The list of guitarists Pantera considered for their celebration shows is slowly growing. Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti was the first to be revealed as a potential Dimebag Darrell fill-in, with YouTuber Ola Englund close behind. Now a third guitarist has come to light and it’s not really surprising, given her covers.
YouTuber Kayla Kent revealed in an extensive new YouTube video that she was on Pantera‘s radar as their new purveyor of riffs. Kent said she learned she was in the running to join Pantera after meeting vocalist Phil Anselmo and Dimebag Darrell‘s longtime guitar tech Grady Champion backstage before their recent show in Austin, TX.
“[Phil] knew who I was, and he came up and hugged me, and had super-flattering things to say about my guitar playing and he wanted a picture,” said Kent. “We got chatting for a while and then he told me something I will never forget: he told me that I was on the list of potential Pantera guitar players. I just could not believe it.”
“I asked him several times, ‘Are you joking? Are you serious?,’ and he said, ‘I’m 100 percent serious. I don’t bullshit. We actually considered you. After that interaction I went up to Grady and Steve [Murillo, Zakk Wylde‘s guitar tech] and was like, ‘Is he bullshitting me? Does he just tell everybody that?’ and they were like, ‘He’s not known to bullshit people in private like that.’ Coming from Phil, who is spearheading the new Pantera thing, obviously it means a lot to me that he said that.”
Check out a handful of Kent‘s videos below, which should make it pretty clear that she’s more than suited to do the job.
Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter
Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.
