After extensively touring the world with the popular tribute act The Iron Maidens for fourteen years, the new Burning Witches album ‘Inquisition’ finally gave Courtney Cox the opportunity to record and release original material. It was a chance the American guitarist had been waiting for.

“I did not start playing guitar to become a professional tribute musician”, Cox admits. “I would say that was my 9PM to 5AM job, so the rest of the day, I was just Courtney, and not Adriana Smith (Cox’ stage name playing Adrian Smith’s parts in The Iron Maidens). It was an easy transition, and I was kind of waiting for the moment not to be Adrian Smith anymore, haha!

You know, I had a blast those fourteen years doing all the Maiden stuff, but it was just time for a new chapter. Coming from a tribute band, obviously, it meant the world to me that I could contribute to the writing of ‘Inquisition’. I will say it was kind of like the Metallica approach, Romana (Kalkuhl, guitarist) saying ‘send me all your riffs and ideas’, and then shooting stuff back and forth, then she put the song structures together.

And then, when it came time to come into the studio, I went in and did the CC Shred thing on all the tracks. It was a fun time. I’m really proud of what we accomplished on this new record.”

A Connection on All Levels

Cox first worked with Burning Witches recording a guitar solo for ‘Maiden of Steel’ from their 2018 sophomore album ‘Hexenhammer’. She first joined the band on stage in 2023 as a temporary stand-in. “I didn’t even know what was going on half the time”, she laughs. “Because I was coming off a tour with The Iron Maidens opening for Accept, and they asked: hey, do you want to play? And the next thing I know, I’m a witch, haha!

I was just doing as many shows as I could do responsibly, and then I moved to Europe. Everything just kind of fell into place. When I stepped in, I re-recorded three tracks for the digital release of ‘The Dark Tower’: ‘Unleash the Beast’, ‘World on Fire’, and ‘Tomorrow’.  Then we did a video for ‘Unleash the Beast’ and ‘World on Fire’. Those are my versions of the songs.

Even back when I was recording leads for ‘Maiden of Steel’, we’ve always had this connection on all levels. When we were on the road, there’s always either riffing on stuff during soundchecks, singing into phones, little song ideas, this and that. It’s constant. It comes naturally, and we don’t need to think about it. And before you know, an album’s done.

It’s cheesy I always say this, but we’re like sisters. We laugh together, we scream at each other, we cry together… Every emotion. So it’s basically like a marriage, haha! We all have our different personalities, and somehow, it all works together. It keeps things interesting. Even if I didn’t know them before, and it would have been an audition kind of thing, it would have been the same end result.”

Matching Up Perfectly

Although having one guitarist play all the rhythm guitar tracks is becoming increasingly common on metal albums, both Cox and Kalkuhl can actually be heard playing rhythm guitar on ‘Inquisition’. “In the studio, we both did rhythm tracks”, Cox explains. “Which is really cool. Because when you listen to it, it doesn’t really sound like two. We were really excited when our right hands matched up perfectly while we were recording. It didn’t take long. So that was cool.

And obviously, we’re now stepping into starting to play this stuff live. Live, I have to juggle doing little fills, all the solos, and then the harmonies and stuff. I have to decipher which fills are more important to play. But that’s always fun. Juggling all those parts, and singing at the same time.

On some of the songs, I’m right towards the last couple of measures of a solo, and I have to start dinging. So then, I have to make sure I’m at the mic, and not looking down to hit a boost pedal or turn my lead channel off. So you know, it’s a really fun dance I have on stage, haha! The less I have to worry about, the better. You know, I’ll throw a little trick in here and there to spice it up a little bit. But it has to serve the song first.”

Not a Shred-Off Thing

After all, solos are Cox’ comfort zone. “Usually, I will sit down and kind of wrap my head around: okay, where can I take this?”, she explains. “And then, in my typical ADHD, I overplay a lot of the stuff, haha! And then go as crazy as possible, and have my virtuoso side come up. But I know it doesn’t help the song, so when I go into the studio, everything changes. So even if I prep before, everything is completely different in the studio.

It’s not about me, a shred-off thing. You know, that’s for the solo record. Wait for that. So I just went in with the idea that I have to write the best thing that complements the song, and not my ego. I’m crazy, but it’s all about the song at the end of the day, and I was happy with everything that was laid down. Can’t complain. I know I’m into the more is more kind of thing, but sometimes, more is a little too much, haha!

Live, I want it to be as close to what I’ve done on the record as possible, or else it’s not cool. But I can play it live. If I have to back off the singing for one part, I’m just going to back off the singing. Because I’m not singing on the record, so there you go, haha! I’ll give Laura (Guldemond, singer) a look: I’m bowing out for this one, I’ve got too much going on, I’m sorry, haha! Or she’ll give me suggestions vocally on how to get around things.”

Set It and Forget It

For about a decade, Cox has been playing Caparison Guitars, eventually becoming their first ever female signature artist in 2018. Those are the guitars heard on ‘Inquisition’ swell. “Same signature models”, she states. “Actually, no, I have a newer one. In the Maidens, I had my three or four Horus signature models from Caparison, but they are all from maple, and then different colors and stuff.

But for Burning Witches, we are in C# standard, so I asked the main designer in Japan for Caparison if he could do a new, revised greeny for me, with an ebony fretboard. I find that ebony suits lower tunings better than maple, so that’s why I did the switch. This one is actually a little lighter, which is pleasant for my back. I still use all of them, but right now, I’m mainly using this new one with the ebony fretboard.

Pedal-wise, it’s still the same. I use Friedman amps. But when I can’t travel with my Friedman amps, I used to use my Friedman BE-OD pedal. I did that for years with the Maidens as well. But recently, I did change my distortion to the IR-J from Friedman, which is the Jake E. Lee red pedal, and I’ve just been running that into the effects return. So it doesn’t matter which amp head I have, because it’s just all the pedal. Easy. Set it and forget it, haha!

Thankfully, I’m a tone snob, and I don’t like it when my tone changes. So it’s pretty much been the same. Even with the knobs. Minus that IR-J pedal. But my effects stuff and my solo channel hasn’t changed since I was, like, 15 years old. So if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

Rinse and Repeat

Burning Witches has been on tour very extensively ever since Cox joined. “It’s like the tour that never ends”, she laughs. “It apparently just ended the other day, but we’re already preparing for the new one to start now. But I love it. I wouldn’t trade my life for the world. It’s what I was meant to do. Because when things are not busy, I’ll go insane.

Some people, when they’re on the road, they think: oh, I miss home. When I get home, two days later, I think: okay, when are we heading back out again? One of my suitcases from five tours is still full right now, because I still have not unpacked it.

It’s not for everyone. If touring and that kind of stuff was easy, everyone would be doing it. But you know, it’s worth it to see the look on the fans’ faces when you walk out on stage, and the energy. They’re really appreciative of the behind-the-scenes and what we actually have to go through to play a handful of shows.

Everyone thinks: oh, it must be so luxurious. No, it’s not. You get to see the inside of an airplane, the inside of a van, the inside of a hotel, the venue, rinse and repeat. It’s very rare that we get to go and be a tourist. Sometimes it happens. But then you have to decide: do you want to go out walking and see everything that the country has to provide, or do you want to sleep?

That’s why every time people wonder: where’s Courtney on the photo? I’m sleeping, haha! Oh no, I mean, I’m taking the photo, wink-wink. But it’s all worth it. Like I said: I wouldn’t give it up for the world.”

More Colors on the Palette

Although Cox’ focus was always solely on hard rock and heavy metal, she actually accompanied King Crimson frontman Adrian Belew and former Yes singer Jon Anderson as a teenager. “Yeah, I was 15 years old or something like that”, she nods. “Adrian is the nicest guy ever. He used to play a Parker Fly, which I love, but I never had one. I loved playing with him. And you know, I’m just some metalhead out there playing King Crimson songs, haha!

That tour went on to me being on tour with Jon Anderson. So okay, here you go, more prog, haha! Did soundcheck in like my Slayer shirt, haha! That was fun. But it makes you a more well-rounded player. You have more colors on the palette for the canvas. You’ve got to think outside the box.

And even being on the road at that age. Not even just musically. It was the business side of things I really got to cut my teeth into, being so young and seeing how that works. Because yeah, that’s a whole other thing, the music business side of things. Really taught me a lot, which prepared me from living in LA up until now.

I’m not some green guitar player that moved to Europe. I’ve been in this business a long time. Nothing really surprises me anymore, haha! The good, the bad, and the ugly. Everything. Part of life. But I guess you can say that about any career.”

The Wrong Notes

Cox emphasizes that we should not see her as a theoretically gifted musician, however. “My last theory class I think I had to take in high school”, she says. “I needed the credit, and I hated it, haha! Other than that, I just used my ear. Theory is nice and all, but I find a really well-trained ear to be more beneficial. Some of the best notes are the wrong notes.

I have ADHD, so I had problems with focusing. So when I was attempting to take lessons, I didn’t like people telling me what to do, and telling me to practice: instant shut-off. I just couldn’t focus, and I preferred just to sit ad home and put my favorite tunes on, cassettes and cd’s, and just keep rewinding, and just pinpoint the notes note by note, pretty much.

So I knew everything’s wrong. But then I thought: you know what? That’s what makes me me. If I start to take lessons, I’m just going to sound like my guitar teacher. So I think I did alright, haha! I started playing at age 13, going through typical grade school stuff. I was a first chair clarinet. So music was always round. Just randomly, when I was 13, I wanted a guitar after listening to Metallica. The rest, you know, is history after that.”

And yet, it was not an all-female Metallica tribute band she joined. “Uhm, actually…”, she laughs. “I had a band called Queen Diamond, and when I moved to Los Angeles to join The Iron Maidens, Queen Diamond turned into Misstallica, haha! It was called something else before that, but they had to change their name. It was Metalli-see you next Thursday, if you know what I mean.

But I actually filled in for Misstallica a few times, and one major one was a big tour in the UK, I think it was 2010. So there was an all-female Metallica tribute at some point in my life, haha! People ask me to get Queen Diamond back together all the time. It would be fun, because the other guitar player, Gina Gleason, she’s off playing for Baroness. It would be fun to get the group back together, but everyone’s off doing different projects.”

Pleasing Everyone

Now that Burning Witches is gearing up for the tour to promote ‘Inquisition’, the increasingly challenging task of putting a setlist together looms on the horizon. “As of now, after the last show, we have two off the new record in the set”, Cox says. “Once we start doing the full tours, it’s going to be tricky, because you know, you want to remember the other songs that we’ve been playing throughout the years.

You’ve got to please everyone, which is really hard to do when it comes to the setlist. From somebody who’s been in an Iron Maiden tribute band: the hate you would get after every show for not playing this song or that song, even though they have how many albums? You know, you keep the crowd pleasers, throw in a few deeper cuts, and then obviously, a handful of singles that were released for this new record. And then, as the tour continues, obviously, you’ll start changing it up.

Playing with The Iron Maidens was fun, but if I have to hear ‘Run to the Hills’ one more time, I might go play in traffic, haha! ‘Sea of Madness’ is more my kind of thing. If you want to talk about tone: my favorite Adrian tone era is ‘Somewhere in Time’. That chorus effect, the slight delay that I have for my solo channel… I just remember hearing that record when I was just starting out, and that tone, man, it’s so lush. Not too much, not too little, still punchy: perfect.”

Full Focus

Not all the music Cox has written was suitable for Burning Witches. She has also been writing music for a solo project. “Burning Witches obviously have their own sound”, she explains. “And then with the solo record, the themes and the sound of it, the songs are completely different. There’s really, really shreddy stuff, there’s instrumental stuff, and there’s the more cheesy glam kind of sound. So it’s completely different, I believe.

But especially when we go on to work on Burning Witches album seven, I have to be careful not to go: wait, this will be really great for Burning Witches, what do I do? Haha! As of right now, Burning Witches is my full focus, 100 percent. So you know, the solo album thing, that’s just for fun, and not a validation or ego boost. I know what I can do. If I can get the time to finish it, and raise the funds to put it out, it will come out. It’s more for me, you know, just for fun.”