MYLES KENNEDY On Creative Process: 'I Always Try To Keep An Open Mind'

Myles Kennedy, who wears a number of musical hats — as the frontman of hard rockers ALTER BRIDGE and lead vocalist in the group SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, as well as a solo artist — has told the "BODS Mayhem Hour" that he always tries to "keep an open mind" during the creative process. "And maybe that's been one of the things that's helped me more than anything — not to view the world in a narrow-minded context," he said. "And so whether it's reading different things or listening to different forms of music, I've always felt that it's really important to kind of walk up to the salad bar of life and taste a little bit of every flavor and try to incorporate that into what you do. 'Cause otherwise what happens is if you're just consuming one thing or a certain style, and that's all you consume… Like when I was younger, I went through a period where it was all about hard rock and metal, and I didn't listen to anything else. And then one day I [thought], 'Wait a minute. This is great, but there's so many other great forms of music out there. Let's absorb some of that as well and see what happens.' And that's something that's always intrigued me. And frankly, that's one of the things I love about LED ZEPPELIN. And I think that's why that band is so important. People think of LED ZEPPELIN… oftentimes they'll misunderstand them as a strictly hard rock band. I've even read articles where people would categorize them as metal, which I would never go there. They're just a hard rock band, blues based. But you listen to some of those records and they were touching on so many different styles of music. You listen to 'In Through The Out Door' and listen to all the crazy stuff going on there; it's awesome. And they could do it all."

Kennedy's debut solo album, "Year Of The Tiger", was released in March. The disc is a concept album of sorts about his childhood, specifically the death of his father when Kennedy was four years old.

On "Year Of The Tiger", Myles embarked on his first venture as a solo artist by embracing musical elements and influences he hadn't explored previously in his career. Kennedy himself played banjo, lap steel, bass, and mandolin in addition to guitar throughout the album. The emotional journey and personal story of Myles is captured in a bluesy Americana album with a twist of country and rock.

Myles recently went on the road — just himself and a guitar — offering acoustic takes of the "Year Of The Tiger" material.