VINNIE PAUL - Rebel With A Record Label Page 4
by Martin Popoff

In closing, Vinnie offers a few comments with respect to the Rebel Meets Rebel record. "I think it's definitely a big reflection of how me and Dime worked musically. Because when you play in a metal band, it's like a machine. Everybody plays together and it has that punctuation. And with this record, it was much more of a Rolling Stone vibe - wide open; everybody could play what they wanted. There weren't any rules. We just didn't feel like we had to blow anybody away with the power or whatever people were used to. We could really explore and delve into our Southern roots and other styles that we wouldn't normally do within Pantera. So it was a lot of fun, and there wasn't any pressure when we were making it. It was one of the records that you made that nobody knows about. You don't have to worry about the record company snooping around or this or that. And I think what really made the records work was that me and Dime and Rex approached it the way we always did, which is we wrote the music. And it was our style of music. And Dave approached the same thing in his way. He didn't try to be metal and he didn't try to be country. We just both did what we did and put the two together, and it worked."

Asked about the notorious David Allan Coe and his state of health, Vinnie lets out a big laugh and then cautions that the album "was recorded four, five years ago, so he was only just about to get to 60 then (laughs). But he's good. I mean, he plays nine months out of the year, plays all over the place, has packed crowds, and he's kind of a work of art, man. I mean, it's amazing that the dude is 66 and going as strong as he is. I mean, he drives his own bus sometimes. He's got bus drivers and drummers and stuff, and sometimes they're not around. I've seen him play without a bass player. I've seen him play without a drummer. If someone pisses him off he just says, 'f**k you' and then he just keeps going. He's a pretty hip cat. I mean come you can tell from listening to the record. He's obviously very countrified, but he really became a big fan of metal. He can keep up, and he does just fine."

Can you keep up with him?

"I can keep up with him, that's for sure. I mean, he goes through his phases where he starts drinking again, then stops drinking. When he's drinking, man, he's tough to keep up with. He can still go, man (laughs)."