Lynyrd Skynyrd Lament the Lack of Young Rock Guitar Heroes

Got a list of your favorite up-and-coming guitar players? You may want to forward it to the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Singer Johnny Van Zant and guitarist Rickey Medlocke recently sat down for a chat with MetalXS, and while the main subject was the band's new release Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin’nérd & Second Helping – Live From Jacksonville at the Florida Theatre, talk soon turned to what they see as the decline of the rock 'n' roll guitar hero.

"A wise man told me that there's no guitar heroes in the last 20 years or 10 years, and that's probably the God's honest truth," grins Van Zant in the interview segment, which you can watch above.

"If you really stop to think about it," adds Medlocke, "the last really big guitar hero was Eddie Van Halen, and that was back in the '80s — early '80s, you know what I mean? That's a long time ago."

As Medlocke sees it, Skynyrd's triple-guitar approach offers a satisfying contrast to the current crop of rock bands. "I think the three-guitar attack, as they say, is really powerful," he continues. "Especially the way the sound of each guitar is different, and it comes together. It's incredible. I think it goes all the way back to the way they kind of just did it — kind of by accident ... I think that each guy, even right now, has his own place in the band, and whatever song you're playing, if it's from a new record, whoever fits that style is the guy that pretty well plays the lead in it."

"You don't see bands doing that these days," argues Van Zant, and Medlocke agrees: "If they do, they're just copying."

One of Skynyrd's own guitar heroes, co-founder Gary Rossington, is currently on the mend after suffering a serious heart attack, but he's issued a statement vowing to be back in front of the band's fans "before you know it."

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