Seattle’s The Head and the Heart recently played a show for Austin City Limits that turned into a tribute, as the band honored late Seattle icon Chris Cornell with a choice cover and a story of meeting the singer years ago in Seattle. 

As JamBase notes, Head and the Heart guitarist Matt Gervais recounted a tale of a chance meeting with Cornell, as he and his friends happened to see him on the street with his Soundgarden bandmate (and current Pearl jam drummer) Matt Cameron. Gervais and company quickly ran inside and played Soundgarden’s “Fell On Black Days” loud enough that Cornell ended up coming inside to meet them. 

“We see Chris Cornell come lumbering into the room and with a sly little smile,” Gervais remembers. “He says, ‘You guys are playing it a little fast.’ It was an amazing moment for a kid, if you can imagine. We got to chat with them for a little while and get a sense of who they were as people, which is an amazing thing. And he was nothing but the sweetest person in the world. I always thought we’d get the chance to meet him again.”

Watch a video of Gervais’ story and The Head and the Heart’s cover of Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” below.