Alice in Chains: The Untold Story

Interviews and Sources

The following people were interviewed on the record—meaning that the information they provided could be attributed to them by name—on one or more occasions; either in person or by telephone, Skype, or e-mail correspondence.

Michelle Ahern-Crane, Lisa Ahern Rammell, Steve Alley, Krisha Augerot, Kathleen Austin,

Johnny Bacolas, David Ballenger, Lori Barbero, Peter Barnes, James Bergstrom, Randy Biro,

Duane Lance Bodenheimer, Tim Branom, James Burdyshaw, Damon Burns, Jason Buttino,

Thad Byrd, Bryan Carlstrom, Chrissy Chacos, Ronnie Champagne, Craig Chilton, Annette Cisneros,

Alex Coletti, Ken Deans, Kim De Baere, Duffy Delgado, Jamie Elmer, Jim Elmer, Ken Elmer,

Martin Feveyear, Lyle Forde, Eric Frederick, Gillian Gaar, Dan Gallagher, Morgen Gallagher,

Jeff Gilbert, Jack Hamann, Byron Hansen, Randy Hauser, Maureen Herman, Dave Hillis, Sam Hofstedt,

Ron Holt, Nanci Hubbard-Mills, Scott Hunt, Dave Jerden, Leslie Ann Jones, Mike Korjenek, Rick Krim,

Phil Lipscomb, Robert Lunte, Jacob McMurray, Matt Muasau, Bobby Nesbitt, Dean Noble, Scott Nutter,

Mark Pellington, Karie Pfeiffer-Simmons, Jonathan Plum, Nick Pollock, Sally Pricer Portillo,

Paul Rachman, Stephen Richards, Scott Rockwell, Henrietta Saunders, Joseph H. Saunders,

Rocky Schenck, Chris Schulberg, Ed Semanate, Matt Serletic, Duncan Sharp, Evan Sheeley,

Jimmy Shoaf, George Stark, Josh Taft, Rick Throm, Elan Trujillo, Darrell Vernon, Jon Wiederhorn,

Diana Wilmar, Aaron Woodruff, Toby Wright.

Others agreed to be interviewed on background (meaning that I could use the information but not identify them by name as the source) or on deep background (meaning that I could use the information they provided but not make any reference to the existence or nature of the source). Others gave me guidance on an off-the-record basis, which means that the information was shared with me for better understanding of a particular individual, subject, or event, but I couldn’t report it unless I got it from another source willing to let me use it. Under all three conditions, these sources cannot be named. They know who they are, and I thank them.

In an effort to maximize accuracy, I have tried to verify my reporting through multiple sources as much as possible, but in some cases information is based on a single source. In some instances, I have also noted discrepancies between different accounts. The members of Alice in Chains, Susan Silver, Nancy Layne McCallum, Phil Staley, Liz Coats, Melinda Starr, and Gayle Starr did not respond to or declined requests to be interviewed for this book.

The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius once said, “Why people tell things to reporters is one of life’s great mysteries.” A journalist is only as good as his or her sources, and for this book I was fortunate to have many of the people who knew the members of Alice in Chains personally or professionally trust that I would get their story right. To paraphrase Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s dedication to their sources in All the President’s Men: Without these people, there would have been no Alice in Chains story for me to tell. They all have my profoundest gratitude.