Mark tremonti article

[creeder]

I found this on another BB, and thought that it'd be appropriate to put this up for reading here (given the fact that it's a MT site)

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December 28, 2002 12:30 AM


Local teen gets to play with Creed
By Kristina Gleeson, Staff writer
ROCK ISLAND -- A local teen gets to jam with Creed Sunday.

It won't be the first time Sam Jacks, 16, of Taylor Ridge, has played guitar with the band's Mark Tremonti, who he calls a ``guitar icon.''

When Creed played at The Mark of the Quad Cities Aug. 15, what was supposed to be a two-minute backstage pass for Sam became a much longer bonding experience with the lead guitarist.

As if that weren't enough, Sam beat 19 other contestants in a guitar-playing contest Dec. 20 at the Guitar Center in Villa Park, Ill. His prize will be playing with Creed during their sound check before the show at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., Sunday.

As the contest winner, Mr. Jacks also got a Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Special Edition Mark Tremonti signature model guitar, which the band will sign at Sunday's show.

``It's the same guitar I have now, but it's silver,'' the teen explained, adding ``I want to play it.'' Even so, he's resigned himself to putting the guitar behind glass to preserve the signatures.

Creed band members signed the guitar he has now, which he worked to buy for two years, at the Mark when Mr. Jacks met the band the first time around. But the signatures wore off from use after a couple of weeks.

``I wasn't gonna hang it up'' just to preserve the signatures, he said.

When Mr. Jacks got backstage for his ``two minutes,'' at the Mark, he explained to Mark Tremonti that the band manager wouldn't let him bring in his guitar. Mr. Tremonti sent a security guard to escort Sam out to get the guitar from his dad's car in the parking lot.

After the band signed his guitar, Mr. Tremonti gave him a tour of the backstage areas, even playing him the intro riff for a song the band had just recorded.

After the show, Mr. Jacks, who has played since he was 8 years old, jammed with his idol for a half hour or so. Mr. Tremonti let him pick from his 10 PRS guitars. The colors and designs on the guitars differ, but the models are the same, Mr. Jacks said, adding that they're tuned differently from each other.

The choice was obvious to the teen, as he grabbed the ``Tiger Eye,'' Mr. Tremonti's favorite of the ten.

Mark Tremonti asked him ``Can you play it?'' and he said ``Yeah, I know every one of your songs,'' Sam's father and manager, Dan Jacks, related.

That half hour ``seemed like forever to me,'' Dan Jacks said, adding ``they all were really down to earth.''

``He really took him under his wing,'' Dan Jacks said. Sam stuck around for some table tennis and food, finishing with his new friend around 3:30 a.m.

His proud father didn't mind waiting. He likes Mark Tremonti's clean-cut image. ``He doesn't smoke, and he's a health nut,'' he explained.

Even though naysayers along the way have told Sam how hard it will be to become a professional musician, Mark Tremonti reminded him not to give up his dream.

``He's the guy who makes me want to keep playing,'' Sam said.

In the end, Mr. Tremonti took the teen's phone number and told him ``I hope next time I see you I'll be opening for you.''

Next time is here sooner than Mr. Tremonti expected, this time due to Sam Jacks' guitar skills -- not just luck at winning a backstage pass.

At the Villa Park contest, Sam Jack was worried when he heard that he was up against someone in a Creed cover band. ``He worried me a lot.''

As the guitarists were warming up, ``I even made the comment that I already lost,'' he said. Planning to play ``My Sacrifice,'' he was even more concerned when the contestant from the cover band played the same song.

``Then I just decided to get up there and play it better,'' he said. When the three judges -- a Chicago radio personality, a Universal Records marketing representative and a regional manager of the Guitar Center -- said they decided to pick ``the kid that drove the farthest,'' Sam Jacks knew they meant him.

``My heart was stopped right there,'' he said.

Sam Jacks is equally awed by Mark Tremonti's brother, Dan Tremonti, who he said is a graphic designer for Creed, Sevendust, Nickelback, and other bands' CD covers. He also does ads for VH1.

``If I can't be in a band, I want to be a graphic artist,'' Sam Jacks said. During a visit to Dan Tremonti's studio apartment in Chicago, set up by his father-manager, Sam learned about how Mark Tremonti used to work at Chili's, come home at 11 p.m., pick up his guitar and play until 6 in the morning. Then he'd tromp off to work the next day.

``Sam has the same passion for music,'' his father said.

The teen is in the local band Found Broken, which has played at Peabody's, Davenport, a couple of times. Thanks to their guitarists' connections, they'll be playing at Sharks studio with five other bands in Lombard, a Chicago suburb, soon, with a representative of the Roadrunner label there to see one of the other bands.

``They're all stoked about it,'' Sam Jacks said of his other band members, all from Rock Ridge High School.

``He's been living a dream these last six months,'' his father said.

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[hotforscott]

Totally awesome. I am printing that one off. Thanks.

[Wylde-Tremonti]

that dude is freakin lucky....i would kill for that....

[hotforscott]

Dan will probably pee his pants when he reads it.

[JenRN]

Oh my god!!!! That is a great story, how lucky he was! Mark is such a cool guy, he seems to be so fan friendly what an awesome experience!!!!!!

[Tremontichik006]

i would do anything to meet mark and when i say anything i mean ANYTHING!

[Bridge of Clay]

oh, man... that could be me!

I wish I could play like Mark... but I really don´t have the time to practice...

[SJack5802]

THat would be awesome to jam with Mark and get to get one of his signature guitars.

[hotforscott]

I know, he does seem so fan-friendly. He seems to be a very kind and gentle person.

[Dogstar]

Geez, that is really sweet! Thanks for that, Creeder. It really made me smile. Mark is awesome. I hope he can keep that perspective. It's so hard in that lifestyle, but he does seem like the real deal! One in a million!

[Wylde-Tremonti]

Man if i become a rocker i wana be just like Mark.....(oh...so that's how i got my name.........)

[DangerousDan85]

Quote:

Originally posted by hotforscott
Dan will probably pee his pants when he reads it.

that would have been awesome, but I couldn't jam for a half hour I don't know that many songs

[hide_tremonti]

Creeder, Did you just copy/paste my entire post at MT.net?

[CREED FANTASY]

Mark does some like a great guy, What a lucky person to meet him. He does seem very fan freindly and that is really important because without the fans were would the band be. That is really important that members of a band appreciate the fans and just dont blow us off..

[Creed|Flip]

LUCKY DUDE I WOULD SAY!