GREAT WHITE Guitarist Mark Kendall On Vocalist Jack Russell

GREAT WHITE Guitarist Mark Kendall On Vocalist Jack Russell - "We're Just Hoping He Has A Speedy Recovery So We Can Get Back On Board Next Year... We Want To Make A New Record"





www.Metal-Rules.com has issued a new interview with GREAT WHITE guitarist Mark Kendall. The following is an excerpt from the interview, conducted by Marko Syrjala:

Q: What is going on with Great White at the moment?

A: "Well, our singer Jack (Russell) got really sick. He got, I guess it’s called a perforated bowel, which is in the large intestines. He had to have surgery and we had about 15 shows left and out managers were talking to the promoters and we talked about getting a fill-in singer so we got Terry Ilous, who is from XYZ. We just wanted to fill our obligations and not cancel on everyone where the shows were booked already. We just had a few shows left, we’d done about 70 shows this year and we have about 15 to go. So a lot of the promoters are saying 'that’s fine, Terry Ilous' at first… and then another promoter goes 'that name is not big enough'. Our manager manages Jani Lane from WARRANT and he wasn’t doing anything so he goes 'what about Jani Lane?' So he [the promoter] goes 'OK that’s a bigger name so OK we’ll take Jani Lane'. So we went and rehearsed with Jani and he did a great job."

Q: Can’t hesitate to ask… is Jani Lani actually any bigger of a name than Terry Ilous... and how you ended up doing this Sweden show with Paul Shortino on vocals?

A: "Well, I don’t know… it is according to him [the promoter]. We like Jani you know… and Terry, I think he brought a little bit more, more of his own thing, instead of just singing the songs perfectly. He did them right but put his own touch on it. It was just fun, he really knows how to put on a good show. So we were really loving that but the promoter was still like 'Jani Lane is a bigger name'. So we said fine and we went and did two shows in Texas last week with him. He did great, he sang fine, he did the songs verbatim just like Jack, note for note. So then, we’re going to Sweden and they don’t want Jani or Terry (laughs). So somehow the name Paul Shortino came up and they go 'oh yeah, we love Paul Shortino and he’s never been here before…' and I guess ROUGH CUTT is known more in Europe or something, I dunno. But I know Paul from years ago and we’re friends so we called him up and he came up from Las Vegas and we jammed. He learned the songs and stuff and came and jammed for one day. This was a lot of information for the guy you know. So he got through it but the others guys were, I think were… and nothing against Paul, he’s a great guy and I love him and he has a great blues voice, but the other guys were a lot more prepared and they really handled it and got the crowd crazy and it was just smoother. So we’re just finishing this and waiting for Jack to get well. The last we heard, it was gonna be at least 8 weeks and it could be longer so we’re just hoping he has a speedy recovery so we can get back on board next year and we want to make a new record."

Read the full interview at this location.