RIFF RADIO: Mark Tremonti wants to ‘Take a Chance’ with Sinatra covers album

Mark Tremonti, Tremonti, Alter Bridge, Creed, Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra

Mark Tremonti, courtesy.

Guitarist and singer Mark Tremonti has thrilled hard rock audiences almost nonstop for more than two decades, churning out blistering guitar solos and pinpoint riffs in bands Creed, Alter Bridge and Tremonti. He’s never been known as a crooner. That is, until now.

Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra
Mark Tremonti
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“I’ve been a Sinatra fan all my life, but three years ago I kinda dove in deep,” Tremonti said. “I wanted to sing like him, I read all the books about him, watched all his movies, and just became an obsessed fan.”

Tremonti said he had no specific goal in mind beyond simply having fun and singing along to the music he enjoyed—until his family was thrown a curveball.

“I got a diagnosis that our daughter that was about to be born was going to be born with Down syndrome,” Tremonti said.



The guitarist knew that Sinatra had helped to raise more than $1 billion for charitable causes, and decided to fundraise for causes related to Down syndrome. The album that resulted is Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra, a 14-track effort spanning Sinatra’s catalog from well-known hits to deep cuts. All of the proceeds from the album benefit the National Down Syndrome Society.

The musician’s vocal tone echos Sinatra in an uncanny way. It’s a similarity that Tremonti said didn’t take him by surprise.

“I knew his range was close to mine, which was helpful because I could practice and sing along without blowing my voice out,” Tremonti said. “All the mannerisms, his phrasing, where he’d breathe, how he’d apply vibrato—that I had to learn as I went.”

Striving for complete authenticity, he leaned on the members of Sinatra’s orchestra to round out the arrangements. They initially scheduled a two-song recording session just to feel out the process and see what the chemistry was like.



“A lot of the guys came up to me after the fact and said, ‘I didn’t know what to expect, kid, but that was great,'” Tremonti said. “Some of theses guys hadn’t played together in decades, so it was great to reunite some of these folks.”

Given all the musical experience in the room, did Tremonti find any common ground between the worlds of hard rock and the Great American Songbook? Tremonti flatly said, “No;” and that was the point. Accustomed to playing guitar on stage, he had some initial worries ahead of the band’s first performance as to how he’d handle just being in the front, but admitted everything worked itself out.

“Being on stage teaches you to continue being on stage, whether it’s with a guitar or a microphone,” he said. “Probably the only spillover from one world to the next is just being in front of people up on that stage.”

Nor was he nervous about singing in front of Frank Sinatra’s musicians.

“I practiced these songs more than I’ve practiced anything musically in my life,” Tremonti said. “What’s the worst thing people are going to say? I did a bad job raising money for charity?”



It’s with that charitable spirit that Tremonti launched a new initiative, Take a Chance for Charity. He’s hoping other artists will take on that same creative challenge and record a cover in a style that’s entirely unfamiliar to fundraise for a good cause.

“People don’t have to be nervous about it; just try something different for fun,” he said.

Tremonti singing is pretty ironic. In his earliest days in Creed, he sang backup but focused almost exclusively on guitar. With Alter Bridge, he slowly became more confident, even singing lead on a track or two. In interviews, however, he swore off taking on more of a vocal role. Now, he’s fronting his own band.

“When I go out and sing with my solo band, I worry about losing my voice sometimes, because I’m pushing so much all the time,” Tremonti said. “I’m much more confident singing the Sinatra stuff because it suits my vocal range better.”

Never one for idle time, he’ll be working concurrently in all three of his current bands. Alter Bridge’s forthcoming album, Pawns & Kings, will be released in October. That’s on top of touring with Tremonti. He’ll play a handful of Sinatra shows in September before hitting the road with Alter Bridge before closing out the year with another run of Sinatra in December.

“I suggested we take this around the world, and they’re all about it; I just need to tell them where and when,” he said.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.

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