In a new interview with American Musical Supply, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist and acclaimed solo artist Jerry Cantrell spoke about the evolution of his singing style. Asked how he first started contributing lead vocals to ALICE IN CHAINS after initially focusing mainly on songwriting and playing guitar, Jerry said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, that’s how I started out. I mean, standing next to [late ALICE IN CHAINS singer] Layne Staley, [I thought] I don’t really need to be singing too much. That guy’s pretty badass. So I was very happy just to be a songwriter and pipe up on some backups once in a while. But he gave me some encouragement early on, like, ‘You write a lot of this shit. And I love this stuff. Don’t get me wrong, what I’m saying to you, ’cause I love it and I love singing it. But a lot of this stuff’s really personal to you. So you should sing a few of these.’ I’m, like, ‘I don’t wanna [do it]. Come on. You’ve got it.’ And he was, like, ‘No, no. Really, you should sing a few.’ So I did. I started doing stuff on like the acoustic EP, on ‘Sap’ —I think it was the first time I took a lead. And then I just kind of built from there and kept doing more and more and more. And then, when Layne passed, of course, we welcomed William [DuVall, current ALICE IN CHAINS vocalist] in. And that blueprint needs to be maintained of a two-lead-vocal system that we had in ALICE — it’s kind of identifiable — that Layne and I created with Sean [Kinney, drums] and Mike [Inez, bass]. But I had to step up a lot more.”I’m like a lot of guys — like Layne, for example, or [SOUNDGARDEN’s Chris] Cornell. There’s a shit-ton of guys that didn’t start off wanting to be singers. Both those guys were drummers. Nobody else could sing, [so they were], like, ‘Okay, all right. I’ll be the singer.’ They didn’t start off wanting to be a singer. I didn’t start off wanting to be a singer either, but by necessity, that’s just what happened. And I like to think that I’ve gotten better at it and I feel more confident in each [solo] record. This new one [2024’s ‘I Want Blood’] in particular, I think I’ve gotten into some territory that I never reached before — some more power, some more control, a little bit more range, a little more edge. ‘I Want Blood’ is a very demanding record vocally. And that’s kind of satisfying, ’cause you’re still pushing yourself, you’re still putting yourself in an uncomfortable place that you don’t know if you can pull it off. That’s exactly where you wanna be when you’re creating. ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ You’re gonna make some good doing that.””I Want Blood” was released in October 2024. The LP, co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi’s JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).Ahead of the album’s release, Cantrell was featured on the cover of Revolver, participated in a career-spanning conversation with Rick Beato, and received widespread praise album for the collection’s heavier sound. Metal Hammer described “I Want Blood” as having an “iconic sound, sludgy guitars and soulful vocals.””I Want Blood” was recently reimagined as a spoken-word series, featuring video animations by Boy Tillekens. Additional collaborators on the project include Barresi, Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, THE BLACK QUEEN),Roy Mayorga (MINISTRY),Gil Sharone (STOLEN BABIES, TEAM SLEEP),Rani Sharone (STOLEN BABIES),George Adrian (THE MAYBIRDS),composer Vincent Jones, and producer Michael Rozon.Cantrell’s first headlining tour supporting “I Want Blood” kicked off on January 31 in Niagara Falls, with FILTER opening on all dates.Cantrell’s previous solo album, “Brighten”, came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry’s first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years.Jerry’s career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell’s first solo album, “Boggy Depot”, was released in 1998, followed by his second album, “Degradation Trip”. In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including “Spider-Man”, “The Cable Guy”, “John Wick 2”, “Last Action Hero” and “The Punisher”.ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, “Rainier Fog”, in August 2018.[embedded content]