GEORGE LYNCH On Possibility Of New Classic-Lineup DOKKEN Album: 'The Further Along We Get Here, The Less It Matters'

During a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, George Lynch was asked if he thinks a new classic-lineup DOKKEN album will happen somewhere down the line, featuring him, singer Don Dokken, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Mick Brown. He responded: "I don't know. I mean... The further along we get here, I think the less it matters. [Laughs] The more time goes by, it becomes less relevant. I think we're all having fun doing what we're doing. I'm involved in a million projects, playing all kinds of great music.

"I would love to do a DOKKEN record but I just don't want it to be... I want it to be enjoyable. And I think everybody does. I don't want it to turn into a painful, ugly experience. [Laughs] Who needs that at our age? That's the main thing.

"I'm fine with Don. We talk, everything's good, I play with him occasionally. Actually, I'm gonna be playing with him in [May] at the M3 festival. I'm gonna go up and play the show with him. I played with him the last year at another festival.

"Every once in a while, I get on stage, play the old songs, and it's wonderful. Fun."

Don Dokken recently told Metal Forever that DOKKEN will "probably" headline this year's edition of the M3 Rock Festival as a one-off reunion show with Lynch.

The M3 Rock Festival will take place May 3-5 at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.

DOKKEN's classic lineup reunited for a short Japanese tour in the fall of 2016. The trek marked the first time in 21 years the four musicians had hit the road together.

According to Don, he has been getting along with his former bandmates much better than they did back in DOKKEN's heyday.

"We were younger [then]," he said. "We were in our 20s. There was a lot of drugs, debauchery, alcohol, a lot of egos — all that stuff interfered with DOKKEN going on forever. But now we're in our 60s, so I think hopefully that's all in the wind."

Lynch's most recent appearance with DOKKEN took place last September when he joined Don Dokken, Brown and Chris McCarvill (bass, backing vocals) on stage at the Grand RockTember VI festival at Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater in Hinckley, Minnesota to perform set of the band's classic songs.

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — featuring Dokken, Brown, McCarvill and guitarist Jon Levin — save for a handful of shows in late 2017 and last year that saw guitarist Ira Black (LIZZY BORDEN, VICIOUS RUMORS) fill in for Levin.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)", was made available last year.