Phil Anselmo’s guitarist Mike DeLeon recently discussed how Pantera bassist Rex Brown taught him Dimebag Darrell’s unique playing style during an interview on the Talk Louder Podcast.
DeLeon revealed an interesting detail about his early involvement with the band. When asked if he played guitar at the first rehearsal before Zakk Wylde joined, he confirmed:
“Man, I got to jam at rehearsal number one. This is all.”
He emphasized the significance of that initial rehearsal:
“The most important thing about this rehearsal that went down, the most important thing was that it was rehearsal number one. It was the first time that those three guys got in a room together, but most specifically, Rex Brown and Philip Anselmo, who had not really been in a room together jamming Pantera songs since 2001.”
The Challenges of Joining Pantera
Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde shared a close friendship, and fans always viewed Wylde as the natural choice for a Pantera reunion. However, Wylde himself admitted that he didn’t initially know any of Dimebag Darrell’s parts. In an interview with Guitar World, he reflected on the challenges of stepping into the late guitar legend’s shoes:
“The hardest thing wasn’t learning [the songs]; it was learning the proper way to play them so they sound like Dime – because everybody’s gonna play certain things their own way. I remember when I used to play [Rush’s] ‘The Spirit of Radio’, I learned it on the B string and the G string, and I had to do this big stretch. My guitar teacher was like, ‘No, no, Zakk. It’s all open strings. It’s on the second fret on the E and the B.’ That was way easier.”
You can watch the full interview with Mike DeLeon below.
