MTV: JERRY CANTRELL To Jam With ALICE IN CHAINS Bandmates

Since moving from Seattle to Los Angeles eight months ago, former ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell has re-established lines of communication with former CHAINS bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney, and plans to jam with them later this month, according to MTV.com.

"We don't have any expectations," he stressed. "We're gonna get in a room, have a little fun and see what goes down. Anything's possible."

Inez and Kinney performed on Cantrell's 1998 solo album, "Boggy Depot", but haven't played with him since ALICE disbanded.

"I was kinda waiting to see if the ALICE thing would ever materialize again," Jerry said. "But I really miss playing with those guys."

Cantrell told MTV.com that his top priority is writing new material and figuring out what to do with the tunes he wrote last year, which he said are unlike anything he's previously recorded. "It's really its own thing," he said. "I'm not sure which direction I'm gonna go with them, but the music's great. It's definitely a next chapter, which is satisfying."

Cantrell also spoke about "Ashes to Ashes", a track he recorded last November with DAMAGEPLAN, the band consisting of former PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul. The song, submitted for the "Punisher" film soundtrack, features Cantrell on vocals alongside DAMAGEPLAN singer Patrick Lachman (ex-HALFORD guitarist).

"It happened around Thanksgiving," he recalled. "I went hunting with my dad and brother, and we bagged a deer and then headed down to Dallas. I always give Darrell some of my kill, and we ended up hanging out. He had a tune he wanted me to check out, and it was great. So he said, 'We don't have any vocals on this. Why don't you try to throw something down?' I was really tired 'cause it was like 6 a.m., but he was really persistent. So I threw something down and it became this great track that sounds like PANTERA crossed with ALICE IN CHAINS."

In other news, Cantrell entered the studio two weeks ago with veteran rockers HEART to record a solo for "Fallen Ones", scheduled to appear on the group's upcoming album. He also recorded several guitar riffs for FILTER frontman Richard Patrick that may end up on the next FILTER album.

Cantrell is currently without a record deal, having severed his ties with the Roadrunner label after the 2002 release of his sophomore solo effort, "Degradation Trip".