Shinedown bassist Eric Bass says Van Halen’s 5150 album started him on his journey toward becoming a rock and roll musician.
“It was really Van Hagar first and then I backed into the older records [with David Lee Roth],” Bass said during a recent appearance on The Paltrocast. “I was born in the 70s. I’m a child of the 80s so my musical trajectory was just perfect for some of the greatest music. A buddy of mine gave me a long-play cassette…one side was Back in Black, the other side was 5150, and, man, I put on 5150 and it was just like, ‘Holy shit. What is this? Actually, I was in a garage band that morphed into a Van Halen cover band when I was in high school. Probably not a good Van Halen cover band but a Van Halen cover band nonetheless.”
Bass joined Shinedown in 2008 so he missed out on the opportunity to tour with Van Halen. Shinedown opened for Van Halen in 2004. Shinedown drummer Berry Kerch was part of that tour, however, and told Paltrowitz about his experience during a previous Paltrocast interview.
“We toured with them for two months on the Sammy reunion tour and it was the most amazing time of my life,” said Kerch. “One of the most amazing times in my life. It was unbelievable. As much as those guys hated each other at that moment in time, they were so sweet to all of us.
“Eddie take took a really big liking to Brent,” continued Kerch, referring to Shinedown singer Brent Smith. “He found something, some sort of kinship. Eddie was cigarette in mouth, bottle of wine in one hand, guitar on. Twenty-four-seven, that’s how he lived. He’d kick open our dressing room door…and he’s just be shredding and teaching. He was super super fun.”