“I started hearing about these guitar contests that he would enter every year in Texas, and he was the best guitarist for six years running”: Jerry Cantrell recalls the first time he met the “otherworldly” Dimebag Darrell

Left–Dimebag Darrell of Pantera performs at the Airport Music Hall on June 7, 1991, in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Right–Jerry Cantrell is shown performing on stage during a live concert appearance with Alice in Chains on October 29, 1991.

Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell recently looked back on the first time he met Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell and his brother, Vinnie Paul – a day that will be forever marked in his memory due to what he describes as Dimebag’s “otherworldly” talents.

It was back in 1985 – right after Cantrell decided to quit college and move to Dallas to join a band with a couple of friends.