"One of the first, if not the first, guitarists to put his name forward after hearing that Doug Aldrich had left the band, was an exceptionally talented musician whom we had met briefly last year when his band opened for Whitesnake in Arizona," revealed Coverdale last August.

"Everyone was very impressed by him, not only for his ability to play amazing guitar, but, also, his very agreeable personality & he was definitely foremost in our minds when we began to search for Doug's replacement in Whitesnake."