We had the opportunity to attend meet and greets with Chris Cornell at a couple Soundgarden and solo-tour shows. Our first was via the charity and IfOnly, and we later had opportunities from different Twitter, iTunes, and SG World contests.

Each time, we planned out a few questions that we never ended up asking, and instead just sat and talked and shared small pieces of our Soundgarden memorabilia we had brought to get signed.

At the Miami show in 2016, Chris played with our Hands All Over promo hand for a while before signing it, and our Photofantasm copy.

We wanted to share our most recent chance to sit with Chris backstage, at the 2016 Jacksonville show. We got to give Chris one of our shirts, and he briefly played us some acoustic Cochise. We had a great time before the real show even began and we wanted to share it with everyone today.

Waiting backstage, we can hear Chris doing vocal warm ups. It sounds like a cross between sound check, and what I imagine Chris stubbing his toe on a table leg would sound like.

We're in a room with a Dell laptop with Word open to the setlist document for tonight's show. We COULD just hit print, but begging like lunatics after the show is more our thing.

Fantastic Negrito passes through...probably wondering what the hell we're doing there. We very briefly say hi before we're shuffled into the 4th backstage room where we'll finally see Chris.

M = Meghan
J = Jeff

CC: Hey !

M: Hey there !

CC: How you doing !?

J: Hey ! Sorry, it’s us again…

CC: Good to see you. That’s okay, you don’ t have to apologize.

Sorry it’s ME again !

What’s going on ?

M: YOU know…

Here to see you…

Thoroughly enjoyed last night’s show !

CC: Thank you

Did you take pictures? I think I saw some of your pictures last night that looked sorta good…

J: Yeah, they let us go crazy for the first 2 songs…

CC: Oh they did !?

J: Yep

CC: Who’d you ask ?

J: They just said before you came out to take all the pictures we want for 2 songs and then put everything away.

CC: That’s uh…I’m sorta surprised….but that’s good. That’s good.

Yeah, they look good, I saw a couple of your photos and they look good

M: Well, thank you ! That’s all you there

CC: No, usually they suck ! So it’s not…it’s the photographer. But, what I’ve noticed is the ones that normally take really good photos, with these kinds of shows, i don’t know if they don’t know what to focus on or whatever, but, they don’t come out. It’s the same photographers we hire for other concerts, and maybe it’s that they need that kind of thing going on, and they can’t find anything…

M: It’s like for most people it’s strictly business you know ?

CC: Yeah

CC: (picks up guitar, starts strumming) Who’s is this ? (louder) Who’s is this ?

Security: The house.

CC: (starts down tuning the E string) Do you have a phone ?

**lol Chris Cornell is asking Jeffgarden.com if we have a recording device on us**

M: Yeah

J: Yeah

CC: Hang on (keeps tuning)

Do you have….uh, google “Cochise”

I’m just testing my pitch

Umm, you know like on YouTube and stuff just so you can play it

CC: (looks at our Jeffgarden.com t shirts) I don’t have one of those t shirts…

M: Actually…

CC: Oh I do !?

M: Yeah you totally do !

CC: You’re Kidding !

J: Nope

M: Yeah, we brought you one !

(Cochise plays on the iPhone)

CC: You got it…

It’s hard to tell

(because it’s the helicopter effect intro lol)

(Chris plucks string)

RIGHT ON THE MONEY !

M: Yes ! Alright !

CC: Guys wanna take a photo ?

M/J: Yep

CC: (Cochise is still playing) Not Bad !

M: yeah !

CC: I spot perfect pitch - I don’t have it - but I can kind of, um, my brain chemistry can figure it out, on guitar.

CC: (Looking at Jeffgarden shirt. Notices the YouTube take down graphic and laughs)

M: He’s actually gotten called (laughs)

CC: Well they don’t fuck around any more, cause their piece of the pie is so small now. All they really do is protect copyrights and make money off of shit they already paid for. That they paid for 25 years ago

(Picture time)