Gonzales Photo/Nikolaj Bransholm/ PYMCA-Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesOn December 9, 2019, Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy played Jeff Buckley‘s Fender Telecaster guitar at L’Olympia in Paris, the very same venue where the late singer-songwriter recorded a live album. Speaking with ABC Audio a year later, Kennedy reflects on what that performance means to him.
At the time, the guitar was handled by a guitar shop in Paris owned by a pair of Kennedy’s friends. Kennedy would stop in once in a while to play the guitar, but when Alter Bridge scheduled a show at L’Olympia, the shopkeepers offered him the opportunity to play it live at the venue.
“I was, like, ‘Em, that’s pretty heavy, man. I don’t know how comfortable I am with that,'” Kennedy recalls. “If I’m not mistaken…I didn’t decide to do it until probably a few hours before the show. They had brought it, and the offer still stood, I was just, like, ‘Ah man, that’s heavy. A lot of gravity there.'”
Kennedy ultimately decided he would play it, and he describes the moment as “really special.”
“You kind of felt the ghost of…I don’t even know how to articulate it,” Kennedy shares. “Jeff just occupies a very special place for me, personally, and I’m in such awe of his legacy and what he did that I didn’t want to mess it up.”
The guitar has since been purchased by Muse‘s Matt Bellamy, for whom Kennedy has a “tremendous amount of respect.”
“I think that that’s a perfect fit,” Kennedy says. “You can hear Jeff’s influence on what he does.”
Kennedy adds he’s happy the guitar is now in the hands of someone who “holds Jeff in the same regard and importance,” instead of “just some rich collector.”
“Just take good care of it, man,” he laughs.
(Video contains uncensored profanity.)
By Josh Johnson
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