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Alice Cooper has announced a new guitar player ahead of his next run of shows, which kicks off in Las Vegas tonight (April 2).
Longtime guitarist Nita Strauss has stepped back from touring as she’s set to welcome her first child into the world this summer, after Alice Cooper joined her for a rendition of “I’m Eighteen” at her wedding last year.
Filling her place is 22-year-old Anna Cara from Newcastle, England. The bright spark guitarist has amassed over 50,000 Instagram followers thanks to her sumptuous covers of classic rock songs, armed with a Gibson Les Paul, SG, or an EVH Wolfgang. She, however, appears to have taken Ibanez’s pointed Iron Label Xiphos model under her wing for these shows.
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Having worked with one of Cooper’s most trusted guitarists, Tommy Henriksen – who joined in 2011 and is also part of the Hollywood Vampires – there is a clear connection between her and the band already. But it’s the outgoing Nita Strauss who recommended her for the gig.
“When I was asked in an interview who I thought was the best up-and-coming guitarist, I had no hesitation in answering ‘Anna Cara,’” Strauss details. “Anna’s precision and soulful, emotional playing will make her an amazing asset to the Cooper tour. I know the show is in good hands and the fans are in for a treat.”
Cara has also worked with Krokus frontman Marc Storace, with whom she has toured. But it’s the Strauss nod that seems to resonate most with the king of shock rock – partly because she’s a chip off the old block.
“Anna Cara is a beautiful, dynamic shredder in the vein of Nita, but with a style of her own,” he enthuses. “She will fit in with our gang perfectly while Nita is away, and we can’t wait for the sick things to meet her.”
She becomes the youngest member of the current Alice Cooper band, following in the footsteps of Orianthi, Damon Johnson, and, of course, the late, great Glen Buxton by playing in the group.
“This is like a dream come true, to join Alice and his great band,” Cara purrs. “Back when I started playing guitar at 14, I was watching Alice Cooper live shows on YouTube, dreaming of joining one day.
“Nita Strauss is a tough act to follow, and she’s been so encouraging to me this past month, so I am looking forward to showing everyone who I am and what I can do.”
Alice Cooper is back out on the road after reuniting the original Alice Cooper Band, with glam-rock hotshot Gyasi stepping into Buxton’s role with “his own style and ideas.”
However, he’s not set to be part of the live band, with Henriksen and Ryan Roxie – who first featured on 1996’s Dirty Diamonds – remaining in the picture.
Cooper is set to play shows with Criss Angel in Las Vegas, as well as a slew of dates on the Alice’s Attic tour this summer.
See Alice Cooper for more details.
Elsewhere, Guitar Player has looked back on his John Lennon-approved 1972 hit that made him a star, and the unlikely conditions that saw Jimi Hendrix helping him score his first record deal.
Suzi Quatro has also looked back on her time touring with the band and the hotel incident in which she nearly broke his nose.
