RE-ENTER THE DRAGON

In an interview that took place before Ozzy Osbourne's death, the Back to the Beginning standout talks Charvel guitars, next steps and the joy of achieving closure with his former boss

- ANDREW DALY PHOTO BY ROSS HALFIN

ALL'S BEEN QUIET for several years on Jake E. Lee's proverbial Western Front. The guitarist has taken extended breaks before, like the one after the demise of his beloved Badlands in 1993. Still, after forming Red Dragon Cartel in 2013 and reeling off two well-regarded records in 2014's Red Dragon Cartel and 2018's Patina, the thought was that Lee was back to stay. Covid put a pin in that, as it did with most sectors of the world.

Making matters worse is that Lee suffers from particularly nasty arthritis in his right hand, leaving him with "basically no cartilage.” That's painful, but probably not nearly as painful as a life-threatening incident in October 2024, when he was shot multiple times while walking his dog near his home in Las Vegas.

After intense physical therapy, Lee is recovering well. While none of his injuries were life-threatening, one of the areas of his body damaged during the shooting was his left arm, making his guitar playing even more painful, not that Lee pays much attention to that. Lee's outlook is nice to hear. Then again, what choice does he have? What else could he do when faced with a wounded left arm and a cartilage-less right hand? One option is that he could quit, which is more or less what he did after Covid forced Red Dragon Cartel off the road in 2020. He was in pain, which he could handle, but time was on his side, so why not?

The results of the time off have been good. When not in physical therapy, Lee has been pulling out his vintage guitars, of which he admits to having too many. He's reconnecting with SGs, his '58 Les Paul and various hollow and semi-hollowbodies. He's also writing, though not recording, music of his own. Instead, he's dipping his toe back into the water by laying down a bluesy solo on a yet-to-be-named album by fellow Las Vegas resident and Count's 77 guitarist, Stoney Curtis.