Phil Anselmo Told YouTuber Kayla Kent She Was Considered as Potential Pantera Guitarist
The entire Pantera reunion/tribute/whatever saga has been going on for quite a while now, so it’s easy to forget just how long the metal world wondered who would take the late guitarist Dimebag Darrell‘s place. Many felt that Zakk Wylde taking the spot was a foregone conclusion given how close he was to Darrell, but we’ve since learned that wasn’t exactly the case.
As it’s been previously reported, Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown had a shortlist of potential players on their mind when drawing this return up. We’ve since heard that Mark Tremonti and Ola Englund were among those considered and now we’ve got another name: YouTube star Kayla Kent.
That bit of information comes directly from Kent herself, who released a nearly 15 minute video earlier this week detailing her experience being invited backstage for Pantera’s show in Austin back on August 20. And while she goes into detail about meeting Dime’s guitar tech Grady Champion and watching him work, it’s her encounter with Anselmo that’s particularly interesting.
According to Kent, Anselmo immediately knew who she was and complimented her guitar playing. During their interaction, he apparently told her that she as on the list of potential guitar players for the Pantera tribute act.
“He 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. 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,” recalled Kent. “After that interaction I went up to Grady [Champion] 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.”
Could you imagine?! That’s got to be the coolest thing to hear when your entire YouTube channel is based around guitar playing with a specific interest in Pantera and Dimebag Darrel.
You can check out the full video below and if you’re down, give her a like and subscribe. She can fucking play, man.
