Les Claypool

Fans of the 1990s funk-metal band Primus can't forget that famous Woodstock '94 footage where the band's resident bass god, Les Claypool, dexterously covered Metallica's "Master of Puppets," slapping out the guitar part on his signature Carl Thompson. To top it off, he then brought out legendary grunge guitarist Jerry Cantrell, and spent the next ten minutes going lick for lick with Alice in Chains' axe madman.  Much to the chagrin of the band's hardcore following, Primus went on hiatus in 2000, and for the most part then fell off the map, but they did reunite to record the DVD/EP Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People in 2003. The subsequent two-month tour, ensuing DVDs and hits collection, though, could never quite stir up the kind of fervor surrounding classic LPs Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Miscellaneous Debris and Pork Soda. But that's not to say Claypool has been lounging poolside on "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver" and "My Name Is Mud" checks.  He's a talented, multifaceted artist who has kept himself quite busy as a novelist, actor, director, producer and, of course, musician. The eccentric and often outlandish Claypool's most recent solo album, Of Fungi and Foe, dropped in March.