Mike McCready

Influenced by guitar masters such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, Mike has made a name for himself as Pearl Jam's lead guitarist. Recently, he told Rollingstone about his passion for Jimi Hendrix and how it's influenced his playing: "There's a feeling you get sometimes playing leads -- it's like you're out of your mind, you're in a state of nirvana. It sounds silly, but it's spiritual. I get that when I hear [Jimi Hendrix's] "Machine Gun" and he's playing that one fucking note and it brings you to tears. I'm constantly striving for that kind of feeling, a feeling that will bring across an emotion to an audience or to myself."

Born on April 5, 1965, in Pensacola, FL, McCready and his family relocated to Seattle, WA, shortly after his birth. Intrigued by Kiss' Ace Frehley and Aerosmith's Joe Perry at an early age, McCready received his first guitar at the age of 11, and was in his first band by the time he reached the eighth grade — Shadow. The group was shortlived however and after giving up on music completely for a time, he eventually got back into guitar, immersing himself in the blues-based sounds of Vaughan and joining a similarly styled local outfit, Love Chile. Once again, the group proved to be short-lived — only playing a handful of live shows.

The turning point would come when through a mutual friend, McCready met Mother Love Bone guitarist Stone Gossard, who was impressed by McCready's talents after hearing his guitar work at a party. When Gossard later found himself without a band due to the death of a band member, he called McCready inquiring whether he'd like to jam together. Soon afterwards former MLB, bassist Jeff Ament, as well as San Diego native Eddie Vedder (and various drummers) joined the jam sessions. And in late 1990 Pearl Jam was born.

In addition to his full-time work with Pearl Jam, Mike has found the time to lend his talents to side projects and guest appearances on other artist's recordings. In 1995 he formed Mad Season, with Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Stanley, releasing an album later that year. His most current side project, The Rockfords was formed in 2000 and includes some of the former members of his first band Shadow. They released a self-titled album that same year. McCready's guitar work can also be heard on albums by Screaming Trees, Neil Young, Mark Eitzel and The Minus 5. Most importantly to Wallflowers fans though, is the news that McCready lends his talents to Red Letter Days, The Wallflowers fourth album, due out on September 24, 2002.

(This bio has been condensed from the Mike McCready bio on allmusic.com by Greg Prato.)