for the CD release of Spin the World. [9] The following year they reunited with My Sister's Machine for the 2010 Layne Staley Tribute and Benefit Concert. [10] In 2011, Wright made a guest appearance on Love's Gentle Maw by Tanks of Zen, playing guitar solos on the tracks "Alibi" and "Gravity".
Year | Album details | Band |
---|---|---|
1986 | Spin the World
| Mistrust |
1992 | Diva
| My Sister's Machine |
1993 | Wallflower
| |
1998 | KMG-365(extended play)
| Old Lady Litterbug |
Year | Album details | Band | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Love's Gentle Maw
| Tanks of Zen | Guitar solos on the songs "Alibi" and "Gravity" |
Alice in Chains is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne Staley. Starr was replaced by Mike Inez in 1993. William DuVall joined the band in 2006 as co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, replacing Staley, who died in 2002. The band took its name from Staley's previous group, the glam metal band Alice N' Chains.
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician best known as the original lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains, which rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part of Seattle's grunge movement. Staley was known for his distinctive vocal style and tenor voice, as well as his harmonizing with guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell. Staley was also a member of the glam metal bands Sleze and Alice N' Chains, and the supergroups Mad Season and Class of '99.
Facelift is the debut studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released by Columbia Records on August 21, 1990. The tracks "We Die Young", "Man in the Box", "Sea of Sorrow" and "Bleed the Freak" were released as singles. "Man In The Box" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal in 1992. Facelift became the first album from the grunge movement to be certified gold on September 11, 1991. The album peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 chart, was certified platinum and has gone on to be certified double-platinum by the RIAA for shipments of two million copies in the United States.
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to international fame in the early 1990s during Seattle's grunge movement, and is known for its distinctive vocal style and the harmonized vocals between Cantrell and Layne Staley. Cantrell started to sing lead vocals on Alice in Chains' 1992 EP Sap. After Staley's death in 2002, Cantrell took the role of Alice in Chains' lead singer on most of the songs from the band's post-Staley albums, Black Gives Way to Blue (2009), The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013) and Rainier Fog (2018), with DuVall harmonizing with him in the new songs and singing Staley's vocals in the old songs in live concerts.
Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Alice in Chains. Kinney also founded the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with other artists such as Johnny Cash and Metallica. He played drums for his Alice in Chains bandmate Jerry Cantrell's first solo album, Boggy Depot (1998). Since 2009, Kinney has been co-owner of the Crocodile club in Seattle. He was a guest drummer on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers in September 2018.
Michael Allen Inez is an American rock musician best known for his role as the bassist of Alice in Chains since 1993. He is also recognized for his work with Ozzy Osbourne from 1989–1993. Inez has also been associated with Slash's Snakepit, Black Label Society, Spys4Darwin, and Heart. He is of Filipino descent.
Michael Christopher Starr was an American musician best known as the original bassist for the rock band Alice in Chains, which he played with from the band's formation in 1987 until January 1993. He was also a member of Sato, Gypsy Rose and Sun Red Sun. Starr died of a prescription drug overdose at the age of 44 in 2011.
My Sister's Machine was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989. Its members were Nick Pollock, Owen Wright (guitar), Chris Ivanovich, and Chris Gohde (drums).
Second Coming was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1990. They relocated to Seattle, Washington around 1992 and released their debut album L.O.V.Evil in 1994. This band underwent several lineup changes throughout its existence with drummer James Bergstrom and bassist Johnny Bacolas ostensibly being the nucleus of the band, as they were the only members who appeared on every album. The two of them have been friends since childhood and they had also formed the rhythm section in an early incarnation of Alice in Chains that also consisted of vocalist Layne Staley and guitarist Nick Pollock; they called themselves Alice N' Chains.
Comes with the Fall is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. Since 2001, the line-up has been composed of William DuVall, Adam Stanger (bass) and Bevan Davies. Nico Constantine was the band's second guitarist before departing in 2001. They served as Jerry Cantrell's backing band in support of his solo album, Degradation Trip, in 2002 while DuVall joined Alice in Chains as lead singer during the band's reunion concerts in 2006, becoming an official member by 2008.
"What the Hell Have I" is a song by the American rock band Alice in Chains. It was originally featured on the soundtrack to the 1993 John McTiernan film Last Action Hero starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The song was released as a single and peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was included on the compilation album Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999). A remixed version of the song was included on the compilation albums Music Bank (1999) and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006).
"Get Born Again" is a song by the American rock band Alice in Chains and, along with "Died", one of the last two songs recorded with vocalist Layne Staley before his death in 2002. The song was released as the lead single from the compilation Nothing Safe: Best of the Box (1999) on June 1, 1999. It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and at No. 12 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Get Born Again" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2000. The song was also included on the compilation albums Music Bank (1999) and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006).
"Don't Follow" is a song by American rock band Alice in Chains. It is the third single from the band's 1994 EP Jar of Flies. The song was written by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, who sings lead vocals in the first part of the song, followed by Layne Staley in the second part. The single spent seven weeks on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at No. 25.
Alice N' Chains was an American glam metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1986 by former members of Sleze. Toward the end of their run as Sleze, discussions arose about changing their name to Alice in Chains. However, due to concerns over the reference to female bondage, the group ultimately chose to spell it as Alice N' Chains. They performed under this moniker over about a 12-month period and recorded two demos before breaking up on friendly terms in 1987. One of its members, Layne Staley, ultimately took the name that he and his former bandmates had initially flirted with when he joined a different group a few months later that became known as Alice in Chains.
Diva is the debut studio album by American rock band My Sister's Machine.
Nick Pollock is a Seattle-based singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge band My Sister's Machine. He has also played in various bands with other notable musicians, including Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley and Queensrÿche guitarist Michael Wilton. He graduated from Lindbergh High School in 1986.
Mistrust was a heavy metal band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. This band primarily consisted of vocalist Jeff L'Heureux, guitarists Owen Wright and Michael Winston, bassist Tim Wolfe, and drummer Chris Gohde. They recorded one album in their brief existence called Spin the World, which was originally released through C.O.M.A. Records in 1986 and again through Heart of Steel Records in 2009.
Travis Bracht is a Seattle-based singer and guitarist best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming. He has also been a member of the nearly identical bands Peace and Silence and Post Modern Heroes, and he has fronted Soulbender with Queensrÿche guitarist Michael Wilton.
"Black Gives Way to Blue" is a song by American rock band Alice in Chains, and the last track on their 2009 studio album of the same name. Written and sung by guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, it features Elton John on piano. The song is a tribute to the band's late lead singer, Layne Staley, who died in 2002. The first concert that Staley attended was Elton John's, and Cantrell's first album was Elton John Greatest Hits (1974). A piano mix of the song is a bonus track on iTunes. The lyrics to "Black Gives Way to Blue" are printed on the base plate of Jerry Cantrell's signature Cry Baby Wah-Wah pedal.