I found this tonight and thought it was cool. I knew Stone Gossard back in the day as well as his sister Shelley Gossard..both incredible and talented SWEET people. Layne was also friends with Stone so I think it fits here.
Check out the Stone Gossard’s 2008 Project on Youtube.com – Stone Gossard performs live with friends in Seattle, September 2008, performing original songs from an upcoming project. MP3s are available at pearljam.com

I was watching some of the old Pearl Jam videos on Youtube today and if it’s been awhile for you too or if your way younger then me and you never really have.. then I HIGHLY recommend you get too it.

It’s hard to believe I forgot just how much I loved their music. How full of soul and how talented each and ever one of them are. Mike McCready can play the guitar like a god and Stoney with his mellow groove and signature head bob. Eddie and his amazing voice and mellow personality. It’s cool too look back NOW and say WOW I remember being a part of that scene and how amazing it was to be around so many talented young people. I knew it was amazing and I knew I was lucky and that these bands were culture changing bands. These were not just one hit wonder bands. They were truley gifted. I knew it but it was still like no big deal. I guess I learned that just because someone is so talented and so famous that doesn’t make them any different then me or you.

Someday I’ll write about how I met Eddie Veder’s little brother in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara, and how he sold me a demo of his brothers band that was gonna be HUGE someday and he “just knew it”. How I laughed at him but said OK anyway because he was cute, stuck and needed gas money. How I listened to that demo and LOVED it and then how I moved up to Seattle a about a year or so later and the how that kid was right. How I ended up meeting his brother and then running into him again in a bar and he freaking remembered me. How it’s a small world and how amazing life is. Ehh.. I can mark that down as one of things I need to write about. ((wink))

This is what they all looked like when I first met them..

SO Old School!

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There’s a live version of this video but the audio sucks ass..HERE

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A new ALICE IN CHAINS track entitled “A Looking In View” is now available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon

Check out the full stream before you buy on the bands Official website and watch the trailer below. New album, “Black Gives Way To Blue”, is due in stores on September 29th.

The Return of Alice In Chains

Alice In Chains is back with a fresh deal with EMI’s Virgin Records and new singer William DuVall, and is now ready to release their first album of fresh material in over a decade.

The grunge band’s forthcoming album will be released this September, and is the first with DuVall, who has toured with the group since 2006.

The effort was produced by Nick Raskulinecz, (Foo Fighters, Rush) and was mixed at Hollywood’s Henson Studios.

“It’s been a meaningful journey and a hell of a story,” said guitarist Jerry Cantrell. “We’re very excited to have a home at Virgin/EMI and are looking forward to writing new chapters in the book of Alice.”

Drummer Sean Kinney added, “We’re in a good place. We’ve made a record that we’re really proud of, we’ve got a team in place that’s passionate about the music and we’re excited for the fans to hear the new songs.”

The band recently performed at the Columbus, Ohio Rock On The Range festival. Their next outing comes on July 18th with a Detroit gig with Kid Rock. From there Alice In Chains will head overseas for a handful of festival dates with Metallica.

(Read the article)

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Alice in Chains is coming to the Roseland Theater on September 26th. Tickets go on sale Saturday but buy your tickets starting now! There is no password, just click the link!

Alice in Chains Presale

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I JUST FOUND THIS ARTICLE – DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THIS BOOK WAS EVER RELEASED AND IF SO..HOW CRAPPY WAS IT? I MEAN WHO IS THIS CHICK AND WHAT THE HELL DOES SHE KNOW ABOUT LAYNE’S RECLUSIVE LIFE? NOTHING.
I’D BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT SHE THOUGHT SHE KNEW OR FOUND OUT. I ASSUME IT WAS NEVER RELEASED SINCE THIS IS AN OLD ARTICLE AND I’VE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

I think it’s total crap her trying to make people think she had some secret relationship with Layne complete garbage.

It’s pretty funny because if you visit her website http://itchlovestoriesaboutheroin.synthasite.com/ and you click on the link called The Horse Chronicles it brings you to her Financial Advisor website.. so I guess being an author didn’t work out so she thought she’d try her hand at giving advice on money?

Here’s the article…

LAYNE STALEY Book ‘Itch, Love Stories About Heroin’ Due In April – Oct. 10, 2008
A new book based on late ALICE IN CHAINS singer Layne Staley’s last five years of reclusive life in downtown Seattle is scheduled for release in late 2008. Entitled “Itch, Love Stories about Heroin”, the book “will reveal some secrets about the singer, as well as offer an inside look at his addiction and struggles with heroin,” according to a press release.

“It will be a struggle to finish the book,” author Tanya Vece said. “It will be like closing a chapter on his life, and mine — not for good but I think saying what he would want to have said.”

According to the press release, “Staley did call in an interview to Vece’s friend author Adriana Rubio about a month before his passing. Weak and coughing, Staley wasn’t ready to comment on his reclusive life, but did talk briefly about his fight with drugs.”

“Everyone knows he was addicted,” Vece stated. “I want to talk about who he was, and get to the real Layne — addiction and art.”

When asked on her connection to Staley, Vece said “Let me just say there are some things I won’t expand on — some things even I will keep secret!”

Tanya Vece is the current editor of independent art e-zine The Horse Chronicles. She has three other fictional independent books out and is an honoree of the International Press Academy. Her recent accomplishments include press coverage through CNN for the Democratic debate in Las Vegas.

NOW HERE IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK – THIS WAS FOUND ON HER WEBSITE

An excerpt from Itch. Love stories about Heroin.
I remembering walking through a dark hallway and people looked like demons. Their faces were gone, removed from the world, and looking into another one. Everyone’s skin seemed to be on the verge of melting as their eyes were lit with an ominous green glow. They were hyper and distant. They were also ready to kill, hungry for something beyond the taste of blood. They all looked like they were awakened zombies, trying to recapture their youth in this underground melting pot of demons, fairies, and sleepwalkers who just wanted to waste away beneath the Earth’s surface.
As we headed down the stairs, the volume of the techno house music raved through my ears and pulsated in my veins. It overtook me like a tidal wave. He grabbed my arm while leading the way past a sea of people dancing to the same beat. They all looked drugged, numb to each other yet amazingly moving together in sync. Multi-colored lights scanned the pulsating blanket of the beings in search of someone not moving. The lights flashed and spun, chasing hips that were loosing momentum in this dance that blurred the line between feeling alive and allowing oneself to be dead to the world.
“This is new my thing. This is where I have been at lately” Layne yelled at me. People were starting to strip off their clothes ,while others sprayed water into the crowd from embellished tanks on plastic guns.
I moved with him, feeling more and more evil with every self indulging twaddle motion of my weightless arms. The air was overly humid and infused with sweat. All of us, packed together in this basement like sardines, moved together as one. I could feel the music transforming me into an abstract version of myself. As the lights glazed over me, up and down, right to left , and all around -I could feel my eyes transitioning from morbid blue to a drunk with envy green.
All of us were outcasts, out of sorts, out of our minds and some of us on the verge of being out of our bodies. It was a tragically fantastic place to be.
Layne and I circled the room, on the train of unwinding souls with no real destination. All of us just stuck in our places, like the repetitive pace of the blaring bass in the background. As people bobbed and swayed, someone from the outside could have described this place as hell on Earth. Drugs, alcohol and relishing in sin were all staple crops in this rhythm nation. The best part was not one person gave a damn as every-ones eyes were dilated with an oblivious craving to never loose the taste of this parallel universe.
Layne started to throw up blood on the floor , tipping his hat to himself while laughing away the pain in his stomach. The music was becoming louder as horns drilled into the stagnate drum beats that were now screwing the room. Nothing was stopping this party, this was happening before we entered and would continue on far after we left. Being sick here was not an option. I just kept spinning, moving faster and faster trying to create a dizzying blur that would allow me to ignore his illness and my own slow collapse.

OMG THIS IS COMPLETE GARBAGE!!!!!! IF HE WAS WITH HER IN A CLUB IT WAS PROBABLY THE VOGUE OR SOMETHING AND SHE’S JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT SOUND MYSTICAL AND “DARK”. GIVE ME A BREAK. I HAVE A REAL HARD TIME BELIEVING THERE WAS SOME HEROIN CLUB… I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT. LOL! IF THERE EVER WAS SUCH A THING I WOULD OF BEEN THERE. NOPE NEVER.

“Everyone’s skin seemed to be on the verge of melting as their eyes were lit with an ominous green glow” “The best part was not one person gave a damn as every-ones eyes were dilated with an oblivious craving to never loose the taste of this parallel universe.”

THAT’S JUST FROM LIVING IN THE NORTHWEST YOU KNOW ALL THAT RAIN, NO SUNSHINE IT TENDS TO MELT OUR SKIN AND PIN OUR EYE BALLS IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SOME UNDERGROUND DRUG SOCIAL SCENE.. Haha!

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Revolver TV has uploaded a short interview with ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell conducted by Full Metal Jackie at the first annual Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which was held on April 7 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. Watch the two-minute chat below.

ALICE IN CHAINS has signed with Virgin Records, a division of EMI Music, for the release of the group’s first new album in 14 years. According to a feature in the Los Angeles Times, the yet-to-be-titled disc will be out in mid-September. Production on the project was completed last month after more than a year of writing and recording. The Times writer, who got a preview of some of the material, called the album “recognizably thundering and gloomy,” with an acoustic track called “Your Decision” followed by what the reporter described as “a seven-minute epic built on heavy slabs of guitar, drums and bass, something like BLACK SABBATH but far quicker.”

The disc will mark the recording debut of vocalist William DuVall, who joined the group in 2006. Original singer Layne Staley died of a drug overdose in 2002 after nearly seven years in which the band was all but inactive.

Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez regrouped in 2005 for a charity show before embarking on several tours in 2006 and 2007 with DuVall on the mic.

When asked about stepping into the shoes of Staley, DuVall told the Times, “It’s a big thing. I’ve joined a group that has a strong identity and a strong legacy. Nobody’s sitting here who wants to, in any way, disrespect or sully that legacy. You want to add to it.”

All of ALICE IN CHAINS’ previous albums and EPs were on Columbia Records.

Alice in Chains at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards!

Alice in Chains at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards!

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GRIND by ~Lilith413

Check out even more Layne Staley Fan Art at Deviantart.com after the cut, there are a ton of these amazing art pieces dedicated to Layne and a few even to Demri which is awesome, Layne has touched a lot of hearts in this world it is obvious. If you have something to contribute send it to me.

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Demri was a huge fan of the Cocteau Twins and if you’ve never heard their music I recommend checking them out. I LOVE them too.
I just thought I’d add that just in case people might be curious as too what kind of music besides grunge. She also like the Cure, Violent Femmes, Janes Addiction and she was actually friends with Perry Farrell from Janes Addiction.

She loved to create crafts like paper collages and decoupage which is where she’d cut out Victorian styled angels and fairies and flowers.. usually from real pretty wrapping paper, wallpaper or whatever she could find (stuff like this) and then she’d use decoupage clue and clue them all to boxes, antique makeup totes and carry cases. She loved to surround herself with art and pictures.

She’d also cut out pictures and then plaster the walls in her apartment and then later in her hospital room with all kinds of art collages and hanging dried flowers. She loved dried flowers and incesne. But Demri was a not a hippy, goth, grunge girl..she was her own creation. She was the “it” girl in Seattle in the early 90’s and anyone who knew her and the club scene at the time I doubt would argue with me on that.

You can see an example of the type of stuff she did in these pictures..not her stuff but you’ll get the point I think.
Decoupaged Suit Case
Paper project..so Demri

She liked cupids, hearts and anything Victorian for example these Victorian clip art.

In the early 90’s she dressed in all kinds of crazy yet cute clothes anything retro or vintage. She loved long dresses, skirts, tutu’s, over-alls and doc martins, hand-made clothes, she never really wore jeans and t-shirts it was always something you’d never think of wearing but looked great on her and made you wish you would thought of it type of thing but even if you had of it probably wouldn’t of looked as cool on you..haha. She had that tiny little body that looks great in clothes.

She always wore her hair really long like too her butt or longer and she had thick wavy auburn hair and even though it was usually knotted and dred locked here and there but knotted or not it always looked cool. She wore black nail polish and when she wore make up she used maybe some black mascara and red lips but she didn’t usually wear a lot of make up maybe except for lipstick when she went out. She was also the first girl I met who used her lipstick to add blush to her cheeks.
She also wore Patchouli oil and oil perfumes..which I’m not a fan of myself but it smelled good on her and she definitely had a very distinct smell. Her whole house smelled like her, her clothes, and if she stayed at my house.. my house smelled like her too. It was not a bad smell not at all just uniquely Demri. She always looked adorable even when she wasn’t trying.

What else can I say.. the girl was unique and amazing and since she was older then me..I always kind of looked up to her so if it sounds like I’m idolizing her her.. I’m not. I know Demri had her faults and I believe me I was not blind to those but we all do and why talk about those over and over when she’s gone forever, what good does that do?
I want to remember the funny, sweet, beautiful parts of her and share those things with the people who are interested and from the stats on this post it sure seems that there are a lot of people who are interested in knowing more about who Demri really was.
I just wanted to add a little more and to shed more light on who she was as a girl and not just the tragedy. She was so much more then that….

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Layne had a cat named “Yttik” which is kitty spelled back wards.

That’s my funny tid bit for the day.. Oh and he loved pudding. At one point I think he was only eating pudding..chocolate pudding, vanillia pudding…

He liked to make people laugh and he could be extremely silly at times and then at other times quiet and introverted… he was very down to earth..you never would of known he was famous or whatever unless of course you knew who he was. He didn’t dress in expensive clothes, drive expensive cars…he did buy a Harley Davidson at one point though.
He didn’t act holier then thou and he was nice to his fans just as long as they were not annoying. But hey no one likes annoying people.. He would talk to people if they were respectful of his space and didn’t ask rude questions about his drug use etc.. That would piss him off. He never wanted people to think using drugs was something that he thought was cool. Some idiots would try to impress him in all the wrong ways but just as long as people didn’t act retarded or rude then he would be cool to his fans. Same with Demri. She didn’t hate groupies. I’d say she hated annoying people but not groupies in general. Demri loved people and she would make friends with everyone she met. Demri was bi-sexual and she loved to flirt with girls. She also loved to embarrass them if at all possible. She’d whisper something in their ear and you’d see their mouth just drop open and you’d be like OMG Demri what did you say to her? It was always something overly sexual and wild and the girl was usually three shades of pink. So in that way Demri and Layne were the same..they loved to shock people. Get a reaction out of someone wether it be laughter or shock.
Both of them were pretty hilarious, together they were pretty funny too and cute.

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Alice In Chains Unplugged No Excuses

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This is the video played during the changeover from the electric to acoustic set on the 2006 Alice in Chains tour. It’s a brief look at a little of what made so many of us love Layne so much …

Layne Staley Tribute Video (Features Rare Footage)!!!

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To view the rest of this set please visit the photographers Flickr.com account.

I was pleasantly surprised to find these pictures online and was even more surprised to see my best friend Rosheen is also in the pictures with Demri. Rosheen passed away 6 months after Demri.

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I received some new pictures from one of the moderators at the Layne Staley Forum, Nicole.

This is Demri and one of her best friends Fabiola..adorable. I love their boots and their smiles are so bright and healthy. Fab was a great friend to Demri. I guess you’d call her Demri’s rock in a crazy world.

Demri acting silly and being her loving self…

Demri and Billy Idol.

Hmm..I wonder which one she is..(wink) Maybe the one with the biggest smile? Yep, that’d be her.

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Demri Lara Parrot was a beautiful woman and most people who will come here looking for information will come because they know her as Layne Staley’s girlfriend or because they knew her and are curious what they’ll find online about her. Well, unfortunately there’s not a lot of information online about Demri. Very few people have posted pictures and even fewer of her friends have come forward to talk about her. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe they think it’s rude to write about her online.. I don’t share that opinion.

She was my friend and I know people who love Layne and his music are interested in finding out who she was and I think she’d think that was cool. I also know that she would like it if someone she knew posted her pictures and talked about who she was. Demri was incredible and she deserves to be remembered.

Demri passed away Oct. 29, 1996 and those who knew her.. miss her. I think about her often.

I’m dedicating this page to Demri and Layne and their love, life and friendship.

I hope people enjoy the pictures and leave a comment.

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