Myles Kennedy discussed his upcoming concept album “Year of the Tiger,” dedicated to the death of his father back in 1974, explaining to Eddie Trunk how he grew up in a family of Christian Scientists (transcribed by UG):
“I realized year of the tiger was 1974, which was the year my father passed away when I was a kid. I was like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t know if I want to go down that road,’ because I’ve never really wanted to tackle that one for all the years of my writing. That’s a heavy one for me.
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“My family, at that point, were Christian Scientists. So basically, this woman Mary Baker Eddy started this in the 1800s, and the premise is that you don’t go to doctors. You believe that god is gonna heal you. It’s very frustrating even talking about it, frankly.
“So dad got sick and chose not to go and see a doctor. He died of the appendicitis. He died one night in his sleep because it blew up and gangrene went all over.
“He didn’t know it was appendix because he wouldn’t go and see a doctor. But what is interesting is that he got really sick about eight weeks prior. He was in a lot of pain. So there’s a theory it might have actually ruptured then. He may have had gangrene actually for quite a while. But mom woke up one morning and he passed away. I was four [at the time].
“So that started the whole journey. It was a heavy thing for my brother and I, and mom. My grandmothers on both sides chose not to go to doctors and passed away. We were entrenched in the Christian Science faith.”
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Asked if his mother decided to abandon Christian Science following his fater’s death, Myles replied:
“The light has actually gone off for her a little earlier, previous to his death. Because she worked at a nursing home and she realized that a lot of people associated with the Christian Science faith were passing away. I think this change started for her a little earlier.”
Switching the topic back to the album, Kennedy said:
“The journey really starts when he passes away. The second song on the record, ‘The Great Beyond,’ basically documents the night he passes away. I don’t remember it vividly, but basically I tell that story using very surreal imagery. It’s definitely not something you can take very literal. It’s just painting the picture of someone passing away.
“But really the story starts there. My mother is the hero, her fortitude through the whole thing and how she fought for my brother and I. We ended up leaving Boston where it all happened. Mom decided it was time to leave a few months after dad passed away. We ended up in Wisconsin.”
Asked if writing the record was “therapeutic” for him, Myles replied:
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“It was therapeutic. There was a certain amount of catharsis with the whole process. But at the same time it actually was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. And I kind of brought a lot of ghosts that were hiding to the surface.
“My wife watched me during the process. It turned in way more of a task than I originally thought it was gonna be. Frankly it kind of messed with my head. It was like opening the Pandora’s box. It was this interesting form of therapy also. [Laughs] You discover a lot about yourself if you chose to do something like that.”
Asked if he never worked on a concept effort before, Myles replied
“Not to this degree. [Alter Bridge’s latest album] ‘The Last Hero’ – there were elements that tied things together. My friend Randy, when I played him the whole record he was like, ‘It’s like a rock opera.’ Even though it’s not rock, it’s more acoustic-based.
“As I was writing, I could see the whole thing in my head as if it was a movie. There are flashbacks and flashes forward, it was very cinematic in my head as it was being put together. So yeah, it’s a complete story.”