thedrifter
10-10-08, 06:02 AM
Scott Stapp goes solo after breaking ties with former band, Creed
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, October 10, 2008
NAPLES, Italy — The rock band might be history, but the voice of Creed still sings.
Scott Stapp is about halfway through tours of U.S. military bases in the Middle East and Europe, where he’s been entertaining troops and their families.
"I don’t know his name, but he’s on my iPod, and I really like him," an excited Bennet Lockridge, 9, said moments before Tuesday’s free concert at the U.S. Navy’s base in Naples.
No earphones were needed as Bennet managed a front-row vantage point for the two-hour concert.
Though Stapp, 35, broke ties with his former band — and is trying to establish himself as a solo artist — he hasn’t entirely left behind his days with Creed. He founded the band, which broke up in 2004 after three multiplatinum albums.
Titled "The Voice of Creed" tour, Stapp and fellow band members bassist Zelick, who goes by one name; guitarist Alex Bodnar; and Derek Cintron on drums have visited U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Diego Garcia, Iraq and Crete. The band tours Europe this week and next.
Much of his Tuesday concert in Naples drew on his famed years with Creed, including "Torn," "My Own Prison," "Weathered," "What If," "One Last Breath," "Higher" and "Arms Wide Open."
But the artist took the opportunity to introduce some of his new stuff, including his still-unfinished song "Crazy," saying he was in search of inspiration from the 200-some audience members to complete the song.
"Where do you go when you’re looking to go crazy?" Stapp asked.
A lone voice hollered back: "War."
The tour of military bases "has been one of the most exciting and life-changing experiences of my life, and I didn’t fully understand the impact it was going to have on me," Stapp said in an interview.
"I really found a new appreciation for the commitment and sacrifice and character of the men and women of the armed forces," he said.
His new hairdo — or lack thereof — was a 180-degree turn from the long-haired rock star of yesteryear.
"Was it traumatic? No. It was the death of an old man and a new beginning."
The hair had become, to him, symbolic of the hurt he caused people "by a couple of rough years of my life," he said. "I did not want to wake up every day and have them see the hair. I took it off hoping it would be a new beginning for them as well."
Stapp’s solo debut album, "The Great Divide," was released in 2005. "It’s just basically the highs and lows [over the past four years] and the constant feeling ‘the best is yet to come.’
"One thing I’ve learned most over the past years is to try to not always cry out and look up from [lying on] my back, but get the ego out of the way and ask for help before I’m that far down."
Ellie
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, October 10, 2008
NAPLES, Italy — The rock band might be history, but the voice of Creed still sings.
Scott Stapp is about halfway through tours of U.S. military bases in the Middle East and Europe, where he’s been entertaining troops and their families.
"I don’t know his name, but he’s on my iPod, and I really like him," an excited Bennet Lockridge, 9, said moments before Tuesday’s free concert at the U.S. Navy’s base in Naples.
No earphones were needed as Bennet managed a front-row vantage point for the two-hour concert.
Though Stapp, 35, broke ties with his former band — and is trying to establish himself as a solo artist — he hasn’t entirely left behind his days with Creed. He founded the band, which broke up in 2004 after three multiplatinum albums.
Titled "The Voice of Creed" tour, Stapp and fellow band members bassist Zelick, who goes by one name; guitarist Alex Bodnar; and Derek Cintron on drums have visited U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Diego Garcia, Iraq and Crete. The band tours Europe this week and next.
Much of his Tuesday concert in Naples drew on his famed years with Creed, including "Torn," "My Own Prison," "Weathered," "What If," "One Last Breath," "Higher" and "Arms Wide Open."
But the artist took the opportunity to introduce some of his new stuff, including his still-unfinished song "Crazy," saying he was in search of inspiration from the 200-some audience members to complete the song.
"Where do you go when you’re looking to go crazy?" Stapp asked.
A lone voice hollered back: "War."
The tour of military bases "has been one of the most exciting and life-changing experiences of my life, and I didn’t fully understand the impact it was going to have on me," Stapp said in an interview.
"I really found a new appreciation for the commitment and sacrifice and character of the men and women of the armed forces," he said.
His new hairdo — or lack thereof — was a 180-degree turn from the long-haired rock star of yesteryear.
"Was it traumatic? No. It was the death of an old man and a new beginning."
The hair had become, to him, symbolic of the hurt he caused people "by a couple of rough years of my life," he said. "I did not want to wake up every day and have them see the hair. I took it off hoping it would be a new beginning for them as well."
Stapp’s solo debut album, "The Great Divide," was released in 2005. "It’s just basically the highs and lows [over the past four years] and the constant feeling ‘the best is yet to come.’
"One thing I’ve learned most over the past years is to try to not always cry out and look up from [lying on] my back, but get the ego out of the way and ask for help before I’m that far down."
Ellie