Boston rockers Extreme discuss return to Nashville, Eddie Van Halen's influence ahead of Ryman show

Whether you know their songs from classic movies like the mall scene in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," TV shows like "Stranger Things," or even from when they first dominated the radio airwaves in the early '90s with "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted," the members of the band Extreme want you to know they're not done yet.

The platinum-selling band from Boston is known for its guitar-laced, harmony-driven '90s anthems, but after a near 10-year hiatus that ended in 2004, the band is back together touring, writing and recording new music. In 2023, Extreme released "Six," the group's sixth full-length studio album and first full album of original music since 2008.

Songwriter and guitar player Nuno Bettencourt spoke with The Tennessean from a show stop in Atlanta as the group prepares to wrap up a year-long tour with one last show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium before heading to Europe.

Many fans are still discovering Extreme

Bettencourt said each night on stage he will poll the crowd by asking how many people in the house are seeing Extreme for the first time. The results, he said, are shocking.

"And it's mind boggling that it's always 50 to 60 percent of the crowd," he said. "It really goes to show you that they're discovering — not rediscovering — and the excitement in the audience and the response of the younger generation, kids that are there with their dads and whether they're in their teens or twenties or thirties, like these young audiences that are almost 40 percent of the crowd now, and we're scratching our heads going, 'this is amazing.'"

Tesla: 40 years in and still going strong: Tesla set to rock The Ryman

KoL: Kings of Leon sign with Capitol Records, announce new album, tour to kick off 2024

Does knowing that statistic affect the ratio of new to older songs the band plays onstage? Bettencourt says "without a doubt," adding that half of the new album is part of the live show.

"I know when I've gone to see some of my favorite bands, the second they have a new album, they're like, 'we're going to play stuff off the new album," and it's like that's when people head to concessions or the toilet because they only want to hear the old stuff. But this has not been the case with us."

Fifteen years — and worth the wait

Bettencourt said he knows fifteen or so years between albums is not ideal, but the lengthy delay before releasing "Six" wasn't on purpose. He said the band agreed early on they'd never release any music just for the sake of releasing it.

"We never want to release anything that doesn't mean something to us, emotionally," he said. "You know, it wasn't around until like 2018 that I started writing a handful of songs that I was like, 'Oh, I think, wait, wait, what's going on here?'"

That crop of songs included "Rise," "#Rebel," and "Banshee," which Bettencourt says were a crop of rock songs that felt different and exciting.

Eddie Van Halen wanted to hear the songs

Bettencourt has been widely celebrated for his guitar chops throughout his career, which has transcended Extreme to him recording with and performing for artists like Rihanna and Steven Tyler. He credits players such as Eddie Van Halen, Brian May of Queen, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Pat Travers as influences.

There's even a bit of Van Halen, woven throughout this new record. Bettencourt said when Van Halen died, it really hit him hard and while he says he felt some responsibility to keep his level of guitar playing alive, because he felt lucky that Van Halen respected him as a player and a writer.

The two met several times and Bettencourt said Van Halen was always warm and welcoming to him. Right up to the last time they saw each other.

"When I was recording this album, I remember specifically getting interrupted, like, annoyingly interrupted by Gary saying, 'You gotta come outside for a second,' and there was Edward outside my house. On the day I was recording the solo that actually catapulted this album for us a little bit in the guitar space, he wanted to come hear what we were working on."

Bettencourt felt like the work was too unfinished to play for Van Halen, so he asked him if he would come back in a few weeks, to which Van Halen said he would.

"We had no idea how sick he was and then he never came back. And he never heard any of the stuff, but I always felt like he looking down saying, 'good job, kid, you done good.'"

If you go:

What: Extreme with Living Colour

Where: Ryman Auditorium

When: Saturday, March 16

Tickets: ryman.com

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ahead of Nashville show, Boston rockers Extreme discuss their return