With Alice in Chains or on his own, guitarist is always out for ‘Blood’

Being part of a multi-platinum selling band would be enough for some musicians. But Jerry Cantrell has been almost as prolific on his own as he’s been with Alice in Chains during the past 35 years.

The guitarist and vocalist is, after all, as much an architect of AiC’s hard rock blend as the late frontman Layne Staley was, the band’s primary writer (lyrics as well as music) and a co-lead singer on hits such as “Would?,” “Down in a Hole,” “No Excuses,” “Heaven Beside You” and others. He’s been even more prominent in that role, too, as the band has continued following Staley’s death in 2002.

On his own, meanwhile, the Tacoma, Wash. native has released four solo albums, starting with “Boggy Depot” in 1998 and including last year’s “I Want Blood,” on which he’s joined by Guns N’ Roses’ D