Thanks to Ned and Mike Varney from Shrapnel Records for this short but sweet interview.

JAKE E. LEE SPEAKS OUT ON THE COVERS PROJECT

Why are you doing a record of hard rockin' cover tunes from the 70's??

Why?

When Mike first approached me about this project, I asked myself, "What for?"
I've always felt it a waste of time to cover a well known song unless you 
could add something to it, approach it differently, give it your own unique 
twist, or at the very least introduce it to a new audience.

To do a full album of "copy songs" seemed pointless. Besides, I hadn't 
actually played a guitar for over a year. The one guitar I had brought out to Vegas 
with me was still in it's case, in the back of the closet.

But, the more I thought about it, the more appealing it became. I started to 
make out a list of songs I used to play. Eventually I brought out the guitar 
to see if I could even remember how to play them. I focused on the tunes I'd 
first learned, as a teenager, before I started playing in clubs. Some I had 
forgotten. Some, I now realized, I'd learned incorrectly. And some came back to me 
as if I'd never stopped playing them. I began searching for the songs I'd 
forgotten, and the ones that didn't sound like I was playing the "right" parts. 
It had become a quest.

I remembered the countless hours I spent in my bedroom, playing the SG I'd 
spent a year delivering newspapers to pay for. I wondered if my parents 
regretted buying me the Kasino 4x10 combo I played through, which only sounded good if 
I cranked it up LOUD! I recalled my band, a trio (no singer), playing my 
sister's 16th birthday party. And how I'd cut part of the tip of my left index 
finger off the night before, showing off how sharp my switchblade was after a 
couple of beers. I ended up playing with a slide on that finger, and fretting 
with the other three! This album is dedicated to the memory of those times, and 
to the loving memory of my sister and parents.

The Players

What cinched me doing this album, was when Mike called and told me that 
Aynsley Dunbar and Tim Bogert would be available to record, if I wanted. Yeah, I 
wanted.
I'd dreamed about playing with Aynsley ever since wearing out Bowie's Pinups 
album back in 9th grade, and Tim, after attempting to play songs off the Beck, 
Bogert, and Appice record with my band, and realizing I was gonna have to 
find a monster bass player, and drummer, to get anywhere close to being able to 
pull it off. It couldn't be my abilities at question! Anyway, this would give 
me the opportunity to find out.
They both played amazingly well, and I'm grateful for the immense pleasure it 
gave me to be able to play with these two musicians I've admired for years. 
Thank you Tim. Thank you Aynsley.

Jake