Judas Priest: New Guitarist Richie Faulkner Feels Welcomed by Band, Fans

Guitarist Richie Faulkner really got called into the gig of a lifetime: replacing long-time Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing for the band's final world tour and album. In a recent interview with Geeks of Doom, Faulkner talks about being welcome into the Priest fold. An excerpt from the interview follows:

Q: Were you welcomed into the band?

A: "Absolutely. They’ve been nothing short of welcoming on every front really, on a personal level and a musical level as well. We arranged some of the songs live to put some extra guitar solos in there to showcase what I can do and you can’t get more welcome than that. You know, changing arrangements for classic songs like that just to accommodate what you can do I think that’s a great honour to be granted that opportunity."

Q: What’s the reaction from the Judas Priest fans been like?

A: "Well, great really. I think they’ve been amazing welcoming a new guy to the family. I think initially there was some skepticism, which, that’s natural, you know? That’s going to occur when someone leaves after 40 years. People I think have a tendency to fear the worst, even though they should be trusting the band to pick the right guy, people tend to fear the worst. So we always knew that within the first week of getting out there on tour and showing people what we can do they’d be on our side and they’ve been nothing short of amazing really. They’ve been really welcoming. You accept, you understand the skepticism… but two songs, three songs into the set they’ve got their hands in the air, they’re singing along, they’ve forgotten all that. They’re just enjoying the show. So it’s been great, really. The crowd reaction’s been amazing."

You can ead the full interview at this location.