COVER MARK TREMONTI : APRIL 2001 , MY FIRST

As an American guitar-playing kid, one of the biggest goals cover. So it was definitely a crowning achievement at that point in career. I look back on it and I look like a child. But I’m also crossing my arms and looking down, and of course I wasn’t smiling — you have to look tough! We’ve done a few covers since then, but the one earlier this year [for the January 2020 Guitarists of the Decade special issue] was the biggest honor ever. Definitely my favorite.