Black Label Society frontman and guitar legend Zakk Wylde recently sat down with Ultimate Guitar interviewer Justin Beckner and talked about his early days as a guitar player and how he mastered the instrument. An excerpt is available below.

UG: What advice would you have to that kid today who's picking up his first axe and wanting to learn some tunes?

Zakk: "I think with all kids, the secret to everything is you just playin' what you love because that's where you're going to excel. If something doesn't move you, then why are you playing it or why are you in that band? Why not be in a band where you're playing shit that you like? 

I remember when I was in my old band, Zyris, we were writing all this poppy music and none of us were into it and we had a show where we had to play an extra song so we ended up playing 'Rock and Roll' by Zeppelin and the epiphany I got from just playing that - we were all moved by playing that - just by how badass it is and how great the music is. So we asked ourselves, 'Why aren't we doing shit like this? Why are we not playing music that moves us and that we get off on playing?' 

I remember reading an article with Johnny Winter one time and he said, 'I love classical music and jazz musicians and I appreciate their talent and everything that goes into it, but the only music that moves me is blues.' So that was it, that was the only one he had passion for. That's the secret. That's when you're going to end up finding yourself and finding what you love. There's nothing wrong with experimenting and trying different things and this and that. But if you're not into something then why are you doing it?"

UG: It's simple yet solid advice.

Zakk: "Yeah you'd think it'd be simple enough. It's very fortunate that bands like Zeppelin found it early on. Right out of the gate Jimmy (Page) knew what he wanted to do - make music that he loved. Whether it's mixing old blues and making it heavier and riff driven or doing the mellow stuff, he was doing what he loved. But they became themselves as a result. 

Same thing with Sabbath and all the bands we love, whether its Fleetwood Mac or Elton John or whatever - they played the music that moved them and that's why they all excel at what they do. Same goes for guitar players - it's great to learn your fretboard and learn theory and everything like that but it really depends on what you wanna do with the instrument. 

If you're moved by all these other players, for me it was John McLaughlin, Paco (de Lucia), Frank Marino from Mahogany Rush, Robin Trower, Jimi Hendrix, and obviously St. (Randy) Rhoads - those were the guys who's playing moved me. I can hear it in my guitar playing because that's how I learned. You learn it and you incorporate it and you twist it and next thing you know, it's part of your DNA and it morphs into you. So my advice to younger kids is just to play what moves ya."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Black Label Society released their tenth full length, Grimmest Hits, on January 19th via Entertainment One (eOne). BLS soared into the charts with the new LP, which has landed at #4 on the Billboard Current Charts, the highest charting LP since Order Of The Back released back in 2009.

Grimmest Hits reached #1 on the Billboard Hard Music, #1 Independent, and #2 Rock Charts. The LP was also the #1 selling album at Best Buy for the week of its release, beating out Grammy nominated Fall Out Boy by a considerable margin.

Upon its release last Friday, Grimmest Hits landed at #1 spot on iTunes Top Rock Albums Chart and #7 on the Overall Top Albums Chart.

The new effort is the follow-up to Billboard Top 5 charting titles Catacombs Of The Black Vatican (2014) and Order Of The Black (2010). In-between then and now, Zakk Wylde released Book of Shadows II, the follow-up to his 1996 solo debut of the same name, which debuted at #18 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

Tracklisting:

“Trampled Down Below”
“Seasons Of Falter”
“The Betrayal”
“All That Once Shined”
“The Only Words”
“Room Of Nightmares”
“A Love Unreal”
“Disbelief”
“The Day That Heaven Had Gone Away”
“Illusions Of Peace”
“Bury Your Sorrow”
“Nothing Left To Say”

"All That Once Shined" lyric video:

“Room Of Nightmares” video:

Order Grimmest Hits via the links below:

- Physical
- Digital

Black Label Society are touring with support from Corrosion Of Conformity. Select dates will see support from Eyehategod and Red Fang. A full list of tour dates can be seen below.

February
11 - Saskatoon, SK - O’Brians Event Centre
12 - Edmonton, AB - The Ranch Roadhouse
14 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
16 - Grande Prairie, AB - Bowes Event Center at Revolution Place
17 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall
19 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
20 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
21 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
23 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
24 - Tempe, AZ - The Marquee
25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
27 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theatre

Black Label Society is:

Zakk Wylde - Vocals/Guitar
John DeServio - Bass
Dario Lorina - Guitar
Jeff Fabb - Drums

(Photo - Justin Reich)