This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Flotsam and Jetsam are a Thrash band, later they went in a more progressive metal direction but have since come back to a more Thrash base. Singer Eric "A.K." Knutson is the only member to appear on every album. The first core line up also included guitarists Edward Carlson and Michael Gilbert with drummer Kelly David-Smith. Jason Newsted of Metallica fame was the bassist for the first album. He was a main writer for it as well as wrote a lot of the second album although he did not perform on it. Troy Gregory would take his place for two albums. Jason Ward would then play bass on every album through 2013. Mark Simpson would replace Gilbert on guitar for four albums before his return 2010. Steve Conley replaced Edward on guitar in 2013. Michael Spencer who was with the band a short time in the 80s rejoined in 2013, replacing Ward on bass. Drummer Craig Nielsen would replace Kelly on four albums in the 2000’s. Kelly returned for an album. Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall played on one album and Ken Mary has been on drums since 2017.

Deep Purple are a hugely influential hard rock and early heavy metal band. Craig named Ian Paice as a big influence.

Jeff Beck is one of the most influential guitarist out of the 60’s. Steve is a fan.

Yes were an influential progressive rock band. Troy named Chris Squire as one of his favorite bassists. In an interview with Newsted in 89 he is quoted as naming “Chris Flawyer”. I would postulate that the interview miss heard Chris Squire.

Genesis are a progressive rock band and later went into a more pop direction. Troy named them as an influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Newsted named them as an influence and named Geezer as his favorite bassist. Troy said they were one of his biggest influences. Eric named Dio as an influence.

UFO are an influential hard rock band. Newsted named them as an influence.

April Wine are a Canadian hard rock band. Kelly said they was a band he played along to as a kid.

Montrose were a hard rock probably best known as Sammy Hagar’s first band. Newsted named bassist Bill Church as a favorite.

Judas Priest had a huge and in shaping metal as a genre. Newsted named them as an influence. Erick named Halford as a big influence. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid.

Kiss are one of the biggest American hard rock bands. Newsted said they were an influence when he first started to play and named Gene as an influence. Eric said Destroyers was the first album to have a big impact on him. Edward said Kiss Alive was the album that really got him into music. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid. — Kiss are one of the biggest American hard rock bands. Newsted said they were an influence when he first started to play and named Gene as an influence. Eric said *Destroyers* was the first album to have a big impact on him. Edward said *Kiss Alive* was the album that really got him into music. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid.

Rainbow consisted of two of the most legendary people with Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore. Troy named them as an influence. Eric also named Dio as an influence.

Ted Nugent is an influential hard rock / heavy metal guitarist. Newsted named his bassist Rob Grange as one of his favorites.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Michael Gilbert said hearing “The Jack” is the reason he wanted to play guitar.

Journey are a huge arena rock band. Craig named Steve Smith as a big influence and also named later drummer Deen Castronovo

Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Newsted named them as an influence and named Lemmy as one of his favorite bassists, second only to Geezer. Troy also named Motorhead as an influence.

Rush were a hugely influential progressive hard rock band. Newsted and Troy named Geddy as one of their favorite bassists. Jason Ward said Geddy is the reason he has a career playing bass. Kelly said Neil Peart is his main influence Craig also named Neil as an influence.

Van Halen were revolutionary in rock music. Steve is a fan.

Yngwie Malmsteen was huge for the neo-classical playing style. Steve named him as a favorite.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Newsted named them as an influence. They were a big influence on Eric and he said after hearing Bruce it was goal to be able to sing like that. Troy is a big fan of Steve Harris. Steve is a… — Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Newsted named them as an influence. They were a big influence on Eric and he said after hearing Bruce it was goal to be able to sing like that. Troy is a big fan of Steve Harris. Steve is also a fan.

Accept are German metal legends. Newsted named Peter Baltes as an influence.

Wild Dogs were a traditional / speed metal band. Craig named Deen Castronovo as an influence.

David Weckl

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Newsted named them as an influence. Eric said that Master of Puppets changed very metal song every written after. Michael Gilbert said hearing “Hit The Lights” changed everything for him. — Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Newsted named them as an influence. Eric said that *Master of Puppets* changed very metal song every written after. Michael Gilbert said hearing “Hit The Lights” changed everything for him.

Exodus are an important early thrash band. Newsted named them as an influence.

Slayer was the most aggressive of the early thrash bands and hugely influential. Newsted named them as an influence.

After a his time in the legendary bands Rainbow and Black Sabbath, Dio created his own legendary band. Eric named Dio as a big influence. Steve is also a fan.

Vinnie Moore

Newsted said he was maybe influenced by a bit of punk but didn’t name any particular bands. He said he was influenced by a lot of funk and soul which is the stuff he grew up on as a kid and probably the reason he played bass. He also said his older brothers were listening to stuff like Jimmy Hendrix, Blue Cheer, MC5, Ted Nugent, Nazareth, and Kiss and that had an impact on him but Black Sabbath really got him into music.

Eric said he likes Frank Sinatra, Nickelback, and some Slipknot. Michael Gilbert has also said he likes Slipknot.

Eric said he has been singing his whole life and as a kid was in theater and choruses at school. He said he wasn’t into metal before meeting the guys in Flotsam when they asked him to learn stuff from Number of the Beast and Unleashed in the East.

Edward Carlson was in the band the longest amount of time besides Eric. Other than AC/DC noted above, I haven’t found any of his influences.

Michael Gilbert said that John Mayer and Dave Matthews are two of his favorite song writers. In metal he names Corey Taylor.

Troy was on two albums and collaborated on When The Strom Comes Down. He was previously in a band that played cover from bands including Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Black Sabbath, The Who, Ten Years After, Talking Heads, and Devo. He also mentions being a fan of old Genesis. He auditioned for Metallica a year before joining Flotsam. He said some of his favorite metal bands were Metallica, Celtic Frost, Voivod, and Mercyful Fate. He was also a fan of man bands they played shows with such as Megadeth, Testament, Sanctuary, Forbidden, Vio-lence, and the band Meanstreak. He says he doesn’t see genre and is a fan of all types of music. Before he got into metal he was more into progressive rock and new wave.

Jason Ward was bassists from 1991-2013. Other than Geddy Lee I haven’t seen him name any influences. On a personal note, I met him when he was playing in a Black Sabbath Tribute band, so Geezer is likely an influence.

Craig Nielsen was the drummer from 1997-2011. He said as a kid he really liked Jethro Toll. He says he is a fan of Thomas Haake of Meshuggah.

Mark Simpson was on four albums from 1997-2010. I’m unsure of his influences.

Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall was the drummer for one album. His influences will on the Shadows Fall family tree eventually.

Bassist Michael Spencer was in the band a short time in the late 80’s. He returned to the band more recently and did two albums with them. I’m unsure of his influences.

Ken Mary has been on drum since 2017 has been on one album and will be on the next one. Drummerworld lists his influences as Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Neil Peart, John Bonham, Steve Gadd, and Tommy Aldridge. I have not verified these.

More Family Trees

Sources:

https://guitar.com/features/metallica-jason-newsted-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6bCDXTbFUM
https://userpages.umbc.edu/~thuff1/metallica.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140222001214/http://wikimetal.uol.com.br/site/interview-with-jason-newsted/
https://loudwire.com/jason-newsted-bass-player-live-concert/
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/01/17/five-heavy-albums-that-changed-my-life-with-eric-a-k-of-flotsam-and-jetsam/
http://www.flotsam-and-jetsam.com/interview1.html
https://myglobalmind.com/2013/04/23/exclusive-interview-with-eric-knutsonvocals-flotsam-and-jetsam/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIaVn2AGIVg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Zv0e2Wpl8
https://www.powerofmetal.dk/interviews13/flotsamandjetsam_interview.html
https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/michael-gilbert-of-flotsam-and-jetsam
https://www.noecho.net/interviews/troy-gregory-flotsam-and-jetsam-prong-wasted-youth-the-witches
https://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Ken_Mary.html
http://metalsludge.tv/classic/?p=28283
http://www.friday13thmetal.co.uk/Page%203%20-%20Interviews/Flotsam_And_Jetsam_11/new_page_1.htm
https://allthatshreds.com/interview-guitarist-steve-conley-flotsam-jetsam/