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In the end, Slash says, “Myles wasn’t interested in Velvet because he’s loyal to Alter Bridge. And that’s commendable.” However, with Kennedy’s Alter Bridge bandmates currently off exploring their own reunion with their former group, Creed, the singer will be joining Slash on his upcoming world tour. “Myles can pretty much sing anything,” Slash says, “so he’s perfect as far as being able to handle songs from different vocalists.” Those different vocalists include not only the ones who appear on Slash but also singers like Weiland and Rose. For the tour, Slash says he’ll be revisiting material from the entirety of his career, from Guns N’ Roses to Slash’s Snakepit to Velvet Revolver. “We may even do some Alter Bridge, too. It’ll be a little bit of everything. And as far as the Guns stuff, I’m going to dig out some cool tracks. I’ve realized that over the years, with every band I’ve been in, I’ve just been playing ‘It’s So Easy’ and ‘Mr. Brownstone.’ This whole time, those two songs. I’m fucking sick of them. So we’re gonna change it up.”

And so, looking ahead to the upcoming tour and, following that, a third Velvet Revolver album, Slash will continue to be busy. Which is how he likes it. Though currently clean and sober, he admits—and here he is perhaps stating the obvious—to having an addictive personality. “But I’m much better off addicted to work than addicted to drugs and booze,” he says. And so the man with a legendary appetite for destructive behavior (his recounting of some of his greatest binges occupies a healthy portion of his 2007 autobiography) is now content to have music and family as the top priorities in his life. “All this positive stuff took over from the negative shit,” he says. “Plus, I was really just bored with all of it. I did everything to such excess there was really nowhere left to go.

“I also think that at some point I realized that my type of lifestyle wasn’t very conducive to getting much of anything done,” he adds with a laugh. “I wanted to get a handle on the music, and also take care of my family and just get things together. So now, as far as my professional life goes, I’m pretty much in the studio, or playing onstage, or working in some musical context on something.”

As a result, more than two decades into his career, Slash continues to seek out new musical experiences, whether it’s composing what he describes as a “soundscapish” instrumental film score (for the currently in-production This Is Not a Movie, from Mexican director Olallo Rubio), dropping in for an occasional guest spot (he likens his Grammy appearance with Jamie Foxx to “driving a motorcycle onto a NASCAR track”) or recording his first solo album. “It was definitely a lot of fun to do,” he says of Slash. “And it was also an eye opener in terms of seeing what I’m capable of if I really put my mind to it.”

He pauses, and then looks to the future. “That said, is the solo thing going to be the direction I take going forward? Probably not. When it comes down to it, I still see myself as a ‘band’ kind of guy. That’s my background, and that’s how I was raised. I come from a place where great rock and roll is, for the most part, made by guys in groups. So this kind of thing is probably sort of a one-off deal for me.” He laughs. “Until I come up with some other crazy idea…”

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