Alter Bridge and Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti lucked out when he got Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen to join Tremonti's touring band at the last minute to replace Brian Marshall. Now Tremonti has told Metal Shrine that he's looking forward to extending Van Halen's tenure in the band. Tremonti explained, "We've already talked about (recording) and we look forward to it. I think it'll add a whole other element to this band."

• Tremonti said that Van Halen is "a very positive person and good to be around and an incredibly talented musician," adding that he had considered bringing him into the band at an earlier stage -- until Van Halen decided to go on tour.
• The guitarist told us that he couldn't be happier with the touring band he has now: "I couldn't feel more confident in the people that are in my band. I feel like I could play awful and these guys would make up for that. I think this is a group of four guys who on their day off would play music all day long and it's awesome. You know, I think we all are very confident with one another and we all get along great. Usually, in almost every band, there's somebody that ruins it for everybody -- there's nobody in this band. We're just all fun."
• Marshall, who also plays in Creed and Alter Bridge, had to bow out of the tour the night before it started due to personal issues.
• Tremonti is touring in support of his first solo disc, All I Was. He just finished a headlining stint on the Harddrive Live tour and is now heading to Europe for a series of gigs opening for Slash.
• Van Halen is off the road for the rest of 2012 while Eddie Van Halen recovers from surgery on his intestinal tract, which means Wolfgang has at least a few more months to stay on the road with Tremonti.

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

• Should Tremonti definitely have Wolfgang appear on his next solo album?
• Do you think Eddie Van Halen will mind if his son plays in two bands? After all, that's what got Michael Anthony kicked out of Van Halen...
• Do you think Wolfgang Van Halen is going to become as respected as his old man as he gets older and more experienced?

INTERNET COMMENTS at Blabbermouth -- agree or not?

klonozo wrote: "Not a big fan of current VH or Wolfie, but this is how you do it, by playing with different people. Wolfie seems like a really good kid and a decent musician anyway, the VH name will give him options other up-and-coming musicians don't have. Take advantage while you can."

jokerstyle wrote: "I think Wolfie doing something like this is good for Van Halen.....good for him to be on a smaller scale tour and play smaller venues..."

Lemmy's Mole wrote: "I wonder if Eddie will fire Wolfie for having projects outside of Van Halen."

CHECK IT OUT: Watch the video for Tremonti's latest single, "So You're Afraid":

Mark Tremonti On His Current Solo Touring Band

Read more at Blabbermouth and Loudwire