Original SALIVA Singer JOSEY SCOTT On WAYNE SWINNY: He Was One Of 'The Most Prolific Guitar Players That Will Ever Be'

Original SALIVA singer Josey Scott (a.k.a. Joseph Sappington) has paid tribute to the band's founding guitarist Wayne Swinny who died last month at the age of 59. Speaking to I Ask No One With Kevin Re LoVullo about the passing of his longtime bandmate, Josey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's been absolutely heartbreaking. I can't really put it into words how devastating this loss has been.

"Wayne Swinny was an amazing, amazing bandmate," he continued. "He was an amazing friend, an amazing brother and just an unbelievable musician. His musicianship was just pristine and perfect… [He was one of] the most prolific guitar players that will ever be — not in just Memphis but in rock and roll history. He will go down — like a lot of people have said on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram; people have said, 'This will be remembered just like Randy Rhoads. This will be remembered just like Eddie Van Halen.' And that's true. This moment for us carries the heaviness of a Randy Rhoads or an Eddie Van Halen-type situation. Swinny would have loved hearing that. And I just wish I could tell him those things to his face. And I will someday. I know I will see him again.

"He was not just one of the most amazing guitar players I've ever seen, but one of the funniest," Scott said. "If you knew Wayne Swinny personally or if you ever got to hang out with him for more than five minutes, you understood that he was one of the funniest human beings on the planet. If this man had not went into rock and roll, he could have easily — easily — been a stand-up comic or a comedic movie star of the highest caliber, of the highest order.

"We have a friend and bandmate that played with us for a long time named Jonny Montoya. He was in a band called FULL DEVIL JACKET. And Jonny would say, 'I thought I was funny, and then I met Wayne Swinny. [Laughs]

"There are just as many comedic moments with Wayne as there are musical moments with Wayne. And I'm so grateful and so thankful and blessed to be able to say that I got to share all those magical musical moments with him, but I also got to share all those magical comedic moments with him.

"He was one of those guys that was funny in a way that was all-inclusive of everyone, even if you were the butt of the joke, and I was most definitely the butt of the joke more than a thousand times. But he never made you feel like he was making a sport of you or hurting your feelings or anything like that. He encompassed everyone he got around. He would just hold court on the bus or in a crowd of people. And people would leave literally in a fetal position on the ground with tears running down their face because he's just that funny."

Josey added: "I'm gonna miss him."

Shortly after the news of Wayne's death was made public, Scott wrote on his social media: "I have no words. Just the love, and the little moments, and the looks that we shared, just between us and the fans, on stage, after stage, all over the world, that no one will ever know. Playing music, and writing music with a man like Wayne Swinny, for as long as we did, like we did, in all those places we did, is so very intimate. It was a love we shared together, and I will go into eternity holding on to that love, and those memories. Forever #TheToxicTwins".

On March 22, SALIVA shared a statement on Facebook in which the band said that Swinny had been found that morning "in medical distress." Paramedics were called and the musician was transported to hospital "where he was diagnosed with a Spontaneous Hemorrhage in his brain."

SALIVA was on the road in the U.S. as part of the "Spring Mayhem" tour with THROUGH FIRE and ANY GIVEN SIN and had played in Nashville on March 20.

SALIVA launched its career in 2001 with the release of "Every Six Seconds", a double-platinum selling album with hits that include "Click, Click Boom" and "Your Disease".

The band has toured the U.S. with SEVENDUST, AEROSMITH and KISS.

SALIVA reunited with Scott for a one-off appearance at last year's Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Scott left SALIVA at the end of 2011 after 15 years with the group, reportedly to pursue a solo Christian music career. He was quickly replaced by Bobby Amaru, who can be heard on SALIVA's last four releases: "In It To Win It" (2013),"Rise Up" (2014),"Love, Lies & Therapy" (2016) and "10 Lives" (2018).

SALIVA released six albums with Scott and tasted platinum success and a Grammy nomination for its first big hit, "Your Disease".

In May 2021, SALIVA celebrated the 20th anniversary of its breakthrough major label debut, "Every Six Seconds", with a special project called "Every Twenty Years", an EP of classic songs re-recorded with Amaru.