Wolfgang Van Halen Joins Mark Tremonti as Touring Bassist
It looks like Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen won't be sitting around unemployed while waiting for his father, legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, to recover from his recent emergency surgery. The 21-year-old musician has been tapped to join Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti on tour.
Tremonti released a solo album titled 'All I Was' in July, and had planned to have Brian Marshall, who plays with Tremonti in both Creed and Alter Bridge, join him for his scheduled solo dates. But Marshall was unable to commit to the dates, and the guitarist -- who's been friends with the Van Halen camp for years -- turned to the young musician to help him out.
"Due to personal reasons Brian Marshall won't be with us on this tour," Tremonti posted to his Twitter account on Monday. "On a lighter note the amazing @WolfVanHalen will be joining us!"
Ironically, the new gig marks only the second high-level professional job of the young musician's career; he made his debut with the mighty Van Halen in 2007 and has performed and recorded with the group ever since. He tweeted his own excitement on Monday, posting, "Holy sh-t! An abrupt change of plans has left me playing bass with @MarkTremonti tomorrow! I’ve got some tunes to learn!"
There's no word as to how long Wolfgang Van Halen will play with Tremonti on the road, but his schedule with Van Halen is currently clear through next year, when Eddie Van Halen will hopefully be medically cleared to resume active duty after a life-threatening bout with diverticulitis. Tremonti's scheduled tour runs through Oct. 7 in the U.S. before wrapping up in San Antonio. He'll then depart for Europe, where he's scheduled for dates in the U.K., Holland, Germany and Italy.