It might seem strange to pick a linchpin of the Pacific Northwest, but Mr. Thayil is actually from Park Forest, as was original Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Either way, Thayil went on to be one of the more unique guitarists of the 90’s, constantly seen with an MGD or another beer in hand. He famously remarked that he only attended award shows for the free beer, and we here at SCH certainly understand. Aside from that, the dude could absolutely shred, and he was more than just a riff-writer. “Outshined” is written in 7/8, I’d like to see how many other bands these days could pull that off. Thayil will be back with the rest of Soundgarden at Lollapalooza this year, and there’s no way I’m missing it, despite my complaints about that festival.
One Thayil story. Indian and SCH Ombudsman Adam Fels was in Seattle a couple years ago for business. He made it his mission to find Kim and buy him a beer. Adam visited many bars that week, and had this exchange with a bartender at all of them:
Adam: “Hey, there’s no chance that Kim Thayil ever comes in here, is there?”
Bartender: “Oh no, he’s in here pretty often actually.”
Adam (excited): “You think he might be in here tonight?”
Bartender: “There’s a chance for sure, yeah.”
EVERY. BAR.