Jar of Lies has been grinding authentic sonic dirt into the faces of Alice In Chains fans since 2009, bringing them all the crushing riffs and haunting vocal harmonies of the real thing.  Live, and with raw authority.

So... you want the full story?

Origins  (2008-2010)

Jar of Lies, Portland’s Alice in Chains tribute band, was first formed and named in 2008 by Al Silveira, Jeremiah Miller, and Jeff "Crusher" Johnson (drums).  About a year later, Scott Slaten joined on vocals. Shortly thereafter, they played their first gig together on Sep 26, 2009.

In December 2009, Kyle Nees came in to provide a second guitar.  Scott eventually took on those duties when Kyle left the following summer.  Jeff bowed out in January of 2010, with Victor Elbert joining soon afterward.

Hitting Hard  (2010-2011)

Over the course of the next two years, Jar of Lies performed close to two dozen gigs with this lineup.  They gained many fans and followers, and formed strong connections with many fellow musicians that shared the stages with them in Portland's growing tribute scene.  Good times!

Now and Then  (2012-2018)

After that very busy stint, Scott felt ready to take a break and move on to other projects, and the rest had plenty else to work on, so they decided it was a good time to call it done.  They played their official “last show” on October 1, 2011.

However, while busying themselves with those other projects, they kept getting asked to bring back "JoL".  So over the next four years, they would occasionally get back together to play another show.  Mostly for special occasions, or when friends made them an offer they could not refuse. ;)  Sometimes on very short notice... two days?  No problem!

With Scott's encouragement, they would occasionally try to find someone else to step into those Layne Staley shoes... but this proved rather difficult, as you might imagine.  They eventually met Jeff Roussos, and had a great little run in 2015 with him at the helm, but he also had to leave to focus more on his other bands.

Following that, they continued to perform with Scott again on occasion, but in August of 2017, they finally wound down to a close.  Or so they thought.

Again and Again  (2019-)

In 2019, Al, Jer & Andy, already playing together in an original band, invited Jeff to come out and jam with them, and ended up playing a lot of Alice in Chains… a LOT.  And got to thinking... should they fire up JoL again?

After getting Scott and Victor’s blessing to continue, they did!  And after a great return show in early 2020... well, we all know what happened then, right?  When the opportunity finally came to play again, Jeff wanted to continue focusing on his original project, so... enter Andrew Greene.  We were back! Again!

Fast forwarding a bit, Andy was needing to cut back on projects... happily covering until we had someone else to fill his seat.  Soon after, we were joined by the multi-talented Anthony Medici, of... multiple roles in so many great bands, how does he keep track of them all!  

So pour one out for Layne, another for Mike Starr, and raise a fresh one up for all those that continue... as will JoL.  Here’s to the next chapter for Jar of Lies, Portland’s Alice in Chains Tribute!

Lineups

The Family (current and former members)

The Man

Guest musicians

Shows