METALLICA's KIRK HAMMETT To Battle MRS. SMITH In Live Guitar 'Cry Baby Battle Royale' Wah-Off

Kirk Hammett's long-professed his love of the wah-wah pedal will be challenged by Mrs. Smith, the guitar virtuoso alter-ego of actor-musician David Hanbury, at the "Cry Baby Battle Royale" on March 8 at the Senate in Columbia, South Carolina. The event will also include a performance by the METALLICA guitarist's THE WEDDING BAND covers project, also featuring his METALLICA bandmate Robert Trujillo and UGLY KID JOE singer Whitfield Crane, among others.

It was in January 2019 that Mrs. Smith first threw down a gauntlet before Hammett, saying in an interview with "The Mark Agnesi Show": "I'm the number-one wah-wah abuser. I abuse the wah more than Kirk Hammett and I've challenged him multiple times to a wah-off. Why are you hiding behind your wah-wah pedal, Kirk Hammett?"

"Challenged received and accepted," Hammett promptly replied on Instagram, adding the hashtag "#wahoff."

Legendary guitarist Joe Satriani, who famously gave guitar lessons to Hammett in the 1980s, has voiced his support for Mrs. Smith, telling Rolling Stone: "This is the crux of what makes Mrs. Smith so funny: There's this woman, who doesn't look right, who's doing this stuff in the wrong place, in a cabaret or on a street corner and yet is out-shredding the person who is totally dedicated to shredding, who's got the pants and the hair and the right amp and the pointy guitar."

In a 2018 interview with Metal Hammer, Hammett said that his inspiration to use the wah-wah came from THIN LIZZY.

"To me, the wah-wah is a lot like the human voice," he said. "It isn't so much about the 'wah-wah' sound, it's being able to manipulate the tone however I feel it in that moment. It actually creates a better connection to the deeper part of me. And [Jimi] Hendrix wasn't actually the first person I heard use a wah-wah pedal — that was Brian Robertson from THIN LIZZY." Recalling that life-changing moment, he went on: "The first time I became aware of it was the song 'Warriors' on 'Jailbreak'. He comes in with this totally wah-ed out two-three notes, and I said to my friend, 'What is that?!' He said, 'That's a wah-wah pedal.' 'Wow, fantastic!' I made a mental note of that…"