Mia Zapata’s Killer Has Died

Rolling Stone published my story breaking the news on Sunday. It marks an end to one of the darkest and most tragic episodes in the history of rock music. To put Mia Zapata’s life and legacy into perspective, I interviewed Gits drummer Steve Moriarty, Gits friend and Evil Stig collaborator Joan Jett, and NPR music…

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A Piece of Alice in Chains History

Seattle musician and producer Dave Hillis (who was an engineer on Sap and who I interviewed extensively for my book) posted a picture of his 1/4-inch reel copy of the early Alice in Chains demos (circa 1988, before they recorded their first album Facelift) If you aren’t doing it already, follow Dave on Instagram.

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Susan Silver: “I’m in Exploration Mode Right Now”

Seattle attorney Joleen Hughes recorded an interview with Alice in Chains manager Susan Silver for her podcast. She and Susan talk about the early days of the Seattle music scene, her way of doing business, and Susan’s possible plans for the future. The most newsworthy part of the interview in my opinion begins at around…

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The Origin of Layne Staley's Middle Name

Nancy McCallum – Layne Staley’s mother – did an interview with Northwest Music Scene recently.  This particular exchange caught my attention: Early bands: “In 5th grade, he borrowed his Uncle Bob’s trumpet, so that was his first instrument. Then, our family friend Fred loaned him a drum set, and he loved the drums. He wasn’t…

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Jim Elmer Remembered

Jim Elmer, Layne Staley’s stepfather, passed away in his home in Long Beach, Washington last week from heart failure, according to his son Ken. He was 72 years old. He was born in Spokane, Washington on March 28th, 1945 at home, but spent most of his life in the Seattle area. Jim had Bachelor’s and…

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Chris Cornell Remembered

I was shocked and devastated when I received a news alert from a friend late last night informing me Soundgarden singer/guitarist Chris Cornell had passed away a few hours after performing a show at a Detroit theater.  It was even more shocking and devastating to find out today that the coroner concluded Cornell had committed…

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Demri Parrott Remembered

This past Saturday was the 20th anniversary of the death of Demri Parrott, Layne Staley’s ex-fiancée. I wrote the following tweetstorm to remember her (and him) for the occasion: Most, if not all of that material was in my book, where Layne and Demri’s relationship and her passing is covered in much more depth.

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A Guide to the Unreleased Layne Staley Material

The subject of unreleased Layne Staley material received renewed attention today after this post at Alternative Nation.  I covered this subject in my book Alice In Chains: The Untold Story and thought it would be worth going into some detail here: Are any of the unreleased tracks from leftover Alice in Chains material? No. When…

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