Former PANTERA Bassist REX BROWN To Release Debut Solo Album In May

Former PANTERA and DOWN bassist Rex Brown will tentatively release his debut solo album in May 2017. The effort, which he previously described as a "monster," will see him singing and playing guitar and bass on tracks inspired by his love of 1970s music.

Regarding how his solo disc came together, Rex told Eddie Trunk's SiriusXM show "Trunk Nation" earlier this week: "I went to [the] NAMM [convention in Anaheim, California] last year, and I have a really good friend, this songwriter, Lance Harvill — a great songwriter and just killer guitar player. And we started putting together songs. And it's just one of those things, I feel free again."

He added: "Man, I'm a musician number one, and doing this thing on my own and being an artist is what I've wanted to do for a long time. So I'm just letting the wind blow, buddy. That's all you can do. And the material on this is as good as anything I've ever done."

Brown worked on the solo album with ACCEPT drummer Christopher Williams — whom Rex calls "incredible" — and producer Caleb Sherman, a "New York transplant" who moved his studio to Nashville, Tennessee in 2009.

On the topic of why he decided to make his solo album at Sherman's Cygnus Sound studio, Brown said: "Nashville has become this hotbed of super-cool people. You go to L.A. and you ask somebody to play on your record and they go, 'How much?' without playing a note. Fuck you! Nashville, there's just this community that welcomed me in. I lived at [Caleb's] place; he's got a huge spread."

According to Rex, there will be a number of live performances in support of his solo album, but "it's not gonna be extensive touring," he said. "We're going to Europe, doing a bunch of festivals, and then we'll see where we go from there."

Brown previously described his solo album as "a rock and roll record. It's not your standard fare or typical metal thing," he told Metal Hammer magazine. "I was always a big [LED] ZEPPELIN fan and even though it has its little fringes of it... It's a new journey that sounds like anywhere from FOGHAT to old Tom Waits. I'm a child of the 70s and I love those kind of songs."

After leaving DOWN in 2011, Rex went on play with KILL DEVIL HILL, which has released two albums so far: "Kill Devil Hill" (2012) and "Revolution Rise" (2013).

Asked if there are any plans for KILL DEVIL HILL to do anything in the coming months, Brown told "Trunk Nation": "That's something we're gonna figure out here before the holidays. The options are open on that one. But I've got to do this [solo project] right now."

Brown's memoir, "Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera", was released in March 2013 via Da Capo Press.