Running for almost a decade and a half, 3 Doors Down weren’t always the wily rock veterans that they are today. In talking with the band’s guitarist Chris Henderson, he credited two bands as major inspirations early on in the group’s career; Creed and Sevendust. Henderson says that both bands taught them some really important lessons.

“I have to say Mark Tremonti has been one of the guys that I’ve always looked up to,” said Henderson in a recent interview with Alternative Addiction. “Going out with Creed early on in our career was really cool because they showed us a lot of things. Mark Tremonti, Phillips, and Brian Marshall… those guys were some of the greatest musicians out there and some of the nicest cats.

“Being able to tour with that band showed us what to do and what not to do. So we have to thank them because there were some really cool things that came out of the Creed days and they showed us the ropes. That band was doing everything, they were one of the biggest bands in the world and they were living it. We went out on the road and we got to see that. We got to see that without having anything to lose too,” added Henderson.

The 3 Doors Down guitarist went on to talk about one of his favorite bands, Sevendust. While Creed helped guide the band early in their career. Sevendust proved to be a big influence on 3 Doors Down’s live show.

“We also toured with Sevendust on that tour and that’s one of the greatest live bands that we’ve ever seen. Being on the road with those guys and watching those guys night after night, you get to see a real band work. That was one of the coolest things for us, to watch them and try and emulate them. Over the years we’ve picked up things from that band and brought it into our live show. It’s made us more aggressive and a tighter band altogether because they are so good. They’re still that good.”

3 Doors Down went on to tour with everyone from Seether, Nickelback, Lifehouse, Daughtry, Our Lady Peace, and a seemingly endless list of band’s tied to the alternative genre. More recently however, the band did some touring with ZZ Top. Chris said there was both good and bad with that tour.

“I enjoyed that tour but I’m glad it’s over. We toured with Skynyrd years ago and that was a better fit. The Skynyrd fans accepted us more than some of the ZZ fans did and I don’t really know why. You had to go out and really earn that crowd night after night, it made us a better band but sometimes it was hard. I think we grew from that tour, but yeah... I’m glad it’s over. It was almost like playing in front of music critics every night; you just didn’t want to make any mistakes. It took a little bit of the spontaneity out of it.”

3 Doors Down’s Greatest Hits came out at the end of 2012. The group is planning on being out on the road for most of 2013, to find out if they’ll be coming to a city near you anytime soon, visit www.3doorsdown.com