Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy reflects on 15 years of ‘Blackbird’: “It’s pretty special”

Alter Bridge‘s Blackbird first took flight 15 years ago.

The record, released in October 2007, marked the sophomore effort from the group, which featured Creed members Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips coming together with vocalist Myles Kennedy. Following their 2004 debut, One Day Remains, Kennedy and company felt they had “a lot to prove” with album #2.

“When that first record came out, people had their opinions on things, and understandably so,” Kennedy tells ABC Audio. “So we were essentially trying to figure out who we were, where we were gonna go, what we were gonna be.”

Part of that included Kennedy expanding from just singing on One Day Remains to playing guitar and writing more on Blackbird.

“I’d been used to being the sole writer with [previous band] The Mayfield Four, and Mark had been used to being the sole guitar player with Creed,” Kennedy explains. “So how do you do this delicate dance in the creative realm? Man, that’s a challenge. But I think somehow we landed on our feet.”

With its epic twin guitar solos played by both Kennedy and Tremonti, the song “Blackbird” became an apt metaphor for that delicate dance. Fittingly, the eight-minute epic has also become one of Alter Bridge’s most beloved songs.

“[I] think of all the fans I’ve seen who have ‘Blackbird’ tattoos on their bodies and share the stories of how that song means so much to them,” Kennedy muses. “Yeah, it’s pretty special. It really makes me grateful.”

Alter Bridge’s latest album, Pawns & Kings, drops October 14.