Julian Lage might be one of the world’s best jazz guitar players, but he has admirers on the heavier end of the scale, too.

Last year, Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy revealed they were surprise Lage fanboys in an interview with Guitar World. Kennedy said Lage’s playing was as impactful on him as Eruption was. In the same interview, Tremonti branded him “intelligent and sophisticated”.

Guitar World brought those compliments up in a recent interview with Lage, who was staggered by the praise.

“I’m very humbled by it. I find it hard to believe because I don’t think of myself as [an inspiration],” he says. “I’m touched by it. If anything I’m doing is meaningful to them, that’s great. They’re monsters.

“I will say, though, that I recognize that our community is a good one,” he adds. “There’s a sense of camaraderie, and if someone’s carving a path out or pursuing something, that person’s discoveries are available to everybody else.

“Because I do it too; I go to bed at night, like, ‘I want to know everyone who played a pine Telecaster,’ you know? So I’m learning from all these people’s experiments.”

These learnings, he then says, are not bound in place by genre. That’s the beauty in two prominent metal guitarists immersing themselves in the music of Lage, or, like Cecil Alexander, bringing metal and prog influences into the bebop space.

“It makes me feel like we work for the same company; we’re all in different branches,” he smiles. “I get it, because I feel the same with them, too. Those guys are amazing.”

To that end, Lage keeps a close eye on what his fellow employees are doing and name-drops Little Barrie main man Barrie Cadogan as a player doing something very interesting in a more raw setting than his.

“He’s doing all the things I said I wish I could do," Lage says. “He’s pushing amps, and he’s using phrasing in a beautiful way. Guthrie Govan and Tosin Abasi are amazing, too.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Lage discusses sharing the stage with slide guitar master Derek Trucks, and how he had to convince himself it wasn’t a dream. He also recently sat down for a fascinating chat with Al Di Meola.

Head over to the Guitar World YouTube channel to watch the full interview with Julian Lage.

At just 32, Matthieu Lucas has managed to build something extraordinary.

The entrepreneur, guitarist, and music enthusiast has painstakingly chipped away at building the emporium that is Matt’s Guitar Shop from the ground up, attracting A-list clients from all four corners of the globe.

The journey was far from plain sailing. However, judging by the caliber of artist guitars gracing every inch of the walls in this slice of musical paradise – tucked away on an unassuming street in Paris – it has well and truly paid off.

“It was not easy because you just show up at a store, and you look like a baby, and somehow, you start talking big dollars to very reputable dealers or collectors, and some of them were like, ‘How is this possible… this guy is selling drugs somewhere,’” he quips, as he recalls the early days of his ambitious venture.

However, it’s perhaps Lucas’ marketing prowess and ethos – that even the most prestigious of guitars are meant to be played on stage – that has transformed him into the go-to guy for artist guitars, with players such as Marcus King, Craig Ross, Billie Joe Armstrong, Myles Kennedy, and Yungblud all getting in on the action.

“I was very inspired by banks and huge associations buying Stradivarius [violins] very early on and lending them to musicians on tour playing classical music,” Lucas says.

“Guitars need to be shared with the world. That's my theory. That's why we lend ours on stage all the time, and that's always going to raise the value. They're really artifacts of a very specific period when the guitar revolutionized everything.”

What inspired you to start Matt’s Guitar Shop in the first place?

It’s been a little bit more than 10 years, actually. Time flies! [However], it all started when I was 15 years old.

I was not really interested in music or guitar in general. I was just playing video games with a friend of mine. His father showed up in the room and he said, “Guys, you need to listen to AC/DC.” And then I said, "Okay, [I’ll] give this guy five minutes with his old band and then I'm going to be finished with him.”

And we listened, and Angus Young was really the guy who penetrated my brain, and my passion for guitar started there. Six months later, I was seeing AC/DC in a stadium and buying an SG copy, and that started it all. And then I just wanted to buy more and more guitars because I started to discover bands.

Step by step, I went to Paris guitar stores. I was hanging out in a store called Guitar Store in Paris, and the guy was nice to me, and he let me discover the world of guitar sales – buying, selling… the daily life of a guitar shop.

I was already buying and selling privately. So it [Matt’s Guitar Shop] started in an apartment in Paris – a very small apartment. Three years, maybe four years later, we had the opportunity to get the place here, and that was it.

What were some of the initial challenges, especially as a young businessman?

They really put you in boxes initially, and that was not easy, but step by step, we met people that trusted me, and I knew who I wanted to work with over time.

I don’t come from a musical family myself. So I was mainly listening to those guys in my headphones when I was younger. I was listening to Lenny [Kravitz] and Craig [Ross] quite a lot because I have deep respect for that duo and what they represent.

One day, I show up at Rudy's Music [in New York], and Rudy just traded me one of Craig’s main touring guitars, which was his 1964 ES-345.

I didn't have the money back then, so I said, ‘Give me three months. I'm going to buy and sell in France, and I'm going to come back and pick it up.’ And my friend, who was with me at this time, told me, ‘Are you crazy? This guitar is way too much money.’

It was a time when social media was different. I just sent a message to Craig on Facebook, and two weeks passed by, and I was like, ‘Okay, this guy is busy. He's never going to reach me.’ And, suddenly, my phone is popping off, and Craig Ross just answered me, and he was so kind. [He was like,] this guy is 22 or 23 years old, he just made a huge purchase for himself, compared to his capacity.

So when I bought this guitar, we met at L'Olympia in Paris, and we got that connection going. So, for me, just meeting him was great because Craig really proves that you can’t buy class. I met Lenny later, but with Craig, it's been like 10 years and I still have that connection with him.

Which artists’ guitars command the most demand and attention?

It's quite mixed. We have John Frusciante's 1961 [ES-]335 that he played on stage. We have, of course, Paul Kossoff's 1955 “Black Beauty”, which was also used by Eric Clapton during Cream because they used to trade guitars quite a lot.

I’ve had this guitar for almost 10 years now, and I don't regret buying it. Another interesting one is Steve Lukather’s 1951 Esquire. We [also] have AC/DC's Cliff Williams’ bass – we have number three, which was toured all around the world for four years with AC/DC.

How has your vision for the showroom evolved, compared to when you first opened the doors?

When I started this business with artists’ guitars, I had two kinds of people: the people who believed in it and the people who were laughing at me.

Now, I was very proud when I was assisting at the [Jim Irsay] auction in New York City because I think that the guitar changed the world, and that the guitar will still be listened to in 1,000 years, and all those guys will be gone, and what's left is the music and their instrument. [When you buy that guitar,] you are the owner of their legacy.

So we feel kind of amazed at the shop every day because I really believed in that market when it was not fancy.

What made the Jim Irsay auction different?

Everybody was waiting for that auction. That was, after all, the greatest collection [that ever existed] of artists’ guitars.

People are starting to understand that there are good aspects to buying a guitar – whether it's for the investment or whether you're a guitar player – but if you choose wisely, those guitars will never go down [in price] because there is always somebody richer than you who wants to have that guitar.

Why have the Jim Irsay guitars leapt in value in such a short time span?

It depends on the auction house you're dealing with, the place you're buying the guitar from, and the marketing around that.

Marketing is key when you want to sell a pricey instrument like that, and I think Christie’s did a great job. They went everywhere, and when you're doing that, you just attract the best buyers because they don't have any doubt about what they're buying.

Everything went through the roof because those buyers were brought together by Christie’s in one room. They could have been telephone bidders. They could be room bidders, or internet bidders, but they were all together in one room for this collection, which was exceptional.

I see that with the shop. I don't have a single customer older than 60, and usually my customers are between 25 and 50, so it's a new generation who just discovered the world of guitars, and those people are working hard to get those guitars.

When you put them in one room, I can guarantee you that you will see new world records. If Jimmy Page's “Number One” was in that room that day, that would be between 20 and 30 million [dollars] easy.

But who are these people? What are their backgrounds?

I can give you an example of one person I know: Bobby Tseitli in Chicago. Bobby is a good friend of mine – those guys are really amazing, and they're putting together a collection called Family Guitars.

I knew they wanted [Jerry Garcia’s] “Tiger” so much. I gave him a huge hug when he bought that guitar, and I can guarantee you that this guy probably cried like a baby in his room sleeping next to the guitar that night, and that everybody in the room was feeling amazed because he was bidding with all his heart. The night after, Derek [Trucks] played it on stage. I mean, what's better than that?

I think we should be thankful for those guys who believe in the market and make it dynamic because they're not only buying guitars; they are making the shows more attractive. Everybody in the room will remember the day they saw Jerry Garcia's guitar in the hands of Derek Trucks. [In terms of the buyers’ backgrounds], I never ask too much unless they talk about themselves.

For sure, at Christie’s, we saw hedge fund guys, tech guys, cryptocurrency guys… so it's new money, in a good way, not in a bad way. From what I can tell, we have more and more young people who are just working hard, and they could be in tech, they could be in sports, whatever… we have so many kinds of buyers, and that's the beauty of this job.

Do you think we're going to see David Gilmour’s Strat one on stage anytime soon?

I know by name the guy who bought it. I don't know him personally. If he reads the interview, [I would say] I think you should put that guitar on stage. But I hope all those guitars [from that auction] are going to be on stage soon.

How do most of these clients find you?

Social media helps. You put the guitars on stage, and people are always filming. The audience recognizes the guitar, and I get texts or messages on Instagram.

So, I think it's a win-win-win because the crowd is winning because they get to see a very special guitar that day. Marketing-wise it's great for the shop, and it's also great for the artist because when this is going to the press, the tour is gonna get some marketing.

When Marcus King was touring in Paris 10 years ago, he was playing in clubs [in front of] 20 people, and we were there already, and now he's more famous, of course. And he still loves to play that Paul Kosoff guitar. Every time he’s in Paris, he plays that guitar on stage, and it's one of his favorite guitars to play.

What trends are you noticing in the types of guitars that command the highest prices in today's market?

When I started, nobody really wanted a guitar from Green Day, for example. Now, I’m getting asked more often.

I think it's a generation thing – Green Day are getting bigger because the older they get, the bigger their legacy. When the band is getting older, their fans are also getting older, and they have more capacity to buy the items of their dreams. When artists pass away, sometimes you get a bit emotional. So, of course, people are missing them so much that they want their guitars.

But I would be curious to have one of those big “dinosaur” guitars on stage [at an auction]. After the success of the Gibson Keith Richards signature, [I would be curious to have] one of Keith's guitars going on stage, the black [ES-]355, the “Micawber” Tele... or Jimmy Page's guitars or Brian May's guitar or Paul McCartney's bass – those legendary guitars that are still used by them.

I think we would be surprised by the price they fetch because records are made to be broken and are made to be set higher every time. And again, it wouldn't surprise me in the near future if we see a guitar [sell for] between $20 and $30-40 million.

Do you see any risks or misconceptions for new buyers entering the vintage guitar market, especially those treating it as an investment?

I would suggest that you check the provenance of the instruments. You have to choose wisely. If you're advised wisely and if you decide to buy the guitar at the right price, that's great.

To give you an example, when I bought Steve Jones' guitar, I knew there were rumors of Steve selling the original one 14 times to different people.

So we checked the mother-of-pearl inlays. We checked all the dings and marks. We scanned the pictures of the guitar today, and we matched those mother-of-pearl inlays. When [there are] three matches, then you know.

Beyond the monetary value, what makes a guitar collectible?

The more provenance you have and the more history you have with the guitar [the better]. For example, if Keith Richards just played one guitar one time on the sofa two minutes backstage and signed it, that doesn't really make sense to me. But what matters to me is if he played it on stage. Why did he choose that particular one for his personal collection? Was there a reason sound-wise?

I don't agree with comments on the internet that say that, ‘Oh well, David Gilmour modified the Black Strat like 700 times over time…’ [If you want a pristine guitar,] then just buy a vintage guitar. Don't even look at an artist guitar.

I understand that it doesn’t make sense for some people to buy a $15 million guitar, but I think the more modifications it has, the more personal the instrument becomes – and that’s what makes its value even higher.

There's been a lot of criticism over the amounts spent at the Jim Irsay auction. What would you say to people who feel that collectible guitar prices have lost touch with reality?

I think we are living in a world where records are made to be broken.

I would get [that comment] from the perspective of somebody earning a medium salary. That's understandable, because for some people, it's just hard to feed their children, and then you see on the news that somebody just bought David Gilmour's guitar for $15 million.

But I would say it has been like this forever, in sports, the arts… let's not even talk about the football world. I think the world is discovering guitars with these auctions, with these pieces of history, [and] with the new players as well. The rich will always be richer. We can't control that. If they want the David Gilmour Strat for $50 million one day, that's it.

What's been your proudest moment of seeing one of your guitars being played on stage?

I lent Myles Kennedy Jeff Buckley's guitar on stage in Paris a few years ago. That was the final show I assisted before Covid, but that was a moment because it was at L'Olympia [in Paris].

It was full of symbolism. We were preparing for that day for four months. Myles was the perfect guy to sing Hallelujah on stage with the very guitar that Jeff recorded the song with. I still get chills talking about it.

[Another standout moment was when] I saw Craig Ross playing [Jeff Beck’s] Yardburst in Paris.

If I told my young self, [who was] listening to Lenny Kravitz and Craig Ross, that one day I would have Jeff Beck's guitar and then Craig would play it on tour, especially in Paris, my hometown, I wouldn't believe it. It was really a full-circle moment.

• Learn more about Matt's Guitar Shop.

Given how they juggle their time between playing in Creed, Slash’s band and various other projects including a Sinatra tribute, the two six-stringers in Alter Bridge are likely up there with the busiest musicians working in rock ’n’ roll today.

But despite the excess of musical activity, the band they play in together still remains top priority for singer/guitarist Myles Kennedy and lead guitarist Mark Tremonti – the songwriting force whose creative exploits turned the group into one of the most widely respected arena headliners of the modern age.

After making the decision to record their self-titled eighth record at Edward Van Halen’s 5150 Studio in Los Angeles, the music was born in an environment heavily steeped in guitar history.

This record seems to live on the heavier side of the Alter Bridge sound.

Myles Kennedy: Yeah, [the track] Tested and Able came out almost like a heavy metal Morse code riff. It’s super rhythmic and detuned. Maybe that was partly influenced by knowing we’d be at 5150, which is like hallowed ground for guitar riffs, right? Mark and I knew we had to show up with the biggest riffs possible, which helped dictate what this record was going to be.

I was playing baseball in the backyard with my brother in the summer of 1983 when I heard Eruption by Van Halen and their cover of You Really Got Me by The Kinks. That afternoon I decided what my life would be. Eddie’s genius guitar playing was that awesome. Eruption sounded like it was from outer space. It’s a piece of music that genuinely changed my life.

So it was a conscious decision to focus more on heavier riffs than ballads?

Mark Tremonti: I remember calling Myles, asking how he felt about not doing any ballads and it all being high energy. We sort of agreed. Then we got to the studio and it was all pretty heavy. The last song we recorded, Hang By a Thread, ended up being the ballad. It’s not necessarily a super-ballad, but it’s the most ballad-esque song on there.

What was it like for you both working in such a legendary studio?

Myles: It’s not a super-facility. It’s a very functional utilitarian setup for people who want to go in and work without distractions. That’s what I loved about it. Some studios are nice because you can play Xbox for a few hours. 5150 is more like, “Here’s a great-sounding room with some great gear. Go in and work”. It was a really important part of forming this album.

Any time we hit a wall creatively, wondering where to go next, we couldn’t help but feel some of the ghosts of the past in there helping inspire us. Maybe it was more of a psychological thing, but I could almost hear a voice saying, “Play the D chord!” It’s like the walls were telling us what to play next, and it was always the D chord [laughs]. That was pretty awesome.

Songs like Scales Are Falling feel experimental in places, showing how you are still finding ways to tread new musical ground.

Mark: “It ended up being one of my favourite guitar moments on the album. I remember my brother saying how much he loved Myles’ leads in the bridge and I had to tell him, ‘That’s my solo!’ He was surprised because my approach is usually more aggressive. But I love that kind of melodic playing over a clean section, I just don’t get the opportunity to do it much. Scales Are Falling is in open G minor, which gives it a lot of that character and personality.”

Myles: The solo I played in the outro was my tip of the hat to David Gilmour. I played a few solos on this record. Any time I do, I’m happy. Lead guitar is the best. And, yeah, it’s an unorthodox song. The phrasing is strange; it leaves the listener wondering where the ‘one’ is. It’s always important to keep expanding and trying new approaches. As a band, you need to keep testing the possibilities.

You’re both PRS signature artists. Is that what you stick with in the studio?

Myles: It was mainly my PRS signature, which was their first version of a T-style guitar. I was honoured to be part of that process because Paul and the team knew how much I love those kinds of guitars. So we got on the horn and they asked if I’d be interested in helping them step into that realm.

What I learned is that it’s difficult designing a guitar from the ground up. Even if you have a broad overall view of what you want it to be, every little detail matters. I have a newfound respect for R&D, that’s for sure.

Mark: I had about seven guitars with me, but there’s a black and grey one with a Van Halen sticker that I used a lot.

We do this thing where we get PRS to send us a bunch of guitars, then we’ll track an individual song with each of those guitars and our fans can buy the guitar that ended up on the record.

This one got sent to me a few albums ago. While I was playing it, I was like, ‘No, I’ve got to keep this.’ As close as they all are, each guitar has its own personality. This one just sang to me. I use it all the time.

Myles, you used Jeff Buckley’s 1983 Telecaster in Paris for a performance of Hallelujah back in 2019. That must have been quite an experience.

Myles: Grace is an album that gave me the same feeling as hearing Eruption, with my brain wondering, ‘Whoa, what’s happening here?!’ I also felt that way when I heard Julian Lage.

Playing Jeff’s guitar was amazing, though I truly didn’t feel worthy of it. I was a little uncomfortable, to be honest. I gradually convinced myself that it was okay. It’s just a guitar that’s part of this incredible history. All I had to do was not taint that history [laughs].

What do you think is so special about that instrument?

Myles: It’s just an early-to-mid ’80s Tele, but there’s something weird about how the pickup was wired. Apparently, there’s something technically wrong with it, at least from what [Matt’s Guitar Shop owner] Matt Lucas explained to me. That’s what gives it that beautiful shimmery sound. It’s all down to this imperfection, which makes it even cooler. When you plug it in, you think, “Oh yeah, there’s that sound!”

In Alter Bridge you and Mark have quite different preferences when it comes to guitar amp brands.

Myles: I usually stick with my Diezel VH4. But when we started at 5150, all my amps were in the warehouse, so they let me borrow one of the 5150s, which sounded great. In the end, we blended my VH4 with that. Now I’ll be using both amps live.

Mark: “I mainly used the clean and dirty channels on my PRS MT 100. On top of that, just like with my live rig, I used my Synergy amp. The modules I had were the SLO II preamp, to pair with the MT 100 dirty channel, and then the Fender[-style] TDLX preamp with the clean. That 5150 III in the studio sounded killer, so I blended all three. Like Myles, I’m going to incorporate it into my live rig.

I’m a big fan of multiple amps when it comes to tone. Each one has its own frequency range, together they fill a bigger space. That approach works for us as a band as well as within my own rig.

Were there any pedals involved or was it mainly direct?

Mark: The one I rely on most is my [signature] Morley wah. I love the attitude and scream of a wah. If I solo and it doesn’t have a wah on it, I almost think it doesn’t sound right. It’s been like that since I was a kid.

I love using my Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth to make single-string lines sound heavy. That thing is like our secret weapon. Our producer calls it ‘the Alter Bridge pedal’ because he never uses it with anyone else. What I love is that it’s not just one sound. It’s an actual living thing that sounds different every time. We might track that five times before we find the perfect sweep.

We also used the Kemper Profiler shimmer effect for the beginning of Scales Are Falling. It sounded perfect on the demo, so we kept it on the final recording. It’s funny, when the album came out, one of the first responses was, “Glad to see somebody is digging the Kemper shimmer,” which made me think, “Good ear!”

The name Julian Lage cropped up earlier. What do you think makes his playing so special?

Myles: He’s got the whole thing figured out harmonically. It’s so interesting because he’s moving it forward and it’s exciting to see for the rest of us. It’s rare to hear something like that done so well, where the guitarist isn’t just regurgitating the same thing over again.

He’s breaking new ground, which is something all of us strive for, while making it look effortless. I’ve seen some of his recordings with Dave King on drums, who is one of my favourite drummers. The interplay between Julian and him is special.

Mark: Julian is such an intelligent and sophisticated player, half of it probably goes over my head. If you’re not fully theoretically bulletproof, you might not even understand how or why he’s playing like that. It would take a lot of work over many years for me to play like that, but I still try to take in as much as I can.

• Altar Bridge is out now via Napalm.
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.

Two decades and eight albums into Alter Bridge’s lauded career, the hard rockers are pulling off a first in 2026 – they’re embracing the definitiveness of a self-titled album.

While you could argue 2010’s AB III almost did this – at least typographically – there’s a to-the-point toughness behind the band’s new, eponymous 12-song statement that fully fortifies what Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti have been working on together since 2004. And it all comes down to the sickness of the riff.

“The essence of the band has always been to build the song on a good, solid, heavy riff and then balance it with a certain melodic sense and a certain depth of the lyrics,” vocalist-guitarist Kennedy says of the Alter Bridge aesthetic. “But from record to record, we kind of lean one way or the other – like maybe we incorporate some Eighties synths as a texture.”

He reiterates of Alter Bridge, though: “You’re not going to have any keyboard extravaganzas on this. This is a straight-ahead hard-rock record. So it felt appropriate – as far as the self-titled approach goes.”

Sure enough, Alter Bridge deliver tunefully brawny anthems by the boatload. Close to four years on from their seventh album, Pawns & Kings – and following Tremonti’s recent arena-conquering Creed reunion tours, as well as albums from his eponymous metal outfit and Kennedy’s solo project – the band broke a long silence last summer with the release of their deep, D-chunking Silent Divide.

Beyond its infectiously swampy groove, the single features solo sections that contrast Kennedy’s kinetic vibrato skills with Tremonti’s famous fretboard dexterity.

Both players explain that they brought their A-game to L.A.’s iconic 5150 Studios, where they recorded the album at the behest of longtime friend, collaborator, and tourmate Wolfgang Van Halen. Kennedy and Tremonti were wowed by the magnitude of making music within the hallowed walls of Eddie Van Halen’s home studio.

Inspired by the room’s rich history – and with the help of one in-house EVH 5150 III head – Alter Bridge put their all into the album’s hard-swung screechers (What Lies Within) and gloom-crested arpeggio attacks (Scales Are Falling).

“It made us want to be better musicians and take advantage of the moment we had,” Tremonti says of the setting. “When you have your guitar in your hand and you're playing in that studio in the same spot those guys played in, there's no slop coming out. It's got to be on point. You’ve got to man up, you know? You’ve got to band up when you're in that situation.”

In Silent Divide, Myles, you’ve got these really decadent string slides coming out of the second chorus, right before Mark switches into that galloping bridge.

Myles Kennedy: That’s something that I got from – rest his soul – John Sykes. He was a big influence for me, and he was the master of the string slide.

When we’re recording, [producer] Elvis [Baskette] always says, “Do more of that string-sliding stuff,” and I don't really think anything of it. It's just been in my DNA for 30 years. But we leaned in for Silent Divide. Like, let’s be unapologetic about it!

There’s a lot of dynamism between your and Mark’s respective approaches to soloing; the two leads you bring to Silent Divide reflect this. How do you see your respective styles complementing the other’s?

Kennedy: I always try to sing the guitar solos. I’m generally singing along with them as I’m playing them. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Oscar Peterson, the piano player, but that was something I used to love on those old jazz records. You could hear Oscar singing every note. I like to incorporate certain techniques and punctuate things with a flurry of notes, but I really lean into the melodic thing.

Mark loves learning new tricks and runs. I think that’s the main difference, and that’s maybe why we complement each other; we have enough of a different approach where you can kind of tell who’s who.

Mark Tremonti: I think Myles has a very soothing way of playing. Some of my favorite vibrato I’ve ever heard is Myles on the guitar. I grew up more on the speed metal side of things. He listened to metal, but early on he dove deeper into jazz, which really helped his playing.

He’s very good at improvisation. He has a lot of moments where he writes beforehand, but he also has a lot of moments where he’s just improvising in the studio, whereas I like to come in fully prepared with a written solo.

How did you come to record this album at 5150?

Kennedy: Wolf was incredibly kind enough to bring that offer up with our manager. We were like, “Really?” We knew the history of all the incredible music that had been made there. Just the fact that he trusted us enough to come in and not totally ruin the legacy really meant a lot.

When we all showed up, we were very cognizant of that, and we wanted to honor the situation. If you know you're going into this sacred ground where all these incredible riffs have been constructed and recorded, the last thing you want to do is show up empty-handed. It was definitely fuel for the creative fire.

Did Wolf have any stipulations for you coming into 5150? Like, “You can come in here, so long as you punch a werewolf in the face in my music video,” as you did in Mammoth’s The End music video?

Kennedy: Right? [Laughs] “Yeah, you can record here, but you have to sit in a makeup chair for two hours and turn into a zombie.” Getting to do that was awesome. So much fun. But yeah, I think the only thing was “Please, don’t play Eruption.” He didn't say that, but I wasn't going to do that.

Was all the gear at 5150 at your disposal?

Kennedy: There were pieces of gear there they had set out, but nothing super iconic. We weren’t tracking with Frankenstein. Have I held Frankenstein? Yes. Was it a total, Excalibur-level experience? I don't even know how to articulate that, but I got emotional – that was a pretty special moment.

But as far as amps and whatnot, there was a 50-watt 5150 III that we used when we were doing pre-production, so I plugged into that. I had it set up because I couldn’t fly out my Diezels. I fell in love with that amp, and it became a big part of the sound. I ended up marrying it with the [Diezel] VH4 when I was actually tracking.

Tremonti: I thought [the 5150 III] sounded so good, especially mixed with what I was using, which was my signature PRS head. I loved it so much that I got one; they were nice enough to give me one, and I took it on the last tour we did. So now it’s a part of my sound. It’s given me a new appreciation for 50-watt heads.

As long as I’ve been playing guitar, and as long as I’ve collected amplifiers, I don’t think I’ve ever owned a 50-watt head – maybe a single 1x12 combo that was 50 watts. I never appreciated how aggressive a 50-watt head is. When you pair it with 100-watt heads, it’s got a certain character – a bite that cuts through the mix. But it’s not harsh.

Did any Van Halen vibes seep into these songs?

Kennedy: Without a doubt. The riff for Silent Divide has definitely got an Eighties vibe. Mark kept comparing it to an old Judas Priest riff, but with the way I keep coming back to that chugging on the low D, I think of a riff like Unchained. Those were such important riffs for me. Does it sound like Unchained? No, but there's definitely that element there.

Tremonti: I try to explain to people that 5150 Studios isn’t some sterile environment where they’re cleaning up for the next band to come in. It was pretty much left the way [Van Halen] used it last.

Wolfie has a great Neve console in there now, but it’s pretty much the same letters on the kitchen fridge; there’s the 5150 necklace hanging over the door – all the cool stuff that was there when those guys were there. We by no means sound like Van Halen in any way or form. But you can feel the spirit of the band and Eddie in that room.

One characteristic to your solos on this record, Mark – whether on Rue the Day, Silent Divide, or Power Down – is that heavy, wah-filtered tonality. When we spoke with you around your last Tremonti record, The End Will Show You How, you were prototyping your own line of pedals behind the scenes, including wah pedals. Are any of those on the record?

Tremonti: No, that’s the Morley wah. I’m still dabbling with trying to get some stuff together. It’s going to be called Tremonti Audio Company, but there’s such great stuff out there [already]. I’m a picky guy, so I gotta make sure it’s right before we do it.

Pardon the pun, but what else lies within this record, gear-wise?

Kennedy: Guitar-wise, I’m just using my signature models. On this record, there were probably two or three, depending on what the tuning was, that were just off the rack. No changes, just stock MK signatures from PRS, and they worked out great.

Tremonti: I just used my signature model. PRS always gives us a handful of guitars we can play in the studio, and then fans can buy the actual studio-recorded guitars. But there was one that they sent over that I really loved and I kept. There’s also a baritone we used on Rue the Day.

Getting back to the heavy riff, how did you come about the doom-waltzing feel of What Lies Within?

Tremonti: That’s in open D5, which is one of my favorite alternate tunings. I had that riff and chorus sitting around. I put the demo together with all those parts on there and left the melodies in the verses up to Myles’ interpretation.

Kennedy: I came up with a little alternate melody, a little octave part. The way we marry those two concepts has really become a thing since the record we put out about 10 years ago, [2016’s] The Last Hero, where he’ll have this kind of chugging, driving riff and then I’ll put on an octave thing in an eighth- or 16-note pattern, just to move it along.

You’re both prolific workers and writers. To paraphrase Myles’ lyrics on Power Down, you don't necessarily slow the overall pace, but you’re not always at it with Alter Bridge, specifically. What are the things you notice about each other once you get back together?

Tremonti: Just how much of a powerful singer Myles is. When we play in these multiple bands, it keeps it all fresh. I couldn’t imagine being in one band now. I think it would start getting stale, and you would kind of take it for granted.

So, when you come back to playing these songs you haven't done in three years, it’s like, “Oh yeah, I love playing this!” and you see the smiles on everybody's faces. I think that's why we’ve had a 20-year-plus career with the same members, because we’re all open-minded enough to go out and do other projects before coming back together.

Kennedy: It seems like the longer we do it, the more that dynamic is solidified – there’s this level of comfort. It’s the same way I look at why we continue to use Elvis as our producer, where you know how it’s going to play out and you trust everybody’s instincts.

With Mark and me, part of the reason it’s really worked since day one is because we realize we’re kindred spirits who are obsessed with writing music. You never feel like you’re having to pull someone along.

Are you ever able to fully power down?

Tremonti: I love to do this. When I want to power down, what’s better than sitting around and playing guitar? It’s not relaxing to practice sweep arpeggios or that kind of thing, but sitting down with a guitar and writing and improvising – that’s relaxing.

I don’t power down in the typical sense of, “I’m going to sit on the couch and watch TV.” I like going to bed at night thinking, ‘I did something today. I wrote this part or practiced this or that.’ That makes me feel good. If I go to bed going, “I just wasted a day,” it bugs me.

Kennedy: Power Down is written from the perspective of, “Take some time to stop and smell the roses.” Given what we’ve been talking about, that’s something I’ve really been working at the last few years. It got to a point where I was never home. I realized life was just passing me by.

Though the life I was living was all music and touring the world – and I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining – there are other responsibilities I have as a partner, family member, and dog owner. I wanted to be around more and take this all in, because this side of life is great.

Referring back to the chorus of Power Down, how would you describe the Alter Bridge experience these days?

Kennedy: It couldn’t be better. I’m at this stage in life where I feel like all the boxes have been checked. I’m very grateful for that. At this point, it really is just a matter of continuing to revel in what this has all turned into and just savor and enjoy it.

When I was younger, that wasn’t the mindset. I was hungry and sometimes frustrated and kind of lost in my own head and ego. I feel there’s been this shift, and it really is beautiful. I love it. I recommend it. Gratitude is the attitude.

Tremonti: I couldn't ask for anything else. First and foremost, I’ve got a family that is the best, and the most supportive circle of friends. I spent a lot of time in the beginning of my career worrying that I wouldn’t amount to anything. You’re just dying to be a musician, then once you become a professional, you’re worrying it’s going to end.

People are telling you you’re going to be a one-hit wonder, and then people are telling you you’re going to have a sophomore slump, or that tastes in the music scene are changing and you’re no longer relevant – you hear these things every day in the music business.

But halfway through the Alter Bridge records, I was finally at peace with my career. Like, as long as I keep on writing – not just phoning it in, but putting all my heart and soul into this – I can do this as long as I want. I get to do what I love!

• Alter Bridge is out now via Napalm
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

In 2019, Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy played Jeff Buckley’s iconic Telecaster for a special performance of Hallelujah in Paris – but the guitarist says he didn’t feel worthy of the honor.

Originally released by Leonard Cohen in 1982, Buckley made the tender ballad his own years later when he released it as part of his Grace record in 1994. Indeed, his version regularly sits high in lists of the greatest songs of all time.

Tragically, Buckley died at the age of 30 in 1997. Kennedy was afforded the chance to honor the underrated guitar hero during a performance in the French capital, and for the occasion, he became one of just a few big names to have played Buckley's Tele since his passing.

“Grace is an album that gave me the same feeling as hearing [Van Halen's] Eruption, with my brain wondering. 'Whoa, what's happening here?!'” Kennedy tells Guitarist of Buckley’s sole album. Carrying the mantel for his late hero, however, was no small task. Imposter syndrome loomed large.

“Playing Jeff's guitar was amazing, though I truly didn't feel worthy of it,” he confesses. “I was a little uncomfortable, to be honest. I gradually convinced myself that it was okay. It's just a guitar that's part of this incredible history. All I had to do was not taint that history!”

The guitar was, for a long time, in the possession of Matt’s Guitar Shop – the Parisian vintage guitar emporium that has been loaning out Jeff Beck’s Yardburst Les Paul, and Steve Jones’ punk-defining Gibson to worthy players. As Kennedy says, Buckley's Tele is a guitar that holds a lot of weight and majesty.

“It's just an early-to-mid ‘80s Tele, but there's something weird about how the pickup was wired,” he reveals. “Apparently, there's something technically wrong with it, at least from what [Matt's Guitar Shop owner] Matt Lucas explained to me. That's what gives it that beautiful shimmery sound. It's all down to this imperfection, which makes it even cooler. When you plug it in, you think, 'Oh yeah, there's that sound!’”

A year after that performance, Muse guitarist and Manson Guitar Works’ owner Matt Bellamy purchased the Tele and has since recorded with it to honor his legacy in his own way. But he, too, understands the size of the task at hand.

“It’s amazing to have a bit of history like that, and to just feel a little bit of his greatness,” Bellamy told Guitar World. “The only problem is I don’t think I’ve written any songs good enough to play on yet! [laughs]. So the pressure’s now on.”

In related news, Buckley was recently nominated for a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Grammy-winning guitarist Ella Feingold believes he's more than worthy of the honor.

Myles Kennedy’s full interview features in the new print issue of Guitarist. Head to Magazines Direct to pick up a copy.

Recording at Eddie Van Halen's legendary 5150 Studios is an experience most mere mortals can only dream of. Holding some of his gear, including the iconic Frankenstein, and examining it up close, is another beast altogether.

Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti got to do both – and it got their creative juices flowing.

The band was given the opportunity to record their self-titled eighth album at Van Halen’s studio with the blessing of longtime friend and former Tremonti bassist – and Eddie’s son – Wolfgang Van Halen.

“Wolf was incredibly kind enough to bring that offer up with our manager,” Myles Kennedy reveals in the latest issue of Guitar World when asked how this enviable opportunity came about.

“We were like, ‘Really?’ We knew the history of all the incredible music that had been made there. Just the fact that he trusted us enough to come in and not totally ruin the legacy really meant a lot.”

“It made us want to be better musicians and take advantage of the moment we had,” adds guitarist Mark Tremonti.

“When you have your guitar in your hand, and you're playing in that studio in the same spot those guys played in, there's no slop coming out. It's got to be on point. You’ve got to man up, you know?” Or, perhaps more aptly, “You’ve got to band up when you're in that situation.”

“If you know you're going into this sacred ground where all these incredible riffs have been constructed and recorded, the last thing you want to do is show up empty-handed,” continues Kennedy. “It was definitely fuel for the creative fire.”

As for whether the band encountered any of Van Halen's iconic gear during recording, Kennedy replies, “There were pieces of gear there they had set out, but nothing super iconic. We weren’t tracking with Frankenstein.

“Have I held Frankenstein? Yes,” he teases. “Was it a total, Excalibur-level experience? I don't even know how to articulate that, but I got emotional – that was a pretty special moment.”

And it seems like Eddie himself would have approved of the band recording at 5150, as the Van Halen legend once attended an Alter Bridge show when Wolfgang was filling in on drums.

For more from Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy, plus exclusive interviews with Joe Perry and Danielle Haim, pick up issue 602 of Guitar World from Magazines Direct.

Wolfgang Van Halen and his band Mammoth (which has now seemingly dropped the ‘WVH’ tag) have returned with a wild new song that goes big on the two-hand tapping – and it's joined by a horror film-inspired music video video that boasts an all-star, werewolf-fighting cast.

There’s a wiff of From Dusk Till Dawn in the video for The End. The band arrives at a club and are greeted by Danny Trejo, who tells them that certain regulars don’t like loud noises – playing ballads would be advised. The mystery letter that had sent Mammoth there, however, asks for a rock show that will kill – and that it does.

Telling his band to keep things “civil”, Wolfgang launches into an unapologetically incendiary tapping run that nods to his late, great father, Eddie Van Halen, as none other than Slash looks on approvingly.

Wolfgang then hurtles into a nifty, harmonic-laced verse riff, backed by some commendable slap bass from Ronnie Ficarro.

Trejo had strictly told the band “No solos!”, but as the band go about their business, half the audience gets savaged before their eyes by, erm, zombies, werewolves and vampires. In the crowd, there's also a now-zombified Myles Kennedy, who goes on an impressive killing streak.

Wolfgang, meanwhile, then struts through the maelstrom while delivering a tastefully virtuosic solo. Full of EVH-inspired tapping licks and fast-but-tasteful runs, it stays true to his father's solo lesson about melody first, virtuosity second.

The way he looks into the camera as he does so, waltzing over the tables as chaos ensues around him, is a direct salute to his father's moves from the Hot For Teacher video.

Wolfgang has also nailed the fine balance between honoring his father's playing style and establishing his own. We've seen him deliver some other show-stopping tapping solos, but this might be his best, and most individualistic, yet.

Wolfgang's mother, Valerie Bertinelli, who recently shared her thoughts on a Van Halen biopic, also features, throwing punches while Slash continues to look nonchalantly on, enjoying the show.

Fretboard pyrotechnics aside, this feels like the first big rock video in quite some time and, importantly, neither the song nor the playing gets overshadowed by the blood-soaked visual entertainment. Horror effects icon Greg Nicotero (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Sin City) has more than played his part.

“I’ve had the tapping idea on the intro for The End since before Mammoth,” Wolfgang reveals. “I was able to fit it into this world. It’s still over-the-top and shreddy, but it’s also melodic and controlled.

“Overall, I was doing some different things on the record, and I knew this was going to be a big step. Once we finished The End, it felt really special to me.”

The dropping of the ‘WVH’ moniker feels like a big moment for the band, too. Historically, Wolfgang has written and performed all instruments on their records and has previously said he’s a drummer first. But this might be the dawn of a more collaborative future for the band.

Either way, the song is great, the video is sheer class, and it’s a genius promotion for the band’s Autumn U.S. run, with Myles Kennedy in support. How’s that for marketing?

The tour starts, poetically, on Halloween in a currently unspecified location, and lasts through to December 7, where the tour wraps in another to-be-confirmed location. It’s all very mysterious.

Before that, Wolfgang will feature at Black Sabbath’s blockbuster final show in Birmingham, England, this summer, having played Crazy Train at Ozzy's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction last year.

Wolfgang has also recently spoken about how he helped bring Van Halen back from the brink in the early 2000s, and gifted his guitar hero his brand-new signature guitar, the EVH SA-126 Standard.

“I’ve been so fortunate with my career,” Myles Kennedy says, and indeed, between fronting Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, and singing and playing guitar alongside Mark Tremonti in Alter Bridge, Kennedy is, to borrow a Conspirators album title, living the dream.

But even while having his hands full with two projects, he continues, “As a writer, I can never totally power down. I always have the antenna up in case something comes along.” He laughs. “It’s like being a doctor on call.”

If that’s the case, then Kennedy has been one busy MD. The Conspirators recently wrapped touring for their most recent album, 4, and before that, Kennedy was on the road with Alter Bridge in support of their seventh effort, Pawns & Kings. Somewhere in between, he managed to write and record a solo album, the just-released The Art of Letting Go.

The new effort is Kennedy’s third under his own name, following 2018’s Year of the Tiger and 2021’s The Ides of March, and in addition to showcasing the sort of anthemic, hooky and intensely melodic heavy modern rock that has become his calling card, The Art of Letting Go is also his most unabashedly hard-hitting effort to date.

“The intention this time out was definitely to make a riff-based rock record, and to not be afraid of doing that,” Kennedy says.

“Whereas I think with the first two records I shied away from it because I was coming from two different projects that were already steeped in that sound.” When it came to The Art of Letting Go, however, Kennedy asked himself, “‘Why can’t I do that? Why am I setting up these parameters?’ I’m known as a rock singer and guitar player, so why wouldn’t I do that?”

Kennedy does it to great effect throughout The Art of Letting Go, from the first crashing chords of the opening title track through the epic closer, How the Story Ends.

In between there’s plenty of raging hard rock (the hard-charging first single, Say What You Will, and the grungy and groovy Saving Face) and big-gesture anthems (the disarmingly major-key Mr. Downside, the soaring Miss You When You’re Gone), as well as mournful ballads (Eternal Lullaby) and multifaceted, almost proggy workouts (Behind the Veil).

And it’s all shot through with Kennedy’s instantly recognizable vocals and, perhaps surprising to some who see him solely as a frontman, incredibly fluid and accomplished lead guitar playing.

For Kennedy, however, the guitar component has always been central to his musical makeup.

“From the time I was young I just wanted to just play guitar – I never expected to be known as a singer,” he says.

“The only reason I became a singer was because I couldn’t find someone to sing the songs I was writing. I was like, ‘I think I’m gonna have to learn to do this myself.’ So what’s beautiful about having this project is that it helps fulfill my original plan: ‘OK, I’m writing songs. I’m singing. But I also get to play a lot of guitar.’”

He laughs. “Someone once said to me, ‘Why do you make solo records?’ And it’s like, ‘So I can play solos!’”

You’ve been busy these last few years with Slash and Alter Bridge. How did this record come together?

“It was one of those things where I knew I had a record coming up and I had a very finite window to write it in. So beginning in January of last year, I just started chipping away.

“I think I was out with Alter Bridge, so it was a lot of writing in hotel rooms and dressing rooms and trying to just get as much out as I could within about a six-month period of time, before we started rehearsals and pre-production and all that stuff. So the album was definitely a road-written endeavor this time around.”

Is there a balance you have to strike when you’re working in a creative realm, but also again a very strict deadline?

“It can be a challenge if you’re not careful. Because you can end up doing something just because you have to do it, and you have to finish it. Fortunately for me, I was always the kid who would procrastinate when I had, like, a term paper, right? [Laughs] It was the last week before it was due, but somehow I would land on my feet.

“So sometimes I work better under pressure. But it’s interesting – as I get older, I don’t enjoy the stress of that. So I think I’ve gotten better at structuring my time appropriately and knowing what’s coming up, and then still allowing myself to be open to the process.”

As you were putting these songs together, did any theme start to reveal itself to you?

“You know, subject-matter wise, this is the first one of my solo records that really doesn’t have a storyline. Year of the Tiger was written about things I’d experienced as a child and with my family, and then The Ides of March was very much influenced by everything that was going on in the world at that time. So there was an arc of a narrative. This time I really just wanted it to be a collection of songs. I didn’t want to do another concept record.”

On the music side there seems to have been at least one concept: to rock hard.

“Yes, and it was a little bit liberating in that respect. But what I also wanted to be very conscious of was that I wanted it to be riff-based and I wanted it to rock, but I also wanted to still have that bluesy element and not go into… almost where Alter Bridge can go, where there are those tinges of metal at times.

“So any time I had a riff that was getting a little ‘metallic,’ I’d say, 'Okay, we’re gonna save that for something else.' I wanted these songs to stay kind of slinky and bluesy, and have that as the basis.

“Another thing was, it was important to keep it so that we could play it as a three-piece [Kennedy’s band includes drummer Zia Uddin and bassist Tim Tournier]. What I learned touring on those first two records is that we’d end up having to rearrange everything from what was done in the studio because I was layering all these parts, playing lap steel and this, that and the other. This time, it was about making it so we could pull it off live the way it was recorded.”

To that point, on your previous record you used a wide variety of guitars and amps in the studio. What was your setup this time?

“Well, like I was saying, I tried to keep it really simple so that it was something that could be recreated live. So it’s the signature guitar [the PRS Myles Kennedy], strung with some D’Addario .10’s. And then a Diezel Paul amp that [Diezel co-founder] Peter Stapfer had given me a few years ago for the Year of the Tiger tour.

“It’s a 45-watt amp, and it’s not like the Herbert or the VH4. It’s a very different animal. There’s just something about that amp and that guitar together that I really love. And then I had the [J. Rockett] Chicken Soup pedal, which I’ve used now for a few years, and a pedal called the [Mythos] Argo, which is a great fuzz pedal. That’s what you hear at the beginning of Say What You Will.”

Guitar-wise, was your PRS signature guitar able to handle the variety of tones – clean, dirty, overdriven, lead – that you needed for the record?

“Yes. And you know, it was a lot of fun last time getting to make a record with all those wonderful vintage instruments. But for this record, I really wanted it to be streamlined and not spend a bunch of time getting tones.

“We knew what we wanted, and once we got the tone we didn’t need to constantly stop and start and move microphones, turn up the mids, turn down the bass… it was just there. Every day I’d plug into the same guitar and the same amp and we were off the races.”

One highlight is the title track, where you go for some unique phrasings and note choices.

“That turned out to be one of my favorites, because when it goes from the bridge into the solo section, it’s like the clouds kind of part. It’s a different vibe and it’s very… if I’m not mistaken, I think it’s pretty ‘Dorian,’ if I’m thinking like a music nerd. [Laughs] I love that sound.”

Another standout is Dead to Rights.

“That is definitely a tip of the hat to [Big Wreck singer and guitarist] Ian Thornley. I texted him while we were recording: ‘This is a tribute to you, brother.’ We became friends, geez, 25 years ago, and I just think the world of that guy.

“The riff, I would attribute that to playing with him a lot back in the day. And the solo as well. There’s certain licks in there where I’m like, ‘I definitely got that one from Ian…’”

Who would be another big guitar inspiration for you?

“I love guys like Warren Haynes. A lot of the way I think as a guitarist comes from that school of playing. I don’t normally go into a solo going, ‘I want to play like this.’ I just do what I do. But when I think of the language that I speak a lot of times, and who taught me that language, it would be players like Warren.

“And the thing I like about Warren is that the way he plays guitar is kind of like how he sings. That’s what I’ve always tried to do. Someone actually once said to me, ‘When you play guitar it reminds me of how you sing.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, thank you!’ Because that’s what I’m trying to do – vocalize through the instrument.”

Given that, at this point in your career would you say you identify more as a singer or a guitarist? For instance, bilingual people often talk about dreaming only in their native language. Which is it for you?

“It’s always been about the guitar. I had a tech who, at the bottom of his emails, it said, ‘The power of the riff compels me.’ I always thought that was so great. Because that’s how I feel; it all starts with the riff. That’s the foundation. And then the chord progression and the melody and the vocal come after.

“With this record especially, which is more of a riff-based thing, the riffs needed to be strong enough to build the foundation on. Because that’s where it all starts. So, yeah, I guess when I dream, I dream as a guitar player. [Laughs]”

• The Art of Letting Go is out now via Napalm.

While all guitarists learn from the greats, few actually get the opportunity to play alongside the best in the business night after night. But with 20 years as Mark Tremonti’s bandmate in Alter Bridge, and a dozen with Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Kennedy has done just that.

Which has afforded him, among other benefits, a unique perspective on what makes a guitar legend. What has he observed?

“With Slash, there’s a few things,” Kennedy says. “One is his unorthodox approach – his phrasing and the way his lines go where you wouldn’t expect them to go. There’s an unpredictability that I really appreciate with him. He doesn’t think like other guitar players.

“Also, he’s such a character player. Within one or two notes you know it’s Slash, just because of his vibrato. He has his own way of speaking.”

Regarding Tremonti, he continues, “A lesson I took from him early on was how he would approach song ideas when we were writing together. He would catalog things – ‘Here’s a riff, will it go with this verse…’ He would have these parts laying around and put them together like sonic puzzles.

“I always thought that was a really interesting way of doing things, because I would try to do it all in one sitting, like, ‘Okay, I have a verse, now I need to come up with a chorus.’ That was my pattern.

“But playing with Mark opened my eyes to trying this other way of, ‘You know what? You might have to wait a month, or even a year, to find a part that’s good enough to go with this other part.’ I learned the art of patience.”

One thing Slash and Tremonti have in common? “Their work ethic,” Kennedy says. “Slash’s work ethic is over the top. He goes so hard, and that’s been really inspiring to me. And Mark is the same way.

“It’s great being surrounded by people who still have that passion, even after being in the game for decades, because it would be so easy for them to go, ‘I’ve got a catalog, I’ve got a legacy. I can just pick up a guitar and go out and play the hits and call it a day.’ But neither one of these guys is hardwired that way.

“I’ve always appreciated that, because for me it’s always been about the work,” Kennedy continues. “None of the other stuff matters. I’ve found that the satisfaction comes from the creativity, and from when you know you’ve got something that moves you, or hopefully moves somebody else. That’s where the joy is.”

• The Art of Letting Go is out now via Napalm.

Around autumn last year Myles Kennedy took time out from his regular gig as lead vocalist and guitarist with stadium rockers Alter Bridge. However, this was no holiday, neither was it to revisit his side project with Slash.

His aim was to record his third solo album – and this time he set his sights on recording a riff-heavy, no-holds-barred rocker.

So, when we had the chance to settle down with the man himself and ask a few pointed questions, we leapt at the chance…

What was your goal for this album?

“Well, I knew I didn’t want to make another acoustic record, which was great six years ago and it fulfilled a long-standing urge. But with this one I wanted to get back to making something that was informed by the power of the riff, you know?

“But using blues scales, pentatonic scales and what-not as a vocabulary so that I didn’t go too far into metal territory, which is something that Alter Bridge tends to lean on more. I wanted to make a rock ’n’ roll record – a lot of loud guitars – and just do what I guess I’m known for. And it was good to get back and start swimming in that stream again.”

The album has the force and precision of contemporary rock but still the gutsy, instinctive feel of classic rock. How have you blended those elements so seamlessly?

“It’s a delicate dance. I was raised on classic rock, so that’s always going to be in my DNA. But at the same time I still want to be contemporary. I don’t want to just regurgitate something that’s already been done better than I’m ever going to be able to do it. I want to try to take it and kind of put my own spin on it and bring it into this era.

“And there are a number of ways to do that, but one of the big components is the sound and that’s where I feel like ‘Elvis’, [aka] Michael Baskette, the producer, is very helpful. He understands; he has that same goal. He loves all the classic stuff and he loves those sonic hallmarks, but he also wants to bring it into the present.”

In what way does your solo work stand apart from your work with Alter Bridge?

“I mean, especially that this is more of a hard rock record, the lines were blurred a little more. With the ballad Eternal Lullaby… I actually brought that to Alter Bridge a few years ago. And what happened is we just had so many ballads. There’s only a finite amount of spots for ballads in that context, so we didn’t use it. I wanted to make sure it saw the light of day, so I felt like it was appropriate on this record.

“But that’s a great question, because it’s like when you’re using a similar formula, then where does it go? And a lot of it, for me, boils down to knowing the language I’m speaking, musically.

“Alter Bridge is more detuned, heavy chugging and the rhythms are different, the rhythms are straighter. Some of this stuff swings. I think that’s another big part of it; it’s got a pocket and a groove that we just don’t explore with Alter Bridge.”

There’s an amazing solo on the track Say What You Will. How did you record that?

“What I want to do most of the time on records [is] improvise, but I hurt my hand. I always forget what it’s called, it involves my ulnar nerve. It’s a long story. So I wanted to make sure when I went in to record these solos, I kind of had a roadmap. I would improvise a few days before and then just piece together the parts I liked.

“No different from what I would do in the studio, but I basically have a rough sketch of what I’m going to do, so I don’t have to wear my hand down as much. And, if I remember correctly, we just knocked it out, just did a few takes and put it together, and we were off to the races.”

There’s also an interesting octave fuzz pedal on the intro. What effect were you using there?

“Yeah, that’s the secret sauce, right there. But I’m going to tell you the secret sauce because everyone should have one of these pedals. It’s called [a Mythos] Argo and I found it at Chicago Music Exchange.

“I went in there and I was like, ‘I need a really good fuzz…’ And so they had this pedal there, the Argo pedal. I’ve been asked that question by other guitar players, it’s such a great pedal. Get the Argo pedal, kids!”

What were your go-to electric guitars and amps for this record?

“My go-to were my signature [PRS] guitars, fresh out of the box. I had a few in boxes and I took them out, strung them up and that was it. Most of the record was done on this one black signature guitar, and it didn’t have a scratch on it when we took it out of the box, but by the time we finished the record, [it had] plenty of dings.

“I [also] had a green one that was kind of a prototype, which I used on some of the altered tunings. But other than that it’s that black signature guitar, straight into my Diezel Paul amp.

“On the second solo record I had all this vintage gear: my ’58 Fender Deluxe and my ’58 335, and the wonderful thing that you get from vintage gear is that mojo. But with this, I just kept it simple and used basically what I’m going to use live.”

So you’re quite a physical player, if the guitar ended up with loads of dings?

“I don’t like brand-new guitars. I don’t like it when they’re all shiny. I’ll see a new guitar and I’m like, ‘That’s gonna look good after I drag it across the driveway.’”

You spoke earlier about using drop tunings. How low did you go?

“I think the lowest I allowed myself to go was C on two tracks. I used it on a song called Miss You When You’re Gone. It was CGCGC and then the top string was a D.

“There’s a song called Dead To Rights and that’s basically open G tuning, but you tune the thickest string down to C, which is kind of interesting. So when you have that open G tuning, you think that that string should be a D, but when you tune it to a C it creates a whole different set of inspiration.”

Are you a prolific, rapid writer or do you tend to take a long time to write songs?

“It really depends on the track. Sometimes the universe will just drop something into your lap. I’m pretty prolific at starting things. Like, if you said, ‘I want you to sit down this afternoon and I want you to put together three songs,’ I’d probably be able to do that.

“But the problem is, I have an editing system that I like to use in terms of distance. So if I come up with something, I like to get away from it. I don’t want to finish it on the spot because I want to make sure that all the parts are up to par with the other parts.

“So it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s a great verse.’ And then you get to the chorus, and it’s like, ‘You can do better. You should search for a different chorus.’ So that’s where the time comes in. I need to step away.”

You’re going to take this album on tour shortly. What will your live rig look like?

“The same as what was in the studio. It will be the Argo pedal and I have a [J. Rockett] Chicken Soup [overdrive] pedal and a handful other little accoutrements. But that Diezel Paul amp into the Diezel 2x12 cabinet with the [Celestion] Creambacks, my PRS signature guitars and that’s it. Pretty simple.”

Are you looking forward to touring the new album?

“I count the days, yeah. I mean, once this press run is over, I’m going to be at home, just woodshedding and every day running the songs over and over. Because we’re going out as a three-piece, that’s a lot of pressure, in a good way. And I like that. I like the challenge. But it means I’m gonna have to get all these songs to where they’re just second nature. I’m just gonna rehearse and rehearse and rehearse.”

You’re singing as well, so there’s nowhere to hide…

“No, there’s nowhere to hide! And I’m cursing myself with some of the songs because I wrote the riffs a certain way, thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just going to be a guitar riff here.’

“But then we got in the studio and I listened back to the playback and I was like, ‘That needs a vocal part right here.’ And then you’re like, ‘I’ll figure it out…’ Now I’m cursing myself: ‘Why didn’t you just sing the guitar riff or something? But no, you had to do something different. Damn you, Kennedy!’”

• The Art of Letting Go is out now via Napalm.

It’s safe to say that Myles Kennedy – Alter Bridge icon, PRS signature artist and frequent Slash collaborator – knows a thing or two about great guitar tones, as evidenced by his stellar back catalog.

Aspects of his top-tier rig are well-documented. His electric guitar of choice, for example, has for a while been his PRS signature guitar, which was officially unveiled last year after Kennedy began robustly road-testing an elusive prototype.

His backline is also common knowledge, and although he has a number of vintage guitar amps at his disposal, more often than not, Kennedy can be heard playing through a Diezel of some sort. What is perhaps less talked about, though, are the specifics of his pedalboard.

In the new issue of Guitarist, Kennedy reveals the pedal that he thinks every guitar player should own, describing it as the “secret sauce” behind his go-to octave fuzz sounds.

When asked about his recent track Say What You Will – and specifically, the octave fuzz he uses – Kennedy says: “Yeah, that’s the secret sauce, right there. But I’m going to tell you the secret sauce because everyone should have one of these pedals.

“It’s called [a Mythos] Argo and I found it at Chicago Music Exchange,” he goes on. “I went in there and I was like, ‘I need a really good fuzz...’ And so they had this pedal there, the Argo pedal.”

Built by US-based firm Mythos, the Argo is an aggressive octave fuzz effect inspired by the near-legendary – and eye-wateringly expensive – Prescription Electronics C.O.B. Fuzz, which is rather hard to come by these days.

The unassuming pedal features Volume, Fuzz and Blend parameters, as well as a sole bypass footswitch, in a close approximation of its vintage source material. It might not seem – or look – like much, but as Kennedy explains, it’s more than enough for truly crushing fuzz tones.

It’s also reasonably priced: as per the Mythos website, it’s available for $179. And if you were to get one from Chicago Music Exchange (as Kennedy did), it's available at the same price.

“I’ve been asked that question by other guitar players, it’s such a great pedal,” Kennedy concludes. “Get the Argo pedal, kids!”

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitarist, which features the full interview with Myles Kennedy.

Ever since it arrived on the market back in 2018, John Mayer’s Silver Sky signature guitar has been a sale list stalwart for PRS. In fact, it’s become one of the most popular electric guitar platforms money can buy, with Reverb registering the US-made and SE versions as some of its own top-selling six-strings for the past two years in a row.

Although PRS hasn’t made readers privy to its own end-of-year sales figures, it’s fair to assume the Maryland brand experiences a similar level of demand for its flagship Stratocaster-style model, which has undergone a few functional and cosmetic changes across the years.

Now, though, the status quo has seemingly shifted thanks to the arrival of two all-new PRS models that have pipped the Silver Sky to top the brand’s “Top Selling Models” list.

Those models are the Telecaster-inspired NF 53 and Myles Kennedy signature guitars, which take up first and second positions in the brand’s sales rankings, respectively.

PRS revealed the success of its flagship T-type single-cuts – which, amazingly, only launched in June – in a Spotify Wrapped-themed Instagram post that plotted both its Top Selling six-strings and most popular finishes.

Unsurprisingly, the Silver Sky did indeed make it into the third position, but the fact it was displaced by the comparatively infant NF 53 and Myles Kennedy six-strings speaks volumes of the latters’ success.

Whether this would still be the order if PRS had included its SE line – whose SE Silver Sky model is likely more popular than its US-made sibling, especially with the SE range currently receiving 20% price cuts over the holidays – is up for debate. We imagine the SE DGT could also be in the conversation if that were the case.

Still, that’s not to take away from the achievements of the NF 53 and Myles Kennedy guitars, because they still managed to fend off stiff competition from the likes of the ever-popular Custom 24 and modern-day classic Modern Eagle V (which finished fourth and fifth, respectively) to top the list.

Like we say, it’s a testament to the fact that the standard NF 53 and artist series Myles Kennedy signature guitars aren’t just novel creations designed to be “PRS’ answer to the Telecaster”. 

Sure, that might have been part of the intrigue to prospective players, but it soon became apparent these models were beasts in their own right. As we wrote in our own review, “These guitars look, feel and sound a lot less derivative than the Silver Sky.”

That, as Paul Reed Smith himself told Guitarist at the time of their release, was precisely the objective with these two guitars: “The Silver Sky was a retooling of an historic device. It was a goal to get somebody incredibly comfortable with our instruments. This [the new MK and NF 53], on the other hand, is after a feel and sound in a different way. 

“We’ve been talking about it for a decade,” he went on, “because our artists want that sound in their arsenal, but the thing that was not okay with me was the hum [from the single-coil pickups]. Very often with those instruments the hum can be louder than the guitar.”

As mentioned, PRS also disclosed its Top Selling colors of the year, with the Silver Sky stalwart Moc Sand topping the list ahead of the NF 53’s Black Doghair. Faded Whale Blue, Yellow Tiger and Cobalt Smokeburst completed the roundup.

First introduced at NAMM 2019, Moc Sand arrived as part of the Silver Sky’s first aesthetic expansion pack, and most notably was recently selected by Mayer himself to head up the revolutionized ‘Dead Spec’ Silver Sky.

To peruse the PRS collection, head over to the brand's website.

While bolt-on guitars go back to the early days of PRS, the John Mayer Silver Sky cracked the code. “The Silver Sky was a retooling of an historic device,” says Paul Reed Smith today. “It was a goal to get somebody incredibly comfortable with our instruments. This [the new MK and NF 53], on the other hand, is after a feel and sound in a different way.

“We’ve been talking about it for a decade,” Paul reveals, “because our artists want that sound in their arsenal, but the thing that was not okay with me was the hum [from the single-coil pickups]. Very often with those instruments the hum can be louder than the guitar.”

Myles Kennedy bought his first PRS in 1998, the red McCarty that he still uses with Alter Bridge today, but he’s a long-time Telecaster player, too. “I was a huge Radiohead fan so my first one is the same [Fender Telecaster Plus] as Jonny Greenwood played with the Lace Sensors: that was the beginning. Then I started becoming enamoured by early Blackguards, ’53s, ’52s, Nocasters. I really love them, especially those early ones.

“We actually started talking about doing a signature model some years ago, I’d say about 2014,” continues Myles. “But at that time I just wasn’t really sure what that would be. After some years, I remember PRS called and said, ‘We think it’s time, let’s do this.’ We just started riffing – pun intended! – on what might be cool. They presented the idea: what if we took a more T-style approach? Let’s put our heads together and see what we can come up with. I would say that was about two years ago.”

Prototypes to production

The first thing anyone outside of the PRS family knew about the MK signature was when Myles was pictured gigging it in early 2022. 

“Actually, I had used a prototype for almost the entire recording of the last Alter Bridge record [Pawns & Kings, released in October 2022], which had been finished by that point. So what you hear from me on Pawns & Kings is that prototype. 

“I remember reaching out to PRS; I was going to do a solo tour and I couldn’t imagine not being able to perform with that guitar. It’d become such an important part of the journey. [PRS] were going, ‘Well, it’s kind of a secret…’ But Paul was like, ‘Come on, the kid wants to play the guitar!’”

Would we be right in saying that the MK is pretty much Myles’ vision of his ‘perfect’ T-style while the NF 53 is yours, we ask Paul. “Yeah,” he says, “except… I sat in with Myles, and what was coming out didn’t exactly, as you’d say, sound like a T-style: it sounded like Mr Kennedy playing all the tunes in a studio! I was stunned. 

“It had a sound of its own that I really liked. The NF 53, while it gets that quack, it’s a little thicker sounding. If you pick up a ’56 or ’66 Telecaster it’s got an unbearable amount of high-end, the high E’s not very loud: they have problems. The NF 53 is thicker, fuller but has that sound at the same time.

“The guitars were created in parallel. We were working on the body shape and contouring for the MK at the same time as the NF 53. But to explain launching them at different times would have been almost impossible. To have both explained and evaluated together – as you’re doing – where one’s a little louder, one’s got a little different high midrange, the slightly different body shapes, makes so much more sense. Better to have the conversation now than later.”

Like us, Myles has played both new guitars. “I really like that guitar [NF 53],” he says. “I feel like if I’m going to sit down and – the key word here is try to – play some Danny Gatton licks, it’s an amazing guitar. But I think part of the function of the signature guitar is that it really does work well in a rock environment, but it does very well if you’re going to use it in a country band. 

“I’m kind of a closet funk guy, too: I love sitting around and jamming to Earth, Wind & Fire or Chic – anything Nile Rodgers, he’s the man! The signature works really well for that, but you can play straight up blues and rock. It’s a very versatile instrument.”

Pickup tricks

Early on, Myles settled for Narrowfield humbuckers: “[PRS] knew I loved single coils. There’s a certain tonal characteristic that we all know and love, but the problem with single coils is that they’re noisy, especially in high-gain environments with Alter Bridge. So we thought Narrowfields would be perfect. We get the characteristics that we all love, but they’re going to be quiet.”

But there were tweaks. “They are different [to the standard Narrowfields],” says Paul. “They have different magnets and windings. It’s down to TCI again: we tuned those pickups for him. Myles sent us his favourite guitars and we measured them. His intention was to have something in between a Telecaster and a PRS – he was using a Tele on some tracks and a PRS on others, so he wanted to get both [from the same guitar]. We literally put the resonant frequency in the middle, between the two.”

As to the completely new NF 53 pickups, we’re back to PRS’s TCI process: “In our world at PRS we’re starting to get to what these things [pickups] are tuned to,” says Paul. “We know what the note of the bridge pickup on an old ’53 Blackguard is and we’re thinking more about the note it’s tuned to now, [rather] than calling it a ‘Telecaster sound’; we’re looking at it as a tuned resonance. It used to be, ‘We’ve got to have that Tele sound,’ right? Now it’s more like, ‘I want that thing to ring at 7.2k [kHz], 7.4k.’” 

You get the impression that PRS is cleverly playing with reference sounds. For example, Paul isn’t a fan of the Telecaster’s neck pickup, which, he muses, “isn’t great – that’s why people have been changing them for years. That’s why people like Esquires: it doesn’t have a neck pickup so nobody cares. A Strat’s neck pickup is tuned higher in pitch; the neck pickup on the NF 53 is tuned to the note of a really good Strat pickup.”

While the NF 53 comes across as the purist version, the MK has broader sound options and illustrates more diverse needs, which are increased by the unique preset tone roll-off switch. 

“I knew I wanted that single-coil top-end, but in the different groups I play with, especially Alter Bridge, that wasn’t always going to work,” says Myles. “So I thought, ‘What if we had something that would shave off the top-end?’ Basically, take the tone knob and cut it in half because that’s where I would set it a lot of times in that environment [Alter Bridge]. 

“So I said, ‘What if we had a push-pull and we also made it so it didn’t affect the neck pickup?’ Then I can use that full open and get that nice chime-y thing if I need it, or do some funky Nile Rodgers thing without it being too dark. In fact, with Alter Bridge I probably have it pulled out most of the time.”

“He wanted [a sound to simulate] a tone control turned down to about 6,” adds Paul. “We measured exactly what he wanted and put it in. This is all player-centric stuff.

“We’ve made a lot of artist guitars,” Paul concludes, “and you better do it the way they want otherwise, longterm, they’re not going to love them. My opinion is just do it and be done with it. If they want me to put someone else’s name on the headstock, that’s not going to happen – but pretty much everything else we can do.”  

Myles Kennedy's impressive vocal heroics are only matched by his far-ranging guitar licks.

Kennedy's six-string exploits with Alter Bridge, Slash's solo band – The Conspirators – and in his own solo work are deeply rooted in rock. But there's more than meets the ear. 

Kennedy's solo work, and his output with Alter Bridge, show his nuanced ability to mix hard-rock arrangements with off-the-beaten-path tunings. If you dial into his work with Slash, meanwhile, a love for the blues is readily apparent.

Kennedy is also a dab hand at fusion-infused leads and one of the most reliable rhythm guitar players out there today. You could say that Kennedy is one of the more multi-faceted and versatile guitarists in the game today. But where did it all begin?

“What made me fall in love with the guitar was hearing Eddie Van Halen's Eruption on a boombox while playing wiffleball with my friends as a kid, I'd never heard anything like that in my life before. It was so out there that I couldn't even fathom what the hell it was. It was one of those moments where time stood still. I was frozen in place listening to whatever Eddie was doing.”

“I was completely enamored to the point that I immediately ran to my mother and begged for her an advance on my allowance to go buy the cassette,” Kennedy continues. 

“Thankfully, she gave me the money, and a few hours later, I had my Van Halen cassette. But beyond Eddie, not too long after I heard Eruption, I heard Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin, which further changed everything. It's those two songs that nudged me to want to pursue guitar.”

During a break from promoting Alter Bridge's latest release, Pawns & Kings (and his brand-new PRS signature guitar) Myles Kennedy dialed in with Guitar World to run through the 10 guitarists who shaped his sound.

1. Jimmy Page

“As a composer, guitar player and producer, Jimmy Page is very unique. He has a truly special approach, and what's crazy is that we saw that right out of the gate, but he managed to keep it up throughout his career. But I think what I loved about Jimmy and still love about him is that he has this reckless abandon. 

“He's an incredible composer and arranger, and he's great in the studio, but when he executes his leads, I don't know… there's something very dangerous about the way he plays. It's not perfect, and there's a bit of that reckless abandon, which I love. It's almost punk rock in its ethos, but really, it's fearlessness. I've always loved that about Jimmy's playing.”

2. Eddie Van Halen

“With Eddie, obviously, his sound was all his own. And when you put that into the context of when the first album [Van Halen] came out, it's just crazy. Back then, nobody had that sound. And nobody played that way, either. Eddie's 'brown sound' was revolutionary – [it inspired] an entire generation of guitar players in the '80s. And people can say what they want, but ultimately, people back then were chasing that sound. But it was a special time, and we have Eddie to thank for that. 

“His two-handed technique was a game-changer that inspired a whole bunch of shredders back then, and it still does to this day. We owe a lot to Eddie for what he brought to the party.”

3. David Gilmour

“I remember being at summer camp as a kid, and while I was there, someone was playing The Wall in its entirety, and it blew my mind. I have no idea why the album was being played in that setting, but when I heard the solo for Comfortably Numb as a 14-year-old kid, man, it brought tears to my eyes. It was just so beautiful and free, and it had this deep soul while still being extremely melodic.

“I love David's playing – during that solo, he hit all the right notes. So, for me, as a guitar player, that solo was a crucial point. 

“That's when I realized that even though I listened to a lot of Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen, I knew that technique wasn't everything. It was about evoking emotions via the notes and being lyrical. David is so vocal in his approach to the guitar. He speaks to people. I love that about his playing.“

4. John Sykes

“I know John played with Thin Lizzy for a while, but I discovered him through his Whitesnake stuff. That '87 record [Whitesnake] was huge, and a lot of it was due to John's sound. It was so heavy, but he had this blues element mixed with raw aggression. 

“I remember being taken by how powerful it was, and I loved his albums with Blue Murder after he left Whitesnake, too. But I think his sound, in conjunction with his vibrato, significantly influenced me. I spent a lot of time trying to emulate that big, wide vibrato because of how soulful it was.”

5. Ian Thornley

“People don't talk about Ian enough, but he's a friend of mine, and he's amazing. He's in a Canadian band called Big Wreck, and I've known him since my Mayfield Four [Kennedy's pre-Alter Bridge band] days. We toured together back then – we were both these young bucks just coming up in the ranks.

“I remember being blown away after I'd heard a song called The Oaf on the radio because of how killer Ian was on it. And then, about three weeks later, I was in a music store in New York, and when I walked in, I heard this guy shredding like a mother in the corner. It turned out to be Ian, and we got to talking. We've been close friends ever since, and I think he's one of the best-kept secrets in guitar.”

6. Warren Haynes

“Warren is another one of those guys who doesn't play a lot of notes, but he plays the right notes. Beyond that, I love his tone. Warren's got a sound that just grips you. And I've had a few incredible experiences where I got to perform and jam with him over the years, all of which were absolute highlights. Out of all the cool moments I've had in my career, if someone asked me to name the best moments, being onstage with Warren is up there. 

“Watching him do these long, extended solo sections while I was standing there, man, for a second, I forgot what my name was. He will always be one of my favorites, not only because of how great he is, but because he's like a Jedi Master. He's so calm and full of wisdom that you can't help but feed from him.”

7. Pat Metheny

“A lot of people think of me as only a hard rock guy, but I'm influenced by jazz players, too, and Pat Metheny is at the top of that list. 

“I remember hearing him back as a teenager when his Still Life (Talking) album came out. And there's a song on that album called Third Wind that has this break where Pat attacks the guitar in a way I'd never heard before. To me, it was super-transcendent. You might not think it, but Pat is highly influential on me in a lot of ways.“

8. Chris Whitley

“Here's a guy who people don't know about, which is sad. But Chris was an important artist back in the '90s for those who did hear him. I've talked with Joe Bonamassa about him, and I think John Mayer is also into Chris. But, man, Chris was just a monstrous talent.

“He was this guy who was busking on the streets of New York City, and Daniel Lanois, who produced a lot of big records back in the day, came upon him. He heard Chris, took him under his wing, and Chris ended up doing a bunch of records for Columbia. Losing Chris was such a blow – he was so talented. He was definitely a big influence, not only as a guitar player, but his vocals were amazing, too.“

9. Danny Gatton

“Danny was a genius. I've never seen anyone so terrifying with a Telecaster in their hands. I remember the first time I saw him; it was on the cover of a guitar magazine where they said he was one of the greatest unknown talents, and they were right. But back then, I was like, 'I've heard this before; let's see.' So, I went and got his record, 88 Elmira St., and I was utterly blown away. 

“His raw ability to jump around and pull from all these different influences created something entirely his own. But that's what great artists do, right? They pool all the things that interest them, put their stamp on them, and create something compelling. 

“But what I loved most was the physicality of Danny's playing. Because while those old Teles are not easy to play, Danny would just manhandle them. You could hear how much power he had in his hands, and it was scary. That and his creative concepts made Danny Gatton an exceptional player.”

10. Jeff Buckley

“Other than Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page, in many ways, Jeff Buckley was one of the big reasons that I needed to chase down being a guitar player. He was one of the individuals that motivated me along the way after I heard his Grace album back in '94. At that time, grunge was all the rage. And while I appreciate grunge, and I love it, Jeff Buckley provided something very different from that stuff. 

“His music was so ethereal and special, but you could also hear him pulling from Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, world music, and all these unique things. And then, about five months after I bought Grace, I was lucky enough to see Jeff perform in Seattle at a little theater that held maybe 500 people. That's when the full gravity of his vocal and guitar-playing abilities hit me. 

“To this day, his guitar playing is very underrated. Jeff used a lot of weird tunings that made sense with his voice. He was such a crazy talent and so unique. What he did back then profoundly affected me and still does today.”

Myles Kennedy has revealed that his first ever PRS guitar only came into his possession because he felt duty-bound to buy it, having borrowed – and ruined – it at a gig.

In an unpublished segment of his recent interview with Dave Burrluck for Guitarist magazine, Kennedy says he purchased the electric guitar – a red PRS McCarty – following a show in New York, with his old band over 25 years ago.

“My first PRS was a McCarty and I bought that in 1998,” says the guitarist and singer. “I had a manager who just went and bought it at a music store in New York. I was with The Mayfield Four at the time and we were playing CBGB’s that night and he said, ‘Hey, do you want to play it?’ I said, ‘Yes, absolutely!’

“Well, I was wearing a ring and I was doing this Pete Townshend arm-wheel thing at the end of the set and I just mangled the top of the guitar, not even thinking. I took the guitar back to the hotel later that night and thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve just ruined his guitar!’

“I wrote him a cheque the next morning – ‘Go get yourself a brand new one, this one’s mine.’ I still play that guitar – I use it in the set with Alter Bridge, it’s my red McCarty.”

Still, doing the honorable thing seems to have worked out for Kennedy, who now has no shortage of PRS options at his disposal. Not least, his new T-style signature guitar, the PRS Myles Kennedy, which was announced last week.

That guitar had been long-rumored and even pictured at gigs – despite PRS and Kennedy ably sowing the seeds of doubt in our minds as to whether or not it would happen.

Indeed, in the new issue of Guitarist, Kennedy says that he had to convince the brand to let him take it out live in 2022, something it seems he was only able to do thanks to an intervention from the boss himself – Paul Reed Smith.

“I remember reaching out to PRS [about using it on my solo tour],” explains Kennedy. “They were going, ‘Well, it’s kind of a secret…’ but Paul was like, ‘Come on, the kid wants to play the guitar!’ So I took it out.  But it was also good because it did inform me more, having it in a live environment… I’m glad I was able to take it out of the trenches.”

Let’s hope he was wearing fewer rings at the time. You can read more about the PRS Myles Kennedy in last week’s announcement.

To read the full conversation with Paul Reed Smith and Myles Kennedy, pick up issue 500 of Guitarist from Magazines Direct.

The majority of signature guitars are based on an existing model and then pimped up a bit to suit the artist. Mark Tremonti’s PRS signature, for example, is based on the PRS Singlecut, Dave Grissom’s signature on the PRS McCarty. But in recent years PRS has changed tack a little.

John Mayer’s Silver Sky might have heavily borrowed from the style of the Stratocaster, but in PRS’s catalogue it was a new design; Mark Lettieri’s HSS Fiore was another, albeit with less specific inspiration.

Long-time PRS user Myles Kennedy started a bit of an internet rumpus back in 2022 by showing off a custom-made PRS on stage. Its single-cut slab body with two pickups had the internet calling it a PRS ‘Telecaster’. All PRS itself would tell us was that “like many artist guitars, it is simply a custom build that we did for Myles to fulfil some of his needs on this tour and in support of his latest solo album”, The Ides Of March.

Pretty much a year on since those rumours started, that ‘custom build’ is now being released as the Myles Kennedy: a completely new signature model in PRS’s Bolt-On range.

The bigger surprise, however, is that there’s another model with a single-cut slab body and two pickups being released at the same time: the NF 53, a guitar “inspired by one of Paul Reed Smith’s vintage guitars from 1953”, we’re told.

So, if the inspiration for both guitars is pretty clear, the oddity here is that we have a signature version of a guitar that doesn’t exist and a new standard model, released simultaneously, that’s significantly different.

Taking shape

Let’s start with the shapes. Drawing around our ’69 Tele reference and then the MK, the outlines are actually more similar than they look. The MK’s upper shoulder is a little more rounded, like the end of the heel; the treble cutaway is less deep but widened, and the horn is much more PRS-like and, of course, we get the hallmark scoop. 

The NF 53’s outline is a little different again: its shoulder appears slightly pulled out, but there’s actually more incurve as it moves into the heel, which is shorter, and of the three it has the deepest cutaway, again with that PRS-like horn and scoop. The waist and the base on the bass side are slightly offset, too.

Both use swamp ash for the body wood, with a classic thickness of 45mm. Through the Tri-Colour Sunburst face of the MK (the sides and back are opaque black), it initially looks like it’s one-piece. 

However, with the overall Black Dog Hair gloss finish of the NF 53, you can clearly see its three-piece construction on the base edge and (possibly annoying for some) in the treble cutaway. The edge radius is more Strat-like than the tighter radius of the Tele and seems the same on both bodies. Each model has slight forearm and rib-cut contours but neither are as deeply shaped as the Silver Sky.

The scratchplate creates its own lines and the NF 53’s is a little more Tele-styled; the MK’s almost nods to a bat-wing Gibson SG ’plate that’s been user-modded. Both appear to be made of the same single-ply ABS material, though the MK’s edges are chamfered; on the NF 53, the edges are left square and a little sharp.

The slab-sawn maple necks are certainly more similar, modern PRS Bolt-On in style and with the same smaller-outline black birds, which already featured on the Silver Sky Maple, the Fiore and the Dustie Waring CE 24 Hardtail Limited Edition. There’s also the usual scarf-jointed headstock. That said, the MK’s headstock is faced with ebony and there’s a ‘geometric’ owl logo from his Ides Of March solo album on the truss rod cover. 

The NF 53’s headstock is unfaced with just the model name on its truss rod cover. The fingerboard radius on both is classic PRS, measuring 254mm (10 inches), and the fretwire seems the same. There’s no tint to the natural neck finish, but the MK’s finish is all satin; the NF 53’s face is satin, but the back is gloss. Then, of course, just to add to the choice, the actual body finishes differ – the MK has five options, the NF 53 just four.

Parts & pickups

Even the tuner choice differs, with the MK going for a set of PRS-designed, nickel-plated, vintage-style locking tuners. The NF 53’s are like those on the Silver Sky, non-locking with larger plastic buttons, although these buttons don’t seem as wide across and they’re a polished ivory material.

One thing that moves both of these new designs away from their initial inspiration are the bridges, which are the same on both. If you’ve played or owned a PRS Vela, you’ll recognise the design: “This bridge harkens back to Paul’s early designs and traditional baseplate-style bridges,” states PRS, “but is top-loading for easy restringing.” These both use a steel baseplate with small keyholes to allow you to anchor the strings behind the two brass saddles, just under 8mm in diameter, each with overall height adjustment and dual screws to set the position and intonation.

The pickups and controls add to the list of differences. The MK uses a pair of small-aperture PRS Narrowfield humbuckers, and the bridge is slightly angled to enhance the treble response. Both have the same narrow polepiece spacing of approximately 49mm, and while the neck’s poles sit nicely under the strings, they certainly don’t on the bridge pickup, not least with the 54.5mm string spacing at the bridge plus that slant.

The NF 53’s Narrowfield DD (as in ‘Deep Dish’, an early PRS humbucker) pickups are a very new design and “are made with taller bobbins to fit more winds and extra metal pieces in between the magnets for a more focused, powerful tone”, says PRS. They’re also narrow aperture humbuckers and both mount directly to the body – the same as the MK’s bridge pickup, though its neck pickup is suspended from the scratchplate.

Thankfully, neither guitar uses a distinctive Tele-style control plate: the controls are all rear-mounted. The MK places the master volume and tone in a straight line parallel to the strings, with the angled five-way pickup selector in between. As you can see, the NF 53 goes for a more PRS-like layout where the dual controls are angled, the same as the lower-placed level switch, which is just a three-way this time.

There are no tricks on the NF 53, then, just each individual pickup or both-on together. The MK is more complex with those same three sounds, but in position 2 on the five-way switch we get the full bridge humbucker with the neck-facing single coil of the neck humbucker, in parallel.

In position 4, both pickups are split, voicing the outer single coils of each, and combined in parallel. Finally, a pull-switch on the tone control introduces a preset tone roll-off on the bridge pickup only, which affects positions 1 to 4 on the five-way selector.

Feel & Sounds

Starting with the MK, pulling it from its gigbag we nearly launched the guitar across the room! It is super lightweight at just 2.81kg (6.2lb) and the only solidbody guitar of a similar weight from PRS that we can remember was the obeche-bodied Mira-X, which weighed in at 2.6kg (5.75lb). Unplugged, there’s quite a pushy, fast response that’s less steely sounding than a new CE 24 we had for comparison – it’s subtly different.

Running through the sounds plugged in, however, and while it’s clear what the original inspiration might have been, does it really sound Tele-like? There’s a little of that in the high-end response, certainly on the bridge pickup, but it’s a fuller, less thin sound and it really does sit between our ’69 Tele and that new CE 24. 

A T-style with more girth? The neck pickup is similar, a wonderful depth with single-coil snap that – with a little hair – begins to remind this writer of a good Les Paul Deluxe: clear but smooth. 

Back to the bridge and that Tele-like honk and bark is present, just without the shrill high-end, and this is where the MK begins to take off: that depth really suits some crunch and we’re hearing almost Les Paul Junior-type heft without the noise.

Positions 2 and 4 on the five-way add a little more ‘Strat’ to the proceedings, they’re a little thin-sounding perhaps, but they don’t detract from the palette, while the centre both-on position is ballsy Keef, the parallel link retaining the clear high-end with some of that bark and depth. It’s a big rootsy rhythm sound, for sure.

That pull-switch preset tone roll-off is subtle, pulling down the high peak as if you’re using a long lead, something that players using the guitar wide open on a big stage might find useful.

The NF 53 is another lightweight guitar, slightly heavier than the MK at 2.97kg (6.54lb), and plugged in we have another flavour: it has less of the MK’s girth and produces what most of us would call a more ‘Tele-accurate’ Fender-esque voice. It’s a lighter take, but without the toupée-raising high-end, which sounds almost studio-sweetened as is so typical of modern PRS guitars. 

While the bridge seems to pull back the peaky honk of the classic Tele slightly, the neck sounds more Strat-like and together they create a full and bouncy mix. Three very usable voices. And don’t forget these aren’t single coils – they don’t hum.

Both necks are dimensionally very similar. The MK measures 42.02mm wide at the nut, 52.33mm at the 12th; the NF 53 is 41.9mm and 51.97mm for the same positions. Depth-wise, it’s equally close: the MK measuring 22.7mm at the 1st fret and 24.6mm by the 12th; the NF 53 is 22.2mm and also 24.6mm. Shape? To our left hand, the MK feels very slightly V’d, especially in lower positions, while the NF 53 is a little rounder. 

Both feel superb – the biggest difference in feel is probably the gloss-versus-satin finish. The fret gauge is the same as the current Silver Sky measuring approximately 2.28mm wide and 1.3mm high. It’s a medium wire with a good height and perfectly installed, of course. The fingerboard edges are nicely rolled, too.

The slightly different geometry of the treble cutaways means that the NF 53 is marginally airier in terms of top-fret access compared with the MK, but, we honestly had no issues with either.

Any buts? Well, the high E response on the MK’s bridge pickup is fractionally soft, but we can’t say it bothered us in the least. Intonation isn’t 100 per cent thanks to the compromise of the two saddles, but it is more accurate than our ’69 Telecaster, even with its intonated (angled) brass saddles.

Verdict

The NF 53 is the simplest guitar PRS makes in its USA lines: three sounds and the truth that an electric guitar is the sum of its parts. And when those are high-quality, refined and evolved to such a high level as this, the result is astonishing. 

While the MK might give us a few more sounds and a little more attitude from its artist association, because the recipe and execution is so good, it’s equally valid: one of the vibey-est guitars to leave PRS’s pristine temple for some time.

They are different guitars, however, and both are a little more expensive than the Silver Sky and Fiore, for instance. “These will be rare birds,” confirms PRS Europe’s boss, Gavin Mortimer, “with only around 30 a month heading for Europe between the two models. That won’t be enough to satisfy the UK, let alone the other 28 countries we supply. What price [do you put on] exclusivity?”  

Specs

PRS Myles Kennedy Signature

• PRICE: $2,899 / £3,099 (inc gigbag)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Single-cut solidbody electric
• BODY: Swamp ash
• NECK: Maple, Myles Kennedy profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/42mm
• FINGERBOARD: Maple, black outline bird inlays, 254mm (10”) radius
• FRETS: 22, medium
• HARDWARE: PRS plate-style steel bridge with 2x intonated brass saddles, PRS-designed vintage-style locking tuners – nickel-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 54.5mm
• ELECTRICS: 2x PRS Narrowfield MK humbuckers, 5-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone (with pull-switch to activate preset tone roll-off for bridge pickup)
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.81/6.2
• OPTIONS: Colour only
• RANGE OPTIONS: See NF 53. The SSS John Mayer Silver Sky with either maple or rosewood fingerboard now lists at £2,849. The HSS Fiore lists at £2,829
• LEFT-HANDERS: No
• FINISHES: Tri-Color Sunburst (as reviewed), Antique White, Black, Hunters Green opaques, Vintage Natural – gloss NOC body; satin nitrocellulose neck

PRS NF 53

• PRICE: $2,899 / £3,099 (inc gigbag)
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Single-cut, offset solidbody electric
• BODY: Swamp ash
• NECK: Maple, Pattern 53 profile, bolt-on
• SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/41.9mm
• FINGERBOARD: Maple, black outline bird inlays, 254mm (10”) radius
• FRETS: 22, medium
• HARDWARE: PRS plate-style steel bridge with 2x intonated brass saddles, PRS-designed vintage-style locking tuners – nickel-plated
• STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 54.5mm
• ELECTRICS: 2x PRS Narrowfield DD humbuckers, 3-way lever pickup selector switch, master volume, master tone
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 2.97/6.54
• OPTIONS: Colour only
• RANGE OPTIONS: See Myles Kennedy Signature
• LEFT-HANDERS: No
• FINISHES: Black Dog Hair (as reviewed), Blue Matteo, McCarty Tobacco Sunburst, White Dog Hair – gloss NOC body; gloss nitrocellulose neck
• CONTACT: PRS Guitars

After doing a stunning job of duping the entire guitar world into believing it wouldn’t happen, PRS has surprise-introduced Myles Kennedy’s new T-type signature guitar.

Not only that, it’s been released alongside the NF 53 – a standard-run version of Kennedy’s name model that PRS says will appease those who have been asking the company for “a guitar of this style and tone” for “years”.

Just as John Mayer's Silver Sky was PRS’s take on the Fender Stratocaster, these two are the Maryland brand’s reimagining of the classic Telecaster template, introducing a distinctly different take on the vibe that PRS has so far explored with its existing single-cut models.

Here, vintage, old-school style meets PRS’s penchant for surgical precision and craftsmanship in pretty spectacular fashion.

The guitar itself isn’t anything we haven’t seen before – Kennedy himself has been quite open about it in the past, and he’s played it live numerous times – but it was never something guitar fans thought would become a reality.

Kennedy has played down its production multiple times, for instance, playing it particularly coy during an interview with Total Guitar by teasing, “We’ll just have to see how it plays out,” when asked about a rollout.

Well, it turns out we were all wrong, and as Kennedy revealed in the upcoming issue of Guitarist – whose early hands-on demo with both models can be seen above – we’ve been wrong for quite some time.

“We actually started talking about doing a signature model some years ago, I’d say about 2014,” he recalled. “But at that time I just wasn’t really sure what that would be. After some years, I remember PRS called and said, ‘We think it’s time, let’s do this.’ 

“They presented the idea: what if we took a more T-style approach? Let’s put our heads together and see what we can come up with. I would say that was about two years ago.”

The Kennedy signature variant features a solid swamp ash body and maple neck, the latter of which features 22 frets, a 10”-radius maple ‘board and Bird inlays. Elsewhere, there’s a pair of Narrowfield MK pickups – one angled, one straight – which are controlled by a volume pot, a push/pull tone parameter and a five-way pickup switch that serves as a tone roll-off to bring down higher frequencies.

As for hardware, the 25.5”-scale model employs a PRS Plate Style bridge with two three-a-piece saddles, vintage-style locking tuners and a truss rod cover embossed with Kennedy’s logo.

It’s a fairly similar story for the standard NF 53, which features a few key departures from Kennedy’s own personalized spec sheet. The pickups, for example, are Narrowfield DDs, and are arranged parallel to each other, while it’s only a three-switch with standard master volume and tone knobs in the control department.

Notably, those Narrowfields are updated, boasting a mixed magnet/steel pole piece design utilized for “twangy, musical highs without losing too much bass”.

Aside from that, though, it’s business as usual. A solid swamp ash body partners a maple neck and fretboard – 10” radius and bird inlays included – and a two-saddle Plate Style bridge and locking tuners head up the hardware.

Each model also brings distinct aesthetic options to the table. Kennedy’s is available in the solid Antique White, Black and Hunters Green, as well as the grain-flashing Tri-Color Sunburst and Vintage Natural.

For the NF 53, it’s all about the swamp ash's natural grain, which is embellished with either Black Doghair, Blue Matteo, McCarty Tobacco Sunburst or White Doghair.

The release of the MK and NF 53 caps off “decades” of talks within PRS to produce a Tele-a-like, with Paul Reed Smith himself initially being put off by the hum that such single-coil equipped models produced.

And so – as was the case with the Silver Sky – he sought to refine the design with the Narrowfield’s help.

“If you pick up a ’56 or ’66 Telecaster it’s got an unbearable amount of high-end, the high E’s not very loud: they have problems,” he told Guitarist. “The NF 53 is thicker, fuller but has that sound at the same time.”

Both of the new models will retail for $2,899. For more information on the new models, visit PRS. 

The latest issue of Guitarist, which features the full interview with Myles Kennedy and Paul Reed Smith, will be available from Magazines Direct on Friday (June 23).

Guitar builder extraordinaire Paul Reed Smith joined hard-rock titans Alter Bridge onstage at a recent performance to lend his licks to PRS artists Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy.

At the February 4 show in Silver Spring, Maryland – just under an hour’s drive from PRS HQ in Stevensville – Smith was introduced by Kennedy, who proclaimed, “I just want y’all to understand the gravity of the situation: in my opinion, this guy is a legend. I mean, he is one of the great guitar gurus of all time.”

Fan footage shows what happened next, as the band launch into anthemic show closer Rise Today, taken from 2007 opus Blackbird. Armed with a Paul’s Guitar model, Smith wastes no time in embellishing the track’s intro with a handful of bluesy bends that really sing – so much so that Kennedy is compelled to dash over to the mic and comment, “Listen to that sustain!”

The superstar luthier continues to add some sweetly phrased call-and-response solos in an exchange with Kennedy’s vocals, but really lets those power chords fly in the chorus.

The ante is upped in the middle eight, which finds Smith and Kennedy trading licks over a pounding bass drum before Smith takes a final solo over the track’s closing chorus. In fact, the leads are flying so thick and fast that Tremonti doesn’t manage to muscle his way in until the finale, which finds him opening up a can of blistering legato to send the set home.

PRS has been the Alter Bridge guitarists’ builder of choice since Tremonti’s early years in post-grunge juggernauts Creed, and his single-cut signature guitar remains a staple of the company’s affordable SE line.

In the years since, the virtuoso has worked on an Explorer-style model with the firm – which, sadly, sounds like it won’t see the light of day – while Kennedy has been leaning on a Tele-style model that provided the bulk of the tones on the band’s latest record, Pawns & Kings.

This isn’t the first time Paul Reed Smith has made a guest appearance at a PRS artist’s show – last year, he hopped onstage with DragonForce to solo with Herman Li and co.

When Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti teamed up to release Alter Bridge’s most recent album, Pawns & Kings, earlier this year, it brought with it an array of characteristically infectious electric guitar riffs – the heaviest of which, it was recently revealed, were actually written by Kennedy.

One of the standout riffs for which Kennedy was responsible can be heard on Fable of the Silent Son – which, at eight minutes 22 seconds, is officially the band’s longest song, and was inspired by a baritone guitar once owned by a late jazz rock legend.

Speaking to Guitarist, Kennedy revealed Fable of the Silent Son was influenced by one of Walter Becker’s old Alembic Orion guitars, with the Alter Bridge maestro explaining he purchased the late Steely Dan member’s guitar at auction three years ago.

“True story: I’m a massive Steely Dan fan, and when Walter Becker passed away I bought one of his Alembic [Orion] baritone guitars at an auction [in 2019],” he revealed. “That was what inspired that sludgy riff in the first half of that song when I was demoing it.”

However, Kennedy went on to admit the Alembic Orion in question can’t actually be heard on the record – as it turns out, Kennedy was far too precious about it, and didn’t want to take it out of his own studio to fly with it.

The auction that hosted the Alembic Orion took place on October 18 and 19, 2019, and held by Julien’s Auctions. The two-day event saw the sale of over 600 guitars and 400 amps, and fetched a total sum of $3.3 million.

As such, it’s likely the baritone Kennedy bought was the 1995 Alembic Orion guitar that was eventually snapped up for $3,200 after a relatively tame bidding war on October 18, 2019. The guitar itself, which had an estimated price of $2,000, features a walnut, bubinga, maple and ebony construction, and sports two Alembic HG pickups.

Fable of the Silent Son also featured Tremonti’s own guitar, which was tuned “way down in A or A#”, with the Creed guitarist labeling the track as having “one of the lowest tunings we’ve ever done”.

“It was by far the hardest song, at least for me, to put together,” Kennedy concurred. “There’s at least, jeez, three time-changes in there – it always keeps you guessing.”

According to Kennedy, Becker’s Alembic Orion baritone wasn’t the only influential guitar to inspire the proceedings of Pawns & Kings – he also used his unique Telecaster-shaped PRS model, which was first spotted live in June this year.

Speaking to Total Guitar last month, Kennedy explained he used the PRS Tele-a-like for all of his guitar solos and most of the rhythm work on Pawns & Kings.

And, in his most recent conversation with Guitarist, Kennedy expanded on his fondness for the design: “I love guitars with a story. I also really love Blackguards, Broadcasters, Nocasters and the first two or three years of those Telecasters were amazing.

“So I somehow convinced [PRS] to build this creature for me and I love it. It sounds great. It’s all over this record: 80 percent of the rhythms are that guitar, and all of the solos. It has a single-coil tonality, but, to me, it’s almost like a really aggressive P-90. It complements Mark’s humbuckers really well.”

To read the full interview with Alter Bridge, and to explore the best guitar gear of 2022, head over to Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitarist.

Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy have been honing their guitar double act in Alter Bridge for the best part of two decades. As they sit together in the bar of London’s Royal Garden Hotel, they laugh when Myles says, “We’ve been playing together for so long, we’ve now morphed into one being!”

Tremonti has long been celebrated as one of the finest and most articulate guitarists of his generation, and while Kennedy is most famous for his four-octave vocal range – displayed both in Alter Bridge and in Slash’s solo band – he’s also a skilful guitarist in his own right. 

Their guitars are front and centre on the new Alter Bridge album Pawns & Kings. Produced once again by the band’s longtime collaborator Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette, the album is focused on what Myles calls “meat and potatoes” guitar riffs, with a bare minimum of extraneous textures and instrumentation. 

As Mark explains: “A lot of times in the past, we used to have a string or a keyboard underneath to boost the music up, but on this record, we got rid of all that stuff. It sounds like the guitars are breathing. They’re open and they have all this space to live.” 

For this reason, he adds, “People keep saying that this is our heaviest record yet.” But beyond the abundance of abrasive, interlocking dual-guitar riffage, there is much more to Pawns & Kings. 

“I think this is maybe our most involved record,” Mark says. “Out of all of the records, if somebody listened to it cold, it’d be the hardest to grasp right out of the gate because there are so many twists and turns. As an artist, you’re trying to not let the listener go: ‘This is Alter Bridge. It’s going to do this, and then it’s going to do that.’ We want to keep people guessing.”

And what also resonates powerfully in this new album is the shared conviction between Tremonti and Kennedy for conveying meaning in their songs. 

On Pawns & Kings they deftly balance a hard-hitting instrumental attack against deep lyricism, anthemic choruses against introspective verses, and moments of self-restraint against explosive displays of fretboard fireworks. “One of the hardest dances to do is to make something heavy and technical and still emotional at the same time,” Mark says. “But unless the song means something to you, there’s no point.”

One of the more surprising elements of the new Alter Bridge album is how Tremonti and Kennedy have shaken up their ‘traditional’ roles. While it might once have been safe to assume that lead guitar duties would fall naturally to Tremonti, the precise call-and-response soloing on the album’s title track and the eight and a half minute epic Fable Of The Silent Sun makes it hard to decipher exactly who’s playing what. 

And although Myles describes himself, with tongue in cheek, as “the sensitive ponytail guy” of the band, he is the author of many of this record’s heaviest riffs – including the moshpit-starting groove of Silver Tongue and the foreboding clangour of album opener This Is War.

Myles acknowledges that it’s Mark’s exemplary right hand chops that truly animate these riffs. “It’s kind of like James Hetfield,” he explains. “Some guys have it. It’s an aggression. When I’d go in to track my part it was like, ‘I can’t wait to hear Mark play over the top and add his attack because it’ll help bring it to life.’” 

Myles also reveals that when the pair descend into drop tunings, he opts for thick strings so that the “intonation is tighter,” while Mark is more likely to use a lighter gauge and allow the strings to “flop around” – thus differentiating their tones. Reaching for a colourful analogy, he explains: “It’s like when you get hit in the gut. If you’re a bigger person, it bounces around. That’s part of what makes that sound.”

For tone and technique, Mark asserts that it’s well worth reassessing the itty bitty pieces of triangular plastic that guitarists often take for granted. Picks, he says, are “the thing that you’re interacting most with on your guitar. It’s how you touch the guitar so it’s important.”

Having recently embarked on a quest to “try every pick ever made” and see if a change could help him play better and dig in more, he found new favourites in Dunlop’s 1mm and 1.35mm Flow guitar picks. “It made a huge difference,” he enthuses. “Now I can’t look back.”

For all his dedication to his craft, his precise and methodical approach to the guitar, Mark doesn’t feel the need to flaunt his status as a guitar hero. The album’s introspective ballad Stay – on which he sings lead – is one of a handful of tracks that doesn’t contain a solo. 

“After being known as a guitar player for so many years, I always feel pressure, like I have to live up to something,” he explains. “Being a writer excites me way more than being a lead guitar player.” He has come a long way as an artist since his formative years as a speed metal buff. “If I just spent my time sitting down, 100 per cent trying to be an excellent guitar player, you might hear a very different, more technically proficient guitar player, but I’d much rather create songs.”

Conversely, Myles has keenly embraced the opportunity to shred more on Pawns & Kings, and even got himself a bespoke new tool for the job. During his solo summer tour, he was spotted rocking a sleek black PRS-built take on a Fender classic, and while an initial probe for details elicits a tongue-in-cheek, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he gleefully divulges that this is indeed a new prototype made to his exacting specifications.

The semi-secret project came about after the 2021 release of his second solo record, The Ides Of March, which he cut using a selection of vintage Telecasters. Not wanting to subject the valuable instruments to touring, and as a longtime player of PRS guitars, he called upon “Paul and the gang” to help him develop an alternative. 

“We riffed for a long time and they found this sound that was in my head,” he says. “I have a real fondness for those early Telecasters, so you always wonder if there’s a way you can combine elements with a more contemporary approach in something that would be very versatile. It’s like a P-90 meets an old Blackguard-era Telecaster sound.” 

Myles used the guitar for all of his solos and the majority of his rhythm tracks on the record. “It cuts – it’s all there,” he enthuses. “It’s got its own place, especially with Mark who’s using humbuckers. It helped distinguish the sound.” 

Myles stops short of calling it a signature model, and in regards to a consumer roll-out he teases: “We’ll just have to see how it plays out.” But things feel positive, with his bandmate already staking out a spot at the front of the queue: “It’s not just for him,” Mark laughs. “I’m getting one given to me!” 

Of course, the star of Mark’s collection is his own PRS Tremonti signature model. In fact, the only time you’ll hear him without one is if a particular riff calls for a baritone chug. With its high output humbuckers and single cut body shape, we’re best off, he suggests, thinking of it as “a modernised version of a Les Paul.” 

He adds: “I hate to say it’s more refined because there are so many great Les Pauls. But a perfect analogy for it is if you took an old hot rod from back in the ’60s and put a brand new drivetrain inside it.” 

When it comes to guitar amps, Mark is a genuine aficionado, so there was no chance of travelling light when it came time to hit the studio for Pawns & Kings. “I got my car and put ten amps in there – all my favourites,” he explains. “That’s always one of the most fun days; we do an amp shoot-out and check them all out.”

Those that came out on top this time included his all-new 100-watt signature PRS MT100 (which, he says, will “probably” be released for public consumption in 2023) as well as its baby brother, the nifty PRS MT15 lunchbox valve amp.

A Cornford RK100 also made the cut, alongside a Granophyre from modern metal specialists, Omega Ampworks. Last but by no means least, Mark brought two Dumbles to the high-class amp party, and Myles took a particular shine to one and used it for his solos.

“It’s crazy,” Myles says. “I used an amp that was probably more expensive than my first house.” Indeed, because of their hefty price tags (often fetching upwards of $75,000), these rare and revered creations tend to dwell far out of reach of most players, so we asked the amp expert in chief to distil their magic. 

After a considered pause, Mark says: “There’s something that happens when your pick hits the string. It’s this weird sensation that doesn’t happen on other amps for me. It just has this thing. A lot of Dumble clones don’t have it. There are also Dumbles that don’t have it. There’s bad sounding Dumbles and I’ve owned one, but when it’s right, it is the best amp in the world.” 

For his rhythm parts, Myles used a Diezel Herbert and a VH4 – a tried and tested combination. Initially, however, it took years of searching for him to find amps that would sit comfortably among the expansive frequencies already occupied by Mark’s well-established sound.

“He uses a lot of real estate sonically and that’s one of the things I loved about his tone when I first heard it,” Myles explains. “The real challenge was finding where I fit in, and it was tough. We didn’t figure it out until we were doing the Blackbird record [in 2007]. We were trying everything. I brought my JCM800s – we had tons – but we kept shooting out. It wasn’t sitting in the right spot or it sounded too similar to what Mark was doing.” 

After almost running out of options, Myles recalls how the lightbulb moment came when he stumbled across a Diezel Herbert stashed away in a closet: “We gave it a try, plugged it in and fired up channel two and there it was – all the frequencies that complemented what Mark was doing. I haven’t looked back since.” 

Similarly, Myles has also been getting maximum mileage out of a favourite stomp box – a “big blue” Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeller, used for many of the cleaner, more ambient textures on the new record. He laughs, “I don’t even know if they still make them, but there’s this one sound I programmed back around 2000, and I’ve done my best to make sure I don’t ever lose it.” 

Armed with their respective weapons of choice, Alter Bridge will be touring arenas this winter – a thought that was never far from mind when Pawns... was being written. “When we write a record, we know we’re going to play it live,” Mark says. “We like the ballads but we also like to rock. Heavy equals energy – and energy equals a great show!”

• Pawns & Kings is out now via Napalm Records.

Chunky, weighty and extraordinarily articulate, Mark Tremonti’s electric guitar tone on the new Alter Bridge album, Pawns & Kings, is nothing short of sublime.

His tone can be largely attributed to his high-output humbucker-loaded PRS Tremonti signature guitar, and an accompanying array of guitar amps, including his signature PRS MT100, its baby brother, the MT 15, a Cornford RK100, an Omega Ampworks Granophyre and two high-class Dumbles.

But as he explains in an interview with Total Guitar, one of the most significant components of his sound came from a far cheaper part of his rig: his choice of guitar pick.

In fact, Tremonti reveals that he embarked on a quest to “try every pick ever made” – though we’re not sure if such a feat is even possible – in order to see if a change could help improve his tone and playing.

“[The pick is] the thing that you’re interacting most with on your guitar,” he muses, justifying his ambitious experiment. “It’s how you touch the guitar, so it’s important.”

Though he doesn’t dive into much detail on how many different guitar picks he went through in search of the perfect one, he reveals he has new favorites in Dunlop’s 1mm and 1.35mm Flow picks, which reside on the heavier side of the spectrum and feature beveled edges to minimize drag, along with a pointed tip for extra attack.

“It made a huge difference,” Tremonti says. “Now I can’t look back.”

Tremonti is widely touted as one of the finest guitarists of his generation, but as he explains, he placed more emphasis on being a songwriter than a lead guitar player during the making of Pawns & Kings. 

“After being known as a guitar player for so many years, I always feel pressure, like I have to live up to something,” he explains. “Being a writer excites me way more than being a lead guitar player.”

He continues: “If I just spent my time sitting down, one hundred percent trying to be an excellent guitar player, you might hear a very different, more technically proficient guitar player, but I’d much rather create songs.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Tremonti’s Alter Bridge co-guitarist and frontman Myles Kennedy reveals how he used his PRS Tele-style model – custom-built for him by “Paul and the Gang” at PRS to harness the sound of a selection of vintage Telecasters he played during the sessions for his latest solo album, The Ides of March – for nearly all of his playing on Pawns & Kings.

“I have a real fondness for those early Telecasters, so you always wonder if there’s a way you can combine elements with a more contemporary approach in something that would be very versatile,” Kennedy says. “It’s like a P-90 meets an old Blackguard-era Telecaster sound.”

On why he opted to use the guitar for the majority of his guitar parts on the album, Kennedy adds: “It cuts – it’s all there. It’s got its own place, especially with Mark who’s using humbuckers. It helped distinguish the sound.”

No strangers to scorching solos, industrious riffs and thematic intensity, Alter Bridge are back with their seventh album, Pawns & Kings. Across ten songs, the band welcome fans new and old alike to join them on the next chapter in their journey – which at this point, has spanned nearly two decades. Heralded by the singles ‘Silver Tongue’, ‘Sin After Sin’ and its title track, Pawns & Kings veers away from the themes of its two (largely politically driven) predecessors, The Last Hero (2016) and Walk The Sky (2019). 

For album number seven, Alter Bridge have instead opted for a message a little more resolute. This resigned standpoint is delivered with a combination of techniques and gear that uphold the signature Alter Bridge character, while introducing new elements that demonstrate the band’s continued evolution in songwriting and performance. 

From their respective homes, guitarists Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti (who also just released a covers album, Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra, to raise funds for Down Syndrome charities) talk to Australian Guitar about the themes, gear and more that drive the hard rock heroes’ latest offering. 

ON THE MESSAGE BEHIND PAWNS & KINGS…

With The Last Hero released around the time Donald Trump was elected as the 45th US President, it was difficult for Kennedy to say how (if at all) the unfolding of a new political landscape would shape the future of Alter Bridge. Though on the surface, Pawns & Kings may show the band in the same ballpark of disdain and incredulity they were on The Last Hero, there’s more throwing of arms to the air with a sense of “whatever”. 

Ever a pensive man, Kennedy broaches the band’s thematic evolution: “These are very tumultuous, strange times, and they’re very polarised. And for me, I think what I’ve learned is that you’re not going to change anybody’s minds. Some bands are really good at that; they find their spot and preach their worries and that’s great for them. For me, I don’t feel comfortable in that realm, I like to keep the lyrics timeless.”

Kennedy takes album cut ‘Silver Tongue’ as an example, noting how people have tried to attach “something” to it. He, however, observes it to be a “timeless tale” – one that’s “been going on as long as there have been human beings”. He says: “You have people that seduce, people that are good at manipulating other people, and it doesn’t always lead to good things. That’s a song that is relevant now and will probably be relevant a hundred years from now because that’s just the way we’re hardwired, unfortunately. 

“Then you have a song like ‘Pawns & Kings’, which I feel is an empowering song. It’s like the battle cry for the underdog. Though you may look at a circumstance and think it seems impossible to overcome it, that song is that ray of hope – at least, that’s what I extract from it. After years and years of writing songs, I’ve learnt that if you can keep it ambiguous enough, it’ll apply in different arenas. I feel like it ages better – the shelf life doesn’t run out as quickly.”

Alter Bridge have indeed written songs that fit that mould in the past, such as ‘Wayward One’ from 2007’s Blackbird. It’s far from a conscious reasoning, though, that Alter Bridge have no notions of being the best band in the world for pushing political opinion. Kennedy says humbly: “Speaking for myself, I think if there’s any agenda, [it’s to] remember to be good to one another. Humanity is very important to me. And that song, ‘Wayward One’, is definitely a song about empathy. It’s supercharged with empathy. 

“[Nowadays] there’s so much divisiveness, so much tribalism and so much embolism, I don’t want to add to the noise there.” Kennedy pauses, drawing a weighted breath. “I don’t know what’s going on – as a human being, I just want there to be more bridges – no pun intended! I want there to be more conversation – everybody just needs to chill out and talk to one another and remember that we’re all in this together. At the end of the day, we’re all stardust, man. We all have the same blood.”

To speak to Kennedy, perched on top of a stool, relaxed in an environment he controls, he comes across as being the kind of man who prefers being in his own head rather than having everyone else’s conversations melting in there. “I like to learn things,” he says reasonably. “I’m always up for learning from somebody and I do like stimulating conversations, it keeps you sharp. And I need all the help I can get there, trust me. Especially the older I get and the more I realise how important it is to try and silence all the noise. 

“It’s no secret at this point, especially after Walk The Sky. Walk The Sky was essentially, in a lot of ways, me really being open to talking about how into meditation I am and being present I am, and I feel like that has been such a saving grace in my life. Not to preach the gospel of meditation; I don’t want to be that guy, but at the same time, I feel like it’s helped me be a better artist, because by learning how to turn down the noise in my brain, I can centre in on the music.”

ON ALTERING THEIR SONGWRITING PROCESS…

Centre in on the music, Kennedy and Tremonti surely did. Though the pair have a certain aptitude in how they’ve demoed songs over the last 25 years or so, pandemic-driven lockdowns and not being able to be physically present with one another forced Kennedy, at least, to refine his song writing craft even more. “All I had to do was sit in my studio and work,” he says. “I feel like I became, not a better songwriter, but better at documenting ideas and concepts. Just quicker. For me, that helped a lot with the process.

“[Album opener] ‘This Is War’, that came to me in kind of a dream state. And as I was waking up, I’d spent enough time after the pandemic in my studio getting pretty proficient with my stuff where it didn’t take long to take what I was hearing in my head and track it.

“Program the drums quickly, play all the parts, and then move on without it being this laboured, ‘Oh I’ve gotta get this right and this right and fine tune this,’ so it’s just very streamlined – in a lot of ways, that helped the creation of this record tremendously.”

Kennedy’s statement isn’t to say that his approach to his contribution to Pawns & Kings was entirely different to Alter Bridge’s prior six albums, rather, he sees it as more of a carry-over methodology that began with Walk The Sky. “The demos were more realised than they had been in the past,” Kennedy recalls. “A lot of times Mark and I would kind of get in the same room and go ‘Hey, do you have a part that goes with this part?’ 

“It’s funny because people will go, ‘Oh, go back to the old way you used to do it,’ and well, it’s really no different. We’re refining the ideas a little bit more before we present them to our partner. So, if I hand over a track, I’m still leaving him a space there to put his stamp on it, it’s the same concept.”

Tremonti offers his take on working out balance between himself and Kennedy when lockdowns prevented them from working simultaneously. “I would break out my cell phone, get on Zoom with him,” Tremonti says of a process that became the standard for so many other musicians. “I would turn in a few songs, he [Kennedy] would listen to them and give his input. I remember the first song he turned in was ‘Silver Tongue’ - he turned in two parts that went back and forth [between us].

“We like to keep our demo phase loose. We don’t want to say, ‘Here’s this completely completed song,’ because then it turns into somebody’s solo project. So, when we can get together as a band, we can always have that alternate sound.

“When Scott and Brian [bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips] come to the mix, it gives it that backbone, that rhythm section that is so recognisable to us. When it’s just me and Myles doing our demos, it sounds a little bit like me, it sounds a little bit like Myles. But when you get us all playing on it, it gets that AB characteristic.”

ON GUITARS, PEDALS AND MORE…

Kennedy is positively swimming in equipment in what he calls his “office studio environment”. He sits with his arms folded looking from an angle at a monitor, the camera capturing his profile. None of the gear here, however, made it onto the new album. “I had grand delusions of trying to do a YouTube channel like when the pandemic hit,” he explains with a bashful smile. “I bought all the stuff, and had it set up and I was like, ‘Well I’ve gotta come up with content for that. I can set the camera, but I think I’d be a huge bore,’ so I scrapped the plans!” 

Thanks to a good hunk of other gear though, the sonic stamp in Pawns & Kings is distinctly Alter Bridge, with many of its riffs’ nuances and the execution of solos echoing the band’s earlier work nearly some 20 years ago. Album cut ‘This Is War’, for example, boasts a menacingly effervescent opening riff with a very distinct attack that continues into the chorus. Such a sound was established throughout the album by a relative newcomer to Kennedy’s arsenal, the PRS McCarty Electric Guitar. “It has elements of a single coil sound that uses Narrowfield pickups,” the frontman says of the instrument’s make up. “It gets that top end that I really like with that character without all of the hum, and especially when using high gain like we’re using, the last thing you want to do is plug a single coil into some of these amps, it’s going to buzz like crazy. 

“This guitar worked really well for that. It just has a certain cut – I used that guitar on about 80 per cent of the record. Then there’s my tried and true [PRS SC] 245 that I’ve used since the Blackbird days [2007], I used that on the other tracks. I’ve used it forever, it’s kind of been a signature guitar for a long time until this black [McCarty] one came along, it’s like I love this guitar! It just has such a character to it.”

At times, some of the album’s guitar rhythms and melodies boast a wonderful push and pull, which are then interjected by wailing, desperate solos. This marriage of sound and technique is sometimes broken down in songs like ‘Stay’ (which sees Tremonti take on lead vocals) or can establish a particular swagger as in ‘Holiday’, before bringing back the aggressive drives as heard in ‘Fable Of The Silent Son’. Because this audio landscape is so in keeping with the noise of Alter Bridge releases of yore, you may think the band have utilised many of the same pedals – not so. 

Where FullTone was the preferred pedal for the effects on renowned Alter Bridge hits like ‘Before Tomorrow Comes’ and the solo on ‘Blackbird’, Kennedy has “started veering away” from the brand, his eye caught by something a little sexier – the J. Rockett Chicken Soup Overdrive. 

“They’re amazing,” Kennedy gushes. “I’m afraid to say this because people are going to snag them up! They have a notch at the mid-range frequency that works perfectly for us. It’s like corduroy, that’s the sound I’m shooting for; it’s not too saturated, it’s still got this space, and that’s what I like about using [these] pedals, you know. I’m not using Metal Zones, let’s just put it that way!”

Choosing the right instrument is (as Kennedy attests, appreciative of the intentional pun) instrumental in establishing one’s signature sound. 

“I think that’s part of the journey,” he says. “I kind of look at it like my voice – it took me years and years to find this sound and it’s the same thing, stylistically, the inflections: it’s me. When I sing, you’re gonna know ‘That’s that guy’. It’s the same thing with guitar, and that’s why I’m so grateful that PRS did this for me, it’s like I was hearing this thing that didn’t exist and I was like ‘Wow how can we get this character?’ 

“Mark has utilised these guitars now for nearly two decades, probably over two decades, and you know it’s part of his musical DNA – so you combine that sound with his touch and there’s Mark. I think that’s why I embarked on this as well.”

ON AMPS AND THAT ELUSIVE MT100… 

Tremonti looks as if he’s nested in a small warehouse, but really, it’s his home studio, “the best room in the house”, according to the Riff Lord. It’s really no secret but Tremonti is, by all accounts, an amp-over-guitar man. “I have a signature guitar and I don’t need to upgrade, you know, because I love my guitar,” he says. “I’ve got the MT 15 right here,” he points over his shoulder. He flips around his phone camera to proudly show off his collection of amps, moving away from his desk and taking the camera into what can only be described as a walk-in wardrobe for amplifiers. “There’s the RK100,” he says, pointing to a monster at the bottom of a shelf housing various heads. “Here are the best ones though,” he adds, gesturing towards a Dumble and a Trainwreck. “Those are the best other than, of course, the MT 15. Yeah, that’s my obsession: all these amps.”

Rumours about and images of the MT100 have graced online forums and interviews with Tremonti for around four years now. Amp aficionados and/or followers of Tremonti’s dedication to the box beasts will already know, with the PRS Mark Tremonti Signature MT 15 being the colossus that it is, that the MT100 should knock down walls – and Tremonti has one right behind him.

It’s a wooden prototype and not the actual thing; Tremonti’s not permitted to share photos of it yet. Nevertheless, the MT 100 was the main focus on Pawns & Kings. “I’ve got two prototypes here,” Tremonti says. “The first prototype was a two channel but now it’s a three channel. That was one of the first versions of the three channel,” he finishes, indicating the wooden box again. “I just sent the newest prototype back to the factory two days ago, and I should get it back tomorrow. And fingers crossed, after almost four years, I’ll be able to greenlight the head. 

“I’ve also been opening up all my cabinets at home and mix matching speakers and trying to come up with the best [configuration]. ‘What are we using? What speakers are we using? What dimensions are we using? What grill are we using?’ I finally came up with a pattern of speakers in the cabinet that sounds perfect for the head, and to me it’s going to be the greatest, greatest tone I’ve ever had.”

In collaboration with PRS’ Rich Hannon and Doug Sewell, Tremonti was instrumental in developing his new obsession. “Round and round and round just to get it right,” he says of the meticulous process in the amp’s creation. “Because, you know, once you think you’re at a finish line with something, all of a sudden, a war breaks out, and you can’t get the tubes. So, we had to change tubes. And we had to make that work. We had to, like I said, go from a two channel to a three channel and they had to find a whole new chassis.

“It’s made us come through a lot of changes, but it’s going to end up being, for me, the perfect amplifier. And I’m glad, I don’t ever want to just put something out because it’s easy. You know, I want to put it out because it’s absolutely right, and it’s taken a lot of years to get it that way.”

ON RECREATING THEIR IN-HOUSE SOUND ON THE LIVE STAGE…

Alter Bridge hit the road once more earlier in November when they commenced a tour through Europe and North America that will take them well into 2023. No matter where you’re positioned in any kind of venue – front back, stalls, balcony etc. – the high-end quality of sound with which Alter Bridge perform never wavers. That being said, there’s much to account for when trying to balance the distinct preferences and styles of both guitarists’ gear and technique. 

“There has to be a good balance between me and Myles, our amps have to fill different frequency ranges,” Tremonti begins. “When I was younger, I used to like that scooped kind of low end and high-end heavy metal kind of sound, but that stuff doesn’t cut through a mix well. So, I added way more mid-range to my tone. So, it really punches through the mix, and it doesn’t really live with the bass guitar when it comes to the frequencies, [so it] can get muddied up there.

“Our sound engineer is brilliant at taking everything we do and putting it in its own space, you know, so nobody shares the same frequencies. Myles is here, and I’m there, and it all works.”

Kennedy’s preference for amps still lies with his trusted Diezel VH4 100w Guitar Amp Head and his Herbert 180W Tube Guitar Head. “They fit really well in this context,” he says of using them for Pawns & Kings. Were he and Tremonti both to utilise Diezels on the live stage, they’d end up filling the same frequencies, as Tremonti explains. 

“I used to be a huge believer in having two amps at the same time for your tone,” he says, “because those two amps are going to do two different things and fill that bigger space. But I’m finally down to one amp live and it’s just going to be the MT 100. That’s  because I have a three-channel amp. It’s such a versatile amp, I don’t need anything else.

“It’s got the best clean channel I’ve ever heard on a 100 watt head,” he continues, “and it’s got a great overdrive channel that serves a good gap between your dead clean and your heavy lead sound. That amp will go from as clean as you can get to a really sweet overdrive, like a Dumble kind of boutique sound, to a heavy metal sound, you know? So, it’s got everything, everything that you could ever, I could ever need live.”

“It’s a noise machine up there!” Kennedy cries. “120 decibels of pure sonic fury up there!” A stark contrast to the in-studio setting, then.

ON HOW TO PLAY SONGS FROM PAWNS & KINGS…

When you give it a listen, it may seem that there’s a certain complexity of character to Pawns & Kings. Tremonti, however, says there are both technically demanding aspects to playing some of the new material, and some relatively simple areas, too. On the album’s title track, Tremonti elaborates, “There’s not a lot of effects on there. I leave my gain at about noon and just kind of use a lot of palm muting for some of the heavier, faster riffs.

“Like, if I was to learn that song from scratch, I would probably start with the hardest part and go straight to the bridge and learn the bridge breakdown riff, the heavy riffs, because that’s the toughest part to learn.” Tremonti’s advice? “Go backwards from there.”

Tremonti got tripped up in the early stages of putting down the track, though. “Scott and Myles were playing the intro with this weird feel,” he recalls. “Me and Elvis [producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette] are like, ‘What are you doing? This is so weird’, like, it’s this weird time thing. And me and Elvis were like, ‘I don’t get it’, but Scott and Myles are like, ‘No, this is great, we’re gonna do this.’ So, the beginning of that song, I would leave that for last and then learn the rest of it.

“Learn the bridge first,” Tremonti’s lesson continues. “You know, the chorus is very simple and straightforward.” Tremonti moves onto unpacking the more technically challenging and “weird” ideas of ‘Pawns & Kings’, revealing they can trip up even a well-seasoned musician like Tremonti. “I would compartmentalise every bit of that song,” he advises, “because I remember how difficult it was for me to memorise the song as a whole in one day and be able to... because when we do pre-production, you could spend a month on a song but then you put it away for three months, so you have to relearn it and play it in one day.

“And that song was a challenge. For your brain to have to take that information in so quickly and be able to play it from start to finish in one day, it was tough. There’s a lot going on there.”

As for other cuts of the album suitable for some stellar Alter Bridge imitation action, Tremonti recommends single ‘Silver Tongue’. “I think the driving force of it is the main opening riff that, um,” Tremonti vocalises a few chugga-chugga-chuggas, “That’s how that song was born.

“When you write a song, there’s usually that key part where you’re like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna build a whole song around this part,’ because that was the special part that I think built that song.”

HOW THE ALBUM STANDS UP IN THE ALTER BRIDGE DISCOGRAPHY…

“I’m such a funny bird there because I don’t truly know until about a decade later,” Kennedy says of how he thinks Pawns & Kings will stand up in the band’s twenty years of music-making history. “You’re talking to the one guy who very rarely listens to a record once he’s [been] a part of making it. I’m always just kind of moving onto the next thing.

“Part of the problem also is I’m hypercritical; I’ll pick things apart and get lost in my head, and that’s something I’m trying to work on so maybe I’ll be more comfortable listening to records as I continue to evolve as a human being and become more conscious. I think for whatever reason, it’s a real challenge. 

“But with all of that nonsense aside, I will say that we’ve achieved what we set out to do when we made this record, which was have it be a little bit more refined, not as dense from a sonic standpoint, not as many layers, though there’s still layering here and there – on ‘Fable Son’ there’s some sonic landscaping – but overall, we tried to keep this more focused, and Elvis was on board with this as well, but Mark and I, we were like: this is what we want to shoot for here.

Kennedy ponders, “People keep comparing it to Fortress, which is interesting for me because I don’t know if that’s going to be a shared assessment. Who knows.” It’s an assessment Kennedy admits he would be more than happy with. “From what I remember [of it], that probably would be on top of my list as one of my favourite AB records,” he says, “especially its title track; it shapes the whole thing and pulls it altogether.” 

That old delivery choice, you might argue, should have been considered for the title track on Pawns & Kings, which serves as the album’s closing track. “Part of the reason we did that is because we thought, “Well if it’s gonna be the closing track, because we called the record Pawns & Kings, we figured it might be a nice way to punctuate the record, and there’s something about the way that song ends where it’s very final.” 

You might say it’s the checkmate. Realising he’s set himself up for one final yet appropriate pun, Kennedy smiles, “Yes! There you have it.”

When it comes to Alter Bridge, most people, it's fair to say, view Myles Kennedy as the band's frontman and Mark Tremonti as their electric guitar hero-in-chief.

However, as Tremonti is often eager to point out, Kennedy's a hell of a guitar player himself, adept at both crushing rhythms and soaring solos. Anyone in need of evidence of this skill, and how natural a player Kennedy is, need only watch this video of him melting the fretboard at a guitar contest in the Pacific Northwest sometime in the early 1990s.

Uploaded by YouTuber Phoenix Lumen, the video is said to be from 1990 – 1992, with a graphic in the video's beginning pointing to 1990, and the caption by Phoenix Lumen pointing to 1992. Another video taken at the same contest describes it as being from 1990/1991.

Whichever year it's from, it shows Kennedy first demonstrating both his prodigious vocals and strong rhythm guitar chops, before – right at about the 2:55 mark – embarking on some seriously impressive fretboard acrobatics, including a smokin' quick-fire tapping run at 3:31.

You can see the full performance (in rather middling quality) in the video above, and see a segment (lacking the solo, unfortunately) of the performance around 10 minutes into the video below.

“I was dressed like a freakin’ pirate!” Kennedy said to Guitar.com about the performance in a recent interview. “I was dancing around wearing big blue pants and a white, frilly shirt. It was obscene.

"I lived in Spokane, Washington," he continued, "so you had the whole grunge movement happening just over the hill [in Seattle]. I found it so cool that they did their own scene, so I was trying to find something completely different, but went so far with it that I ended up in no man’s land. I’m such a dork sometimes.”

On the new Alter Bridge album, Pawns & Kings, Kennedy and Mark Tremonti frequently switched their usual roles, with the former taking on more lead guitar work and the latter handling more vocals. 

“At this point, Myles loves playing guitar solos, and I love singing,” Tremonti told My Planet Rocks in an interview earlier this year. “So we like to do each other's roles, because I think he doesn't feel the pressure as a guitar player because he's known as a singer; I don't feel the pressure as a singer because I'm known as a guitar player. So we liked filling the other person's role. It's fun.”

Alter Bridge have announced they will be hitting the road with Mammoth WVH next year for an extensive tour of North America.

The Wolfgang Van Halen-led outfit will join up with Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti and co for a hefty 30-date stint around the country, which kicks off on January 25 at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa, Florida.

Divided into two legs, the first part of the tour will see the electric guitar heroes visit Nashville, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts and more, before concluding proceedings at Chicago’s The Riviera Theatre on February 18.

The second leg will pick up on March 10 at the Quapaw Downstream Casino Resort in Oklahoma, with the tour wrapping up at California’s Highland Yaamava' Theater at Yaamava' Casino Resort on April 1.

During the two legs, Mammoth WVH will serve as direct support to Alter Bridge, who have also recruited secondary support acts Red and Pistols at Dawn for the first and second legs, respectively.

“Looking forward to these tours guys,” Van Halen said. “Thank you so much for having us!”

It will be the second time in as many years Alter Bridge and Mammoth WVH have shared a tour bill, after the pair teamed up with Halestorm to announce a comprehensive set of European tour dates to promote Alter Bridge’s upcoming album, Pawns & Kings.

Scheduled to kick off in November in Germany, the trio will visit Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Spain, England and more, before concluding on December 12 in London.

Alter Bridge’s new album will arrive October 14, and has already been previewed by the hard-hitting title track and scorching second single, Silver Tongue. 

The album will reportedly see Kennedy and Tremonti swap their usual roles more regularly, with Tremonti also teasing that it was Kennedy who penned Pawns & Kings’ heaviest riffs.

For more information about upcoming tour dates, head over to Alter Bridge’s website.

A full list of the 2023 dates can be found below.

• Jan 25: Tampa Seminole Hard Rock, FL
• Jan 27: Orlando Hard Rock Live, FL
• Jan 28: Atlanta Coca Cola Roxy, GA
• Jan 30: Nashville Ryman Auditorium, TN
• Feb 01: Montclair The Wellmont Theater, NJ
• Feb 02: Huntington The Paramount, NY
• Feb 04: Silver Spring The Fillmore Silver Spring, MD
• Feb 05: Philadelphia Franklin Music Hall, PA
• Feb 07: Wallingford The Dome At Toyota Oakdale Theatre, CT
• Feb 08: Boston Roadrunner, MA
• Feb 10: Waterloo Del Lago Casino Resort, NY
• Feb 11: Toronto History, ON
• Feb 14: Detroit The Fillmore, MI
• Feb 15: Indianapolis Murat Theatre At Old National Centre, IN
• Feb 17: Prior Lake Mystic Lake Casino Showroom, MI
• Feb 18: Chicago The Riviera Theatre, IL
• Mar 10: Quapaw Downstream Casino Resort, OK
• Mar 11: Kansas City Arvest Bank Theatre At The Midland, MO
• Mar 14: Chesterfield The Factory, MO
• Mar 15: Oklahoma City The Criterion, OK
• Mar 17: Houston 713 Music Hall, TX
• Mar 18: Dallas South Side Ballroom, TX
• Mar 20: Denver Mission Ballroom, CO
• Mar 21: Salt Lake City Union Event Center, UT
• Mar 23: Seattle The Paramount Theatre, WA
• Mar 25: Airway Heights Northern Quest Resort & Casino, WA
• Mar 28: Anaheim House Of Blues, CA
• Mar 29: Tempe Marquee Theatre, AZ
• Mar 31: Reno Silver Legacy’s Grande Expo Hall, NV
• Apr 01: Highland Yaamava Theater At Yaamava Casino Resort, CA

Last month, Alter Bridge announced Pawns & Kings – the band’s seventh full-length studio record, due this October, which was previewed with the effort’s hard-hitting title track.

Now, the acclaimed rock outfit, which is spearheaded by electric guitar heavyweights Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy, have dropped the album’s second single, Silver Tongue.

The third song on the Pawns & Kings tracklist, Silver Tongue follows its predecessor's penchant for explosive guitar action, underpinned by scorching lower-fret action, sizzling six-string jabs and oversized, drop-tuned tones.

It’s been teased as one of Alter Bridge’s “heftier songs” of recent times, and it's an observation that rings true: there are no flashy solos here, just four minutes of bruising, destructive dual-guitar riff action.

Accompanying the track is the Silver Tongue music video, an animated film directed by Ollie Jones that “follows two characters who fall under the spell of a painting that comes to life”. Supposedly, this painting forces our protagonists into a “dark world” where a classic battle of good versus evils rages on.

Silver Tongue is yet more evidence that Pawns & Kings will make good on Tremonti’s promise that the album will feature some particularly “heavy riffs” – a tease Tremonti issued to My Planet Rocks prior to the album’s announcement.

Tremonti also hinted that Pawns & Kings will see him and Kennedy swap their usual roles more regularly: Kennedy took on more lead action, while Tremonti handled more vocal work.

“At this point, Myles loves playing guitar solos, and I love singing,” Tremonti said. “So we like to do each other's roles, because I think he doesn't feel the pressure as a guitar player because he's known as a singer; I don't feel the pressure as a singer because I'm known as a guitar player. So we liked filling the other person's role. It's fun.”

Pawns & Kings will arrive October 14 via Napalm Records, and will be promoted via an extensive headline tour. So far, the band have announced dates for a European tour, which starts on November 1 in Germany and concludes December 12 in the UK.

For the European tour, Alter Bridge will receive support from Halestorm and Mammoth WVH.

To find out more, and to preorder Pawns & Kings, head over to Alter Bridge. 

Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti have kept plenty busy over the last year or so.

Kennedy released his stellar second solo album, The Ides of March, in 2021, and unleashed his latest LP with Slash and the Conspirators, 4, earlier this year. Tremonti, meanwhile, released Marching in Time – the fifth full-length he's made with his solo band, Tremonti – in late 2021, and followed it up earlier this year with a Frank Sinatra covers album in support of the National Down Syndrome Society.

Now though, Kennedy and Tremonti – plus bass guitar player Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips – have teamed back up for a new Alter Bridge album called Pawns & Kings. The band's seventh album, Pawns & Kings was helmed by longtime collaborator/producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, and is set for an October 14 release via Napalm Records.

You can check out the lyric video for its lead single and title track below.

In an interview with My Planet Rocks earlier this month, Tremonti said that the then-unannounced new Alter Bridge album would feature some rather "heavy riffs," and the record's title track certainly delivers on that promise.

Clocking in at over six minutes, Pawns & Kings shows the band's mastery of dynamics, rising from a subdued intro to galloping verses, while touching on thrash in its middle. Best of all, it's highlighted with some truly epic call-and-response solos.

We'd usually credit those to Tremonti by default, but in that same My Planet Rocks interview, the guitarist also said that he and Kennedy swapped their usual roles more regularly while recording Pawns & Kings, with the former handling more vocals, and the latter taking on more lead electric guitar work. 

Indeed, the album is set to feature a tune called Stay, a ballad that features Tremonti on vocals.

You can examine the cover art and track list of Pawns & Kings below. To preorder the album, visit Alter Bridge's website.

Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings:

1. This Is War                                                            
2. Dead Among The Living
3. Silver Tongue
4. Sin After Sin
5. Stay
6. Holiday
7. Fable Of The Silent Son
8. Season Of Promise
9. Last Man Standing
10. Pawns & Kings

Earlier this may, Mark Tremonti dropped the news that Alter Bridge’s upcoming album will be titled Pawns & Kings, and that it is scheduled to arrive on October 14 via Napalm.

While we’ve yet to hear anything from the album, at the time Tremonti did say the record will be promoted with an extensive tour soon after its release, starting November 1 and concluding December 12.

Now that the release date is creeping ever closer, Tremonti has started stoking the proverbial fire of the hype train, teasing an upcoming album full of, in true Alter Bridge fashion, some seriously heavy riffs.

What’s more, the electric guitar titan revealed that this time out it was his bandmate and fellow six-string hero Myles Kennedy who brought the heaviest riffs of the lot to the writing table.

Speaking to My Planet Rocks, Tremonti confirmed the mastering process had recently been completed and teased, “I think if you're a fan of Alter Bridge, you'll dig this record.”

“There are some heavy riffs on there,” he said. “And you know, some of the heaviest riffs on the record, Myles brought to the table. It's funny that even my producers can't tell who's bringing what to the table anymore. 

“Because back when the band started, [I was] the heavy guy, Myles was the moody guy,” he added. “And now you never know.”

Tremonti elaborated by saying he and Kennedy swapped roles more regularly while recording Pawns & Kings, with Kennedy taking on more solo action and Tremonti handling more vocals.

“At this point, Myles loves playing guitar solos, and I love singing,” he continued. “So we like to do each other's roles, because I think he doesn't feel the pressure as a guitar player because he's known as a singer; I don't feel the pressure as a singer because I'm known as a guitar player. So we liked filling the other person's role. It's fun.”

The Creed guitarist went on to pile the praise on his bandmate, and recalled being suitably impressed by Kennedy’s playing prowess when Alter Bridge were in their formative years.

“He's an amazing guitar player,” he observed. “I remember when he was at my house, when we were putting together the first or second [Alter Bridge] record, I heard some jazz going on in my spare bedroom. 

“And I walked by, knocked on the door, opened it up, and I thought, 'Who are you playing on the radio?' And it was him. 'I had no idea you could play guitar like this, you've got to play on the next record!'

“To me, he's got one of the best vibratos of any guitar player I've ever heard. So he's definitely a very studied guitar player.”

Pawns & Kings will arrive later this year. For updates, head over to Alter Bridge.

Even though PRS isn't at NAMM 2022, the company is still grabbing headlines this week, thanks to the appearance of a mysterious PRS model at a recent (June 1) Myles Kennedy show in Hamburg, Germany.

Boasting an unmistakably Tele-style body, the Maryland company's trademark bird inlays, what look to be Narrowfield pickups, and a PRS 3x3 headstock, the guitar was wielded by Kennedy during a performance of the song High.

PRS, of course, is no stranger to putting its own spin on Fender body shapes, having previously teamed up with John Mayer to create the Strat-like Silver Sky, which has gone on to become – following its controversial roll-out in 2018 – one of the best-selling electric guitars in the world.

Kennedy, for his part, has long been a Telecaster aficionado, and used a T-style Joe Riggio build called the Tango for a number of the solos on his most recent solo album, The Ides Of March.

In fact, the Alter Bridge frontman told us in an interview last September, it was a '53 Tele that rekindled his love of the guitar in general.

"I’m really glad I did it [bought the guitar] just because it’s brought me so much happiness and it kinda made me want to play again, to be honest with you," Kennedy said. "I hadn’t really been in love with playing guitar for a long time until I found that instrument."

Of course then, the obvious question is whether the model – which you can see in action from different angles in the videos above – was a one-off PRS custom build for Kennedy, or the prototype of something bigger. 

Since its blockbuster launch of the $849, SE version of the aforementioned Silver Sky in January, it's been a quiet few months for PRS, though the company did unveil a stunning limited-edition Private Stock Special Semi-Hollow guitar last month.

Is this mysterious model the anchor of the company's rest-of-2022 and 2023 plans? We'll keep you updated with any more info pertaining to the guitar as we hear of it.

In the meantime, stop by our NAMM 2022 live blog and news hub, for live updates on all the industry's biggest guitar gear launches.

Celebrating the release of his fourth album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, 4, Slash and the band performed the album in its entirety in a livestreamed concert on Friday (February 11).

The Live at Studios 60 livestream was hosted on both YouTube and Facebook, and saw the legendary guitarist perform tracks including The River Is Rising, Fill My World and Call Off the Dogs. Following the set, Slash took part in a live Q&A and afterparty available exclusively to YouTube Premium members.

Footage of the entire set is now available for free on Slash's YouTube channel. Check out some of the highlights below.

Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators – or SMKC for short – have given 4 a stellar release. Earlier this month, the group appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform the record's lead single, The River Is Rising. 

Prior to the performance, Slash sat down with Kimmel to discuss the live nature of 4's recording process.

“We always play live,” he said. “We always go in the room and, to get the energy, everybody plays together. But then [on previous records] I would always go and redo the guitars because I always hated headphones, and they would never let me put the amps in the room with the drums and record that way, because [of] technical reasons, bleed and whatnot. 

But I was like, ‘That's how they used to do it in the old days. Farther into the millennium we get, the less likely it's gonna be for us to record that way. 

“I met up with Dave Cobb, who's a producer on this record, and he loved the idea of playing live where you just set up like you would in a venue, and just mic that up and record it. And that's how we did it.”

The band are also scheduled to promote the album on an upcoming 28-stop tour of the US, which will hit cities including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, Atlanta, Nashville and more. For more information on tour dates, head to Slash's website.

Despite most of the band falling ill with Covid during the production of 4, Myles Kennedy revealed last year that the majority of the album was recorded in “about five days”.

“The guys set up almost like they were playing a show,” Kennedy told Meltdown on Detroit’s WRIF radio station. “They were all in the same room together and just rocking out live. And I was in a vocal booth. So a lot of what you hear on these tracks are just five guys playing at the same time.

“A lot of times with modern recordings, you start out and you get the drums, you get the bass and you get the guitars, and this was just a very fast… I think the majority of the album was recorded in about five days.

“That’s unheard of. I don’t remember the last time we made a record where the majority of it was done that quickly.”

And to commemorate the release of 4, Gibson recently launched a special Album Edition Les Paul Standard Limited electric guitar.

Limited to only 250 worldwide, the guitar is similar to Slash's existing signature guitars, featuring a solid mahogany body, '50s Vintage-profile mahogany neck, a pair of uncovered Custom BurstBucker Alnico II humbuckers and a Translucent Cherry-finished AAA flamed maple top. It also comes with an album logo sticker, which can be optionally placed on the guitar’s body below the tailpiece.

4 is out now via Gibson Records.

Ahead of the worldwide release of his fourth solo album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, 4, Slash appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! yesterday (February 2) to talk about the record and perform its lead single, The River Is Rising.

Taking to the stage on the talkshow with his bandmates Myles Kennedy (vocals), guitarist Frank Sidoris, bassist Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz, Slash powered through The River Is Rising's raucous selection of high-gain riffs and no-holds-barred solos. Check it out below.

During the interview segment of his appearance on the talkshow – where he was introduced as “one of the greatest guitarists in the history of rock music” – Slash sat down with Kimmel to offer further insight into why the band opted to record everything for the album live.

“We always play live,” he says. “We always go in the room and, to get the energy, everybody plays together. But then [on previous records] I would always go and redo the guitars because I always hated headphones, and they would never let me put the amps in the room with the drums and record that way, because [of] technical reasons, bleed and whatnot. 

But I was like, ‘That's how they used to do it in the old days. Farther into the millennium we get, the less likely it's gonna be for us to record that way. 

“I met up with Dave Cobb, who's a producer on this record, and he loved the idea of playing live where you just set up like you would in a venue, and just mic that up and record it. And that's how we did it.”

Slash also reveals the grueling touring schedule he has coming up, which consists of back-to-back runs with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators and Guns N' Roses.

“As soon as I get home from [his solo tour], I go straight into rehearsal for [the Guns N' Roses tour]. And then we tour all the way until the end of the year, and then SMKC [Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators] goes out [in the] beginning of next year and does all the international touring.”

The River Is Rising is one of three singles released from 4 thus far, the others being Fill My World and Call Off the Dogs.

Myles Kennedy revealed last year that due to the live nature of how it was recorded, the majority of 4 was recorded in about 5 days.

“The guys set up almost like they were playing a show,” Kennedy told Meltdown on Detroit’s WRIF radio station in November. “They were all in the same room together and just rocking out live. And I was in a vocal booth. So a lot of what you hear on these tracks are just five guys playing at the same time.

“A lot of times with modern recordings, you start out and you get the drums, you get the bass and you get the guitars, and this was just a very fast… I think the majority of the album was recorded in about five days.

“That’s unheard of. I don’t remember the last time we made a record where the majority of it was done that quickly.”

4 arrives February 11 via Gibson Records.

Slash has dropped Call Off the Dogs, the third single from his upcoming fourth album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, 4.

Following previously released singles The River Is Rising and Fill My World, Call Off the Dogs sees the Guns N' Roses man serve up an abundance of crunchy classic-rock inspired riffs behind Myles Kennedy's anthemic vocals, before letting rip with a raunchy solo packed with typically Slash-esque bands and rapid-fire alternative picking lines at the 1:50 mark. Check it out below.

Set to be the first-ever album to be released via Gibson Records, 4 is Slash's fifth solo record overall. His self-titled debut arrived in 2010, featuring a wealth of guest vocalists including Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Cornell, M. Shadows and more.

While recording the album, both Slash and Kennedy – along with two other members of the band – tested positive for Covid-19.

Calling it the “funniest story” about the record-making process, Slash recently told Germany’s Radio Regenbogen: “We took a tour bus to Nashville to keep ourselves safe – to get [to the recording studio] and not travel commercially.

“And then we went and recorded the whole record, and then I got a phone call from Myles in the studio when I was about to do overdubs, and he goes, ‘Man, I tested positive.’

“Subsequently, two of the other guys tested positive, so they all had to go into quarantine. And we still had to do percussion and background vocals, and so we sort of stalled.”

Despite the logistical hiccups, Kennedy revealed last year that the majority of the album was tracked “in about five days”.

“The guys set up almost like they were playing a show,” Kennedy told Meltdown on Detroit’s WRIF radio station. “They were all in the same room together and just rocking out live. And I was in a vocal booth. So a lot of what you hear on these tracks are just five guys playing at the same time.

“A lot of times with modern recordings, you start out and you get the drums, you get the bass and you get the guitars, and this was just a very fast… I think the majority of the album was recorded in about five days.

“That’s unheard of. I don’t remember the last time we made a record where the majority of it was done that quickly.”

Elsewhere, Slash recently confirmed that a new Guns N' Roses album is indeed on the way.

“There’s new Guns material coming out as we speak,” he said in a recent interview with Classic Rock, “and we’ll probably keep putting it out until the entire record’s worth of stuff is done and then put it out solid.”

“It’s cool,” he added. “I’m enjoying working on the stuff and having a good time doing it.”

Here we have it, folks: your favorite riffs of 2021. The votes have been counted and, by the power invested in the crude democratic efficiency of the online poll, we can see which ‘short repeated phrase in popular music and jazz, typically used as an introduction or refrain in a song’ reigns supreme.

This year was big for metal. Indeed, only two out of the 10 could be described as something other than metal, and even then, one is hard rock, and the other was written and performed by a guy who knows Slash. It’s impossible to decipher what this list tells us about the riff, and our tastes in it, but maybe it's the same thing that every year-end Best Riff list tells us – that, even within the one subculture of guitar playing, there are innumerable ways to get the job done, and that rhythm is key to making these parts work.

After all, there are only so many notes. How we arrange them, and the pockets of groove that we can summon out of the raw ingredients of electric guitar, is crucial. 

This list also begs the question: are the best riffs always on electric guitar? These certainly are, but we would argue that a great riff will sound just as great on a parlor-sized acoustic guitar as it does through an enormo-rig. For evidence, check out Melvins’ Five-Legged Dog, which saw Buzz Osborne rearrange some of the most inventive riffs for acoustic. 

Are there any glaring omissions here? Well, there are so many riffs it's hard to keep score, but it is strange that Greta Van Fleet missed out after taking top spot in your Best Solos of 2021 list. And to have such a metal-heavy list but then no Carcass, when Torn Arteries presented such a smorgasbord of gourmet hesher’s delights, seemed like an oversight.

But that’s life. And you’ll just have to check in later in the week to see if any of those turn up in your favorite guitar albums of 2021.

• The 10 best guitar solos of 2021
• The 20 best guitar albums of 2021

10. Architects – Animals 

Architects have something philosophically grand but ultimately pessimistic to say about humankind’s place on this planet – something about us not quite fulfilling the promise of our Darwinian triumph. Or perhaps its just misanthropy; there’s a lot of it around. Either way, to articulate this, the British metalcore band dress the guitars in a gorilla suit and go 100 per cent silverback primitive on our unworthy asses. It’s quite spectacular.

It is maybe too early in this list to go referencing the Brown Note, but what Adam Christianson does with his seven-string is in effect a chemical-free colon cleanse, with a style of songwriting that invites crude analogies to such profound physical reactions from its audience. This is a chug inspired by the mind’s sharpness but delivered via high-volume low frequency blunt force. Crude, effective and, yes, animalistic.

9. Spiritbox – Circle With Me 

Mike Stringer loves nothing more than taking contemporary metal into ever more progressive and technologically augmented spaces, and Circle With Me is a prime example of this aesthetic sensibility in action, with the trance-y, aerated electronic parts endowing the track with the soul of the machine.

But for all this future-forward, metal 4.0 frontiersmanship, Stringer is at his best when he is engaging with the manual pleasures of electric guitar manipulation, scoring the strings with the pick and introducing the timbre of his Abasi Concepts Larada 8 Legion to seismologists the world over. He might keep us waiting for the riff to detonate but we know it’s coming. As Hitchcock explained, that is the definition of suspense.

8. Iron Maiden – Stratego 

Written by Janick Gers and team captain Steve Harris, Stratego is something of a throwback for the British heavy metal institution: a work of 21st-century NWOBHM that captures the quintessence of the Iron Maiden anthem. You’ve got a gallop, octave guitars, harmonies, melodies, and the riff so favored by the six-string triumvirate of Gers, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith is more rapier than battle axe. The flash of the blade, if you will.

While Senjutsu – the latest long-form heavy metal odyssey from Iron Maiden – puts some distance between these dramatic moments of derring-do, when they come together like this, with Bruce Dickinson channeling Sun Tzu and his Long Beach rocking self, it’s pure gold, and all the invitation we need to park a sand-shoe on a wedge monitor and toss our Stratocasters around without a care in the world. 

7. Dream Theater – Awaken the Master 

Why did no one think to make John Petrucci an eight-string electric guitar before now? You'd think it would have come up in conversation at one of Petrucci and Sterling Ball’s epic barbecues, a platter of franks evoking that mega-hench low F#. No matter, it’s here now, and as soon as Mr. P took receipt of the prototype Majesty 8, he wrote Awaken the Master.

The extra fretboard acreage sure doesn’t slow him down here. This is a lithe groover, the jolly green giant in tap shoes, and it lends what is otherwise a 10-minute prog-metal jam a sense of physicality to contrast the otherworldly arrangements that stretch out and color in what is yet another epic Dream Theater soundscape – and indeed extend what’s possible with an eight-string guitar. Never mind the beard oil, JP, we’d need liniment on the fingers after attempting this one at home.

6. Bodom After Midnight – Paint the Sky with Blood 

The tragic death of Alexi Laiho casts this posthumous release in a bittersweet light, but there could be no more appropriate track to sign off on than this. Paint the Sky with Blood is a distillation of the Laiho ethos and a typically extravagant guitar spectacular that carries on in the Children of Bodom tradition of mainstreaming extreme metal for the broadest audience possible.

This subversive act is to be commended, and facilitated by Laiho’s gifts as an entertainer. The melody is foregrounded but not at the expense of the aggression, for holding both in equilibrium is key to making this material work – that and the imagination to make it come alive.

5. Trivium – In the Court of the Dragon 

The riff that Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu hatch on the epic title-track from the Orlando, Florida metal stalwarts’ 10th album, is all muscle and sinew – a veritable boa constrictor. Some occasions call for Trivium to invoke the hyper-animated power of Skolnick/Peterson but for others, such as this, they need something different, and what is, of course, prima facie a kinetic, powerful metal riff is really kind of like a blues turnaround, weaponized and taken out of context.

Where did that style of riff-making come from in popular metal? Dimebag Darrell was certainly one of its architects, and Lamb of God use a similar construction for their riffs. What links all three is that sense of groove and swing, proving that metal can sound all the more physically imposing when it can move its hips.

4. Gojira – Born For One Thing 

This is a list of greatest riffs, and so first off the kudos has to go to Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu for rewilding metal with this thrashing squawker. But Duplantier’s kid brother Mario on drums gets a little co-ownership of this one, for his beat really makes that riff shift and turn.

Indeed, there are two principal riffs here. There’s the squawker, and a head-down chug to test the tensile strength of the Earth’s crust. Like everything in the Gojira catalog, both are executed exquisitely, but not at the expense of the human feel. No-one grooves quite like them. It’s perhaps a lesson learned from listening to Sepultura in their pomp, but this uncanny sense for finding the pocket and stretching it a little to defy metal’s rigid form is something you are born with.

3. Mammoth WVH – Don’t Back Down 

In a list dominated by the box-office pummel of today’s contemporary metal set, the feel-good defiance of Mammoth WVH’s Don’t Back Down is a welcome change of pace. It’s a fun, Friday night fuzz jam that leans into a sort of plaid-shirt Kyuss groove, albeit without the desert sand under the fingernails. 

Just when you think you’ve got a bead on it, Wolfgang Van Halen will throw in a passing note to keep you honest. But really the triumph of this riff is in its adaptability and how it informs the song, reprised as a melody to sit under the lyric. Then, when it’s time to come out into the foreground, it strong-arms its way through the mix, doing as all great hard-rock rhythm guitar does: commanding all that goes before it and carrying the song forward on broad shoulders. 

2. Myles Kennedy – In Stride 

Myles Kennedy slides into our affections and takes silver with a track that sounds like he has turned American popular guitar culture into a big ol’ engine, and he's revving it up to hurry everyone out for a summer-long road trip. 

Oh, yes, this is a fun one. A delectable truffle shuffle that sounds a little anachronistic for our overly serious and fraught present, and would play better if we all lived life at the pace and zen temperature of Dazed and Confused’s David Wooderson. That would be all right, all right, all right. It also reminds us that in rock ’n’ roll the slide can do a lot of heavy lifting when you need to write something effervescent and instinctive like this. But then it is a track about a preparing for a zombie apocalypse, and that really would be a bummer for the summer.

1. Tremonti – Now and Forever 

Let’s talk about Mark Tremonti’s right hand. There has always been a physicality to his playing, something of the Green Beret wrestling champ 2006 about his manipulation of the strings. But here, proving once more that rhythm is the lifeblood of the metal guitar riff, his wrist has got a Federer-esque mastery of its brief. 

Is this the triumph of science? Has Alter Bridge Inc. amassed a team of specialists to train our point man and riff-master general 2021, to make sure that, when the time comes to lay down a take, he is in prime physical condition. Or is this just years spent umbilically tethered to a metronome – “Hi, everyone, the name’s Tremonti, Mark ‘Soundbrenner’ Tremonti” – and stopping just before the point of passing out? It’s probably the latter. Or alien tech. Either way, Tremonti’s Now and Forever riff is a tour de force of power and precision, shock and awe. 

• The 10 best guitar solos of 2021
• The 20 best guitar albums of 2021

It’s that time of year when we give it up and offer the lead guitarists a well-deserved round of applause. Well done, everyone, you’ve earned it. As we guitar players know, a great guitar solo contains multitudes. 

Oftentimes it’s all about the woodshedding, but then mavens of tantric sustain might beg to differ. Technique can be critical, but usually it’s the tone, or even the lack of a rigid schoolbook performance, that makes a solo worthy of multiple listens.

For many players, especially those whose names are not on the ticket, diplomacy is key when convincing bandmates to surrender 32 bars or more to your musical genius. But perhaps we should stop looking at lead guitar as being separate to the songwriting process. Here, we have a wide range of styles, and yet all conform to that one rule of serving the song. 

It has been quite the year for lead guitar. John Petrucci has put his name to two albums and yet the top 10 eludes him. Julian Lage’s Blue Note debut, Squint, saw him attack electric jazz guitar with a freewheeling zeal, and then we had Eric Gales’ show-stealing solo with Joe Bonamassa, when he dug deep into his musical vocabulary to set alight to I Want My Crown. 

Then there was Steve Vai’s act of one-armed legato genius, Knappsack. That none of these made the cut speaks to the impact of the following, and that the pop-cultural compass of the Guitar World reader is pointed towards the sounds of the '70s and '80s reimagined for today.

• The 10 best guitar riffs of 2021
• The 20 best guitar albums of 2021

10. Slash ft. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – The River Is Rising

Is it even an end of year best guitar solos list if it doesn’t include the top-hatted rock animal who signs his Christmas cards ‘Slash’? Here, his long-time co-Conspirator Myles Kennedy gives him the big build-up, before the band take a deep breath and heave into a double-time feel for a solo that has shades of Slash’s fast-picking Paradise City approach, foregrounding a helter-skelter melody that resolves in a muscle-car AC/DC/Aerosmith lick.

There are faster guitar solos. There are more melodic guitar solos, too. But there’s something about Slash’s feel that is so aggressive you wonder how you could ever replicate it, least not on a Les Paul stringed with a set of 11s. Maybe we’ll try the Rocky method, downing raw eggs at sun-up, and perhaps spiking our superfoods smoothie with a healthy tot of sour mash whiskey.

9.  Joe Bonamassa – Mind’s Eye 

Time Clocks took all of us for a spin. The way Mr. Bonamassa was talking, this was to be a stripped-down New York album, a work of throw-and-go electric blues. And yet it turned out to be a long-form epic with the influence of prog heroes such as Chris Squire coming to the fore and broadening the canvas. 

Mind’s Eye takes the blues ballad through the looking glass – a dark night of the soul on the dark side of the moon – and it’s capped with a lead passage that eschews any temptation for pentatonic boogie for melodic minor key virtuosity, played on guitars that could tell you first hand what John F. Kennedy was wearing at his inauguration.

With the feel on this one, it’s as though Bonamassa had been watching the weather channel for inspiration, building and building the intensity of the storm then allowing us a moment to get our heads together in the aftermath.

8. Flock of Dimes – Price of Blue 

And so for something skronky, spanky and crunchy. Jenn Wasner’s Flock of Dimes is always essential listening for budding tonesmiths who want to take the electric guitar out of its conventional jazz/blues/rock/metal law of gravity, and her latest album, Head of Roses, is exquisite in terms of tone and composition.

The Price of Blue solo, though, tracked on an '80s Fender Stratocaster owned by producer Nick Sanborn's father, is a remarkable piece of work. It’s the tone, yes, but it’s also the phrasing and Wasner’s use of the vibrato. It sounds like it has gently torn something in the mix, as though something mechanical has gone and it’s set loose the song’s ID. It also serves as a successful reference for how to hold the atonal and the melodic in perfect equilibrium.

7. Myles Kennedy – The Ides of March 

As a soothsayer to the Roman Emperor, Caesar famously said, "Beware The Ides of March." Not necessarily because your courtiers and palace rivals might stick the knife into you, but because nailing the phrasing on this standout guitar moment from Myles Kennedy’s latest solo album might drive you madder than Schumann.

Guitar players will recognize the real heroes behind this piece – the guitar techs who set up the guitar, and the engineers who made the guitar tuner so accurate. Like walking on the moon, a solo that relies on such on-point intonation is a team sport, and spectacular when it comes off. 

Kennedy’s profile as a guitarist is often overshadowed by his pals Slash and Alter Bridge bandmate Mark Tremonti, but the title track from his latest solo album is a showcase for his formidable talents, chief among them that sense of feel, intonational propriety, and phrasing.

6. Cardinal Black – Tell Me How It Feels 

Chris Buck gives this neo-soul rocker a welcome power-up with some sweet cream fingerstyle lead guitar that seems to have culled its note choices and phrasing from the back catalog of Motown Records. 

Okay, so most human voices might not get up this high – and God help Tom Hollister if his voice ever reaches this pitch – but Buck’s solo here really sounds like an ancillary vocal line played on guitar.

You might have arrived here as a Cardinal Black fan, but the chances are you will already be familiar with the amiable six-string phenom from his YouTube presence, and he has been typically kind enough to break this solo down for us on his YouTube channel. 

Check out that video if you want him tell you more, but one last word from us – that Yamaha Revstar, Mythos Golden Fleece fuzz pedal, ThorpyFX Gunshot into a Victory V140 Super Duchess is a recipe for artery-clogging tone, leavened with a soupçon of lemon juice treble. It’s positively epicurean; Bon Appétit should run a column on Buck’s tone.

5. Tremonti – Marching in Time 

Mark Tremonti’s guitar solos are a little like the post-millennial acting career of Tom Cruise. You know there will be running. You know there will be thrills, spills and a sense of shock and awe. But even though you know all this is coming, there’s a gratifying adrenaline rush for seeing – or in Tremonti’s case, hearing – this all come together.

Marching in Time is vintage Tremonti, widescreen and dynamic, and its solo could only come from a black belt in legato jiu-jitsu. Using a wah pedal as a filter, he showcases some ridiculously dexterous chops, with intervallic gaps that suggest you might need hands like E.T. to fret them comfortably. But if we are to anoint Tremonti as Top Gun of crowd-pleasing virtuosity, it is probably on the super-human fluidity of his position changes.

4. Dinosaur Jr. – I Met the Stones 

A punk-rock, four-to-the-floor jam that sounds like the Stooges if they were stoned out their gourd and enjoying a six-month sabbatical in Tahiti, I Met the Stones is a highlight from an album of highlights. There’s something cosmic about J. Mascis’ timing; Sweep It Into Space arrived just when we needed it. A soulful, half-awake, half-blissed out, imaginative and human alternative rock album that injected some '90s optimism into our fraught and disquieting present.

While most of the album was tracked on a Fender Telecaster – with Mascis and Fender collaborating on a very smart signature model – Mascis reached for his Eastwood baritone for this solo. The lead guitar on this song is, again, like another vocal presence, snaking around the verse, always present, and it's a wondrous sound: thick, vibrant, and human.

3. Mammoth WVH – Mr. Ed 

We've learned many things about Wolfgang Van Halen in the past year, but perhaps chief among them is that he is his father’s son and his own man. The dignity, strength and, indeed, good humor that he displayed in the months after losing his father, having to process his loss in the public’s eye, is a testament to his character.

And, as a musician, we all learned that WVH is not EVH and there are different influences shaping his sound. But on Mr. Ed, the Van Halen name indicates more than just the familial link, with a guitar solo that references Eddie Van Halen’s trick bag and makes a feel-good song a little more feel-good, but also bittersweet, too. 

Even if you took all the names off this and it just arrived in your inbox in an unnamed FLAC file, the Van Halen ideology that says the guitar solo must boost serotonin and serve as a pick-me-up is all over this. 

2. John Mayer – Last Train Home 

Would the real Last Train Home solo please stand up? Such is John Mayer’s penetration of the Web 2.0, it seems like everybody who has ever picked up an electric guitar has put their stamp on this yacht-rockin’ Valentine’s Day standard. But by democratic assent, your favorite Last Train Home solo – and indeed your silver (sky) medalist for 2021 – is Mayer’s own ballad version.

Again, the tone is primo. We’d call it cutting edge, but we know Mayer was repping '80s Clapton here and enjoying reruns of Manimal and Cagney & Lacey between takes. The retro appeal for anyone who lived through that era is intoxicating. You might even let out a little squeal much like the slide that introduces Mayer’s solo here.

What can we say? This sort of material is right at the heart of the Mayer wheelhouse, and it’s sumptuous. Can lead guitar be coiffed? This sounds like Don Johnson’s hair looked onset circa ’85. Not a note out of place.

1. Greta Van Fleet – Age of Machine 

Your number one solo of the year, and by a wide margin, Age of Machine represents the scale of GVF’s ambition on The Battle at Garden’s Gate.

Once upon a time, there was a sense that the influence from the big beasts of '70s rock was over-weening, but Jake Kiszka’s sleight of hand contends such notions with daring and bold cinematic compositions like this. Age of Machine does to classic rock what Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy did to Tolkien; it updates the text, it recontextualizes it, and it challenges those who might argue that today’s audiences lack the attention span for world-building.

Perhaps conscious of this, Kiszka’s leads make regular appearances, pulling focus at the four-minute mark, just over halfway through the jam, to set the table for the track’s denouement.

When Kiszka was in conversation with Guitar World about The Battle at Garden’s Gate, he spoke of the importance of dynamics with regards to tone, but it holds similarly true for the songwriting. Altogether, it makes for an audiophile’s record. Or, as Kiszka describes it, "An orgasmic, cinematic piece of rock ‘n’ roll."

• The 10 best guitar riffs of 2021
• The 20 best guitar albums of 2021

Slash’s upcoming record 4 – his fifth solo album and fourth collaborative LP with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – is set to arrive early next year, and when it drops it will be the top hat-toting electric guitar titan’s first studio effort in four years.

Despite the lengthy wait for new Slash material, however, Kennedy has revealed that – in spite of a heavily interrupted writing process – the recording for 4 in fact went remarkably quickly, admitting that the majority of the album was tracked in less than a week.

Speaking to Meltdown on Detroit’s WRIF radio station about the album, Kennedy commented on the record’s breezy studio process, saying (transcribed by Blabbermouth), “I think the writing process was pretty similar [to previous albums]. 

“Obviously,” he added, “because we couldn’t get in the same room together during the writing process, given the state of the world, we were exchanging a lot more files.

“I think the difference with this record to previous records was the way that it was recorded – the way it was documented was more live,” Kennedy continued. 

The Conspirators frontman previously spoke of the album’s live-oriented approach while in conversation with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, during which he teased that the then-unnamed album would hark back to an “old-school” style of recording.

“The guys set up almost like they were playing a show,” Kennedy continued to Meltdown. “They were all in the same room together and just rocking out live. And I was in a vocal booth. So a lot of what you hear on these tracks are just five guys playing at the same time.

“A lot of times with modern recordings, you start out and you get the drums, you get the bass and you get the guitars, and this was just a very fast… I think the majority of the album was recorded in about five days.

“That’s unheard of. I don’t remember the last time we made a record where the majority of it was done that quickly.”

Our first taste of 4 – the first album to be released on Gibson Records – has already arrived in the form of The River Is Rising, with Slash recently teasing that the record might just be the group’s best effort yet.

“I think the record itself is probably the best one we've done so far,” Slash said. “We're showing no signs of slowing down.”

4 is available to preorder now ahead of its release on February 11.

Slash has revealed that, during the making of his upcoming album with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, both he and Kennedy – along with two of their fellow bandmates – tested positive for Covid-19.

The top hat-toting, Les Paul-wielding electric guitar ace broke the news candidly during a conversation with Germany’s Radio Regenbogen, labeling it the “funniest story” about the record-making process.

Describing the anecdote, Slash said (transcribed via Blabbermouth), “The funniest story about this record was the Covid story, because we took a tour bus to Nashville to keep ourselves safe – to get there and not travel commercially.

“And then we went and recorded the whole record, and then I got a phone call from Myles in the studio when I was about to do overdubs, and he goes, ‘Man, I tested positive.’

“Subsequently, two of the other guys tested positive, so they all had to go into quarantine. And we still had to do percussion and background vocals, and so we sort of stalled.”

Determined to plow on with the album, Slash continued, “We mixed what we had, which was a lot. And then we recorded the background vocals in the guest house of the house that we were all quarantined in.”

Unfortunately for the crew, Slash would only test positive after Kennedy and his co Conspirators had fully recovered, imposing further delays to the album’s production. Nevertheless, due to Slash having both shots of the vaccine, his quarantine period was considerably shorter.

“And then those guys got better. I tested positive, finally, and so I had to quarantine. But I just got vaccinated, so I only had to quarantine for a few days. So that was the funny experience about this particular record… everybody having to navigate the whole Covid experience.”

News for the highly anticipated studio effort, titled 4, has been coming in thick and fast in recent weeks, with the band debuting the album’s lead track, The River Is Rising, earlier this month.

Prior to the track’s release, Slash teased that the album would be “the best one we’ve done so far”, with Kennedy also commenting that 4 will tap into a “live vibe” by harking back to the old-school style of studio recording.

When released, 4 will be Slash’s fifth solo album and this fourth with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – comprising bassist Todd Kerns, drummer Brent Fitz and guitarist Frank Sidoris – who have so far featured on Apocalyptic Love (2012), World On Fire (2014) and Living The Dream (2018).

It will also be the first-ever album to be released on Gibson’s newly established record label, Gibson Records.

4 is available to preorder now ahead of its February 11, 2022 release date.

In other news, Slash recently admitted that Guns N' Roses are yet to commence writing new original music, though they have shared ex-Chinese Democracy cuts Absurd and Hard Skool ahead of a new four-track EP.

Slash has announced his latest album with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – the economically titled 4 – is set for release on February 11, 2022, via Gibson Records.

The guitarist reportedly wrote most of the material before the pandemic, but finished three or four tracks during lockdown.

The band then went down to Nashville, TN to record at RCA Studio A, working with producer Brent Cobb (known for his collaborations with Rivals Sons, John Prine and Chris Stapleton) and they say the focus this time was on recording live, complete with solos and vocals. 

The debut single, The River Is Rising, certainly whets the appetite on that front: seeming to un-tap a raucous post-lockdown live energy – and even recalls a bit of Paradise City’s manic wrangle in its pace-y solo and breakdown.

“There’s two or three songs on the record that were written during the pandemic; everything else was written before,” says Slash. “The River is Rising was one of the last songs I wrote before we started pre-production, and because it was so fresh and has a certain groove and energy to it, it was the first thing we really attacked. 

“It’s the newest song on the record, and as for the double-time part, that was something that I came up with and tagged onto the end of the arrangement. Then when we were over at RCA, Dave Cobb suggested we do it right after the breakdown. 

“So, we went straight into the fast part, and I just started doing the guitar solo over it. It was one of those things where we were jamming around, trying to fish out the arrangement, and it just happened.” 

The new record will mark the debut release for the new Gibson Records label and, as such, the brand is celebrating by releasing a limited-edition Slash Les Paul Standard 4 Album Edition guitar package, which includes the guitar, a hard case and the vinyl.

That run will be limited to just 250 instruments, available direct from Gibson.com and some dealers.

Then there’s a bells-and-whistles Deluxe Vinyl Box Set option (which bundles a live recording, photo book, cassette, Slash picks and other gubbins) and the usual other formats on offer. 

If you want can’t wait for February, you can pre-save/pre-order Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators 4 in the format of your choice.

Finally, the band have also announced a sizeable US tour kicking off on February 8, 2022 in Portland, OR and running through to March 26, 2022. 

Head to Slash’s official site for the full set of dates and ticket information. 

Slash will release a brand-new single with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, The River is Rising, this Friday (October 22).

The track will be the band's first new material since signing to the new Gibson Records label back in July, and the debut single from their upcoming LP, which Slash describes as “the best one we've done so far”.

“This was the first time that we actually did all the guitars, bass and drums live at the same time, and kept all those tracks,” Slash says of the new song in a new teaser clip posted to social media. “And we also did the vocals live as well.”

He continues: “The record just sounds like the band playing the songs that we came in with, but it's us playing in the moment – and that's what we were going for.”

“This one's pretty much a live record, from my standpoint,” adds vocalist Myles Kennedy. “You're just trying to document where you are at that point in life, and do it in an authentic way.”

Earlier this month, Kennedy spoke more on the forthcoming album: “Without giving too much away, it definitely has a bit of that energy and that vibe that a lot of us listened to growing up... It was a fun record to make.”

Though the LP currently has no title or official release date, Kennedy said it would be coming “early next year”.

It will be Slash's fifth solo outing overall, and fourth to feature Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators after Apocalyptic Love (2012), World On Fire (2014) and Living the Dream (2018).

The new track will follow fresh material from Guns N' Roses, who recently released two new singles, Absurd and Hard Skool. Both songs will feature on the band's upcoming four-track Hard Skool EP.

Last month, Myles Kennedy confirmed that work had finally been completed on a new Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators record, the long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Living The Dream.

Now, the hype train has well and truly left the station thanks to a new teaser video that sees the Gibson Les Paul-wielding, top hat-toting ace dub the upcoming effort the “best one we've done so far”.

The 13-second social media clip sees Slash and Kennedy flanked by their fellow co-Conspirators – bassist Todd Kerns, drummer Brent Fitz and electric guitar player Frank Sidoris – and is attached with the tag: “Coming soon.”

“I think the record itself is probably the best one we've done so far,” Slash teased. “We're showing no signs of slowing down.”

Slash’s comments come after Kennedy’s conversation with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio earlier this year, during which he teased the upcoming record will have a “live vibe” to it that “harks back” to the old-school style of studio recording.

“The thing about the record is that it's got a live vibe to it,” Kennedy commented. “It was a record that was recorded in kind of an old-school way. 

“So, with that said, without giving too much away, it definitely has a bit of that energy and that vibe that a lot of us listened to growing up,” he continued. “So, it was fun. It was a fun record to make.”

Kennedy also speculated that the upcoming offering will be released “early next year” – a claim that has now been backed up by the clip’s vague “Coming Soon” caption – and announced the album is officially “in the can”.

The as-yet-unnamed album will be released via Gibson Records, the guitar giant’s newly established record label, which was launched in a bid to support and nurture its own roster of artists and guitarists.

It will be Slash’s fifth solo album and the fourth to feature Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, who have previously featured on Apocalyptic Love (2012), World On Fire (2014) and Living The Dream (2018).

Myles Kennedy has announced that a new Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators studio outing is on the way, revealing the group have finally completed work on the follow-up to 2018’s Living The Dream.

When the as-yet-unnamed album is released, it will serve as the fifth entry into Slash’s prolific solo career and the fourth effort to recruit the musical services of Kennedy and his co-Conspirators: bassist Todd Kerns, drummer Brent Fitz and an electric guitar player Frank Sidoris.

Breaking the news to Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, Kennedy commented (transcribed by Blabbermouth), “We made a record earlier this year, and it's in the can. And I think the goal is just to – when the time's appropriate, we're gonna put it out. 

“Hopefully next year,” he continued, adding, “Hopefully early next year. It's hard to believe we've been doing this for… Gosh, I think the first songs I recorded with Slash were in 2009, which is crazy. So, yeah, [it's] definitely a long run there.”

Of what we can expect from the upcoming offering, Kennedy teased the record has “a live vibe to it” that harks back to an “old-school” style of studio recording.

"The thing about the record is that it's got a live vibe to it,” he elaborated. “It was a record that was recorded in kind of an old-school way. So, with that said, without giving too much away, it definitely has a bit of that energy and that vibe that a lot of us listened to growing up. So, it was fun. It was a fun record to make."

As per a previous announcement, the album will be released via Gibson Records – the guitar giant’s newly formed label, which aims to support and promote its own roster of signature artists. The record will be distributed by BMG, with whom Gibson struck up a partnership for the release.

At the time of the announcement, Slash said, “It's an honor to be the first release on the new Gibson Records. 

"It's a zenith in our partnership for sure," he continued, "and having worked so closely with Gibson for so long, I know they will be a label that genuinely supports their artists creatively. Not just me, but all the artists they choose to work with. It's perfect.” 

No official word regarding a release date has surfaced, though we'll bring you updates regarding Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators as and when they break.

What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money?

“It was an Ibanez DT250 – they called them ‘The X-Series’. The story is that we had some horses and I wanted to get an electric guitar and my dad said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you a dollar for every stall you clean…’ So I cleared horse manure for nine months, saved up my money, and bought my first electric guitar, which, to this day, when I see that guitar I smell horse manure! 

“About three years after I bought it I was playing in the school jazz band, which was funny because this guitar was totally heavy metal and didn’t belong in a jazz setting, but it was all I had. I left it at the school to see a David Lee Roth concert later that night – I wanted to see Steve Vai play guitar – and I got back to school the next day and someone had stolen it. I’ve been on a hunt for a decade trying to find one and I found one. Somebody had taken some liberties with it, but it was still in pretty good shape and I cherish it.”

What was the last guitar you bought and why?

“The last one I bought was actually a T-style called a Tango, made by a luthier over in Tacoma, Washington, named Joe Riggio. I like that guitar a lot. I have a friend that I buy some of my vintage guitars from and he was like, ‘Oh, man, we have this Riggio in and I think it’s the best one we’ve ever had. You should come check it out,’ and I loved it. 

“I ended up using it on the new solo record [The Ides Of March] on a few solos. It’s cool because it’s got a compound radius [neck] so it starts at 7.25 inches and goes up to nine or 9.5 inches by the 17th fret. So it’s a cool guitar, sounds amazing.” 

What’s the most incredible find or bargain you’ve ever had when buying guitars?

“I worked at a music store back in the early 90s and I was in the consignment centre and so people would bring in used gear. This person brought in a 1960 reissue Les Paul in Bullion Gold and I was like, ‘Well, how much do you want out of this?’ and I think he just wanted about $400 for it. Even back then, I think those guitars were listing for a couple of grand. 

“At the time I had no money, so I was like, ‘Uh, okay, if that’s what you want…’ Basically, I took it in the store, I paid the store the commission and I ended up getting the guitar. That was a smokin’ deal, for sure – and I used that guitar a lot throughout the '90s in a number of bands.”

What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever had when buying gear?

“I don’t know that I’ve had buyer’s remorse after buying gear. It all makes me so happy. When I bought my first really legit vintage guitar, it was a little more expensive than my Ibanez DT250, let’s just put it that way. I think it was a ’53 Blackguard Fender Tele and that was definitely a commitment – a bit of, ‘Well, you’re jumping off the deep end here,’ and my wife thought I was half crazy. 

“But I’m really glad I did it just because it’s brought me so much happiness and it kinda made me want to play again, to be honest with you. I hadn’t really been in love with playing guitar for a long time until I found that instrument. The buyer’s remorse came in when I looked at my bank statement, after the fact!” 

Have you ever sold a guitar that you intensely regret letting go?

“I don’t think so because I’ve hardly sold anything. Usually, when I buy something, I’m committed to it. I’m kind of a gear hoarder, so I have a really difficult time parting with anything. I have all these amps, some of which I haven’t even fired up in 20 years and they’re just taking up space. But I just want to be prepared in case I’m feeling fickle and want to use a 1969 Plexi again, who knows?” 

What’s your best guitar-buying tip?

“I would definitely do a lot of research. Apps like Reverb are amazing – you can type in whatever guitar it is you’re interested in buying, suss out the prices and all the various components… We live in a different era now where so much of what you buy is online, but if you can play and hear a guitar before you buy it that’s really helpful because every guitar is different. 

“You might think you’ve found this mid-'90s PRS or whatever and think that they feel the same and play the same, but it’s not true. Every guitar has its own identity and each piece of wood can vary greatly in terms of the overall tone.”

When was the last time you stopped to stare in a guitar shop window (or browse online) and what were you looking at?

“I have a friend here in Spokane [Washington] where I live and he’s got a shop called River City Guitars. Generally, I don’t window shop, I’ll just walk right in and covet whatever he’s got. In fact, that’s where I bought that Riggio T-style from. He’s got a korina Strat in there, I don’t know what year it is, and it’s a really cool guitar. It’s a pre-CBS one if I recall and that would be cool to have.”

If forced to make a choice, would you rather buy a really good guitar and a cheap amp or a cheap guitar and a really good amp?

“Definitely a really good guitar and a cheap amp. I think that, for me, the guitar has got to be there first. It’s like the first thing in the chain. I want the neck to feel a certain way; I want the tone to have a certain thing. And that’s really where it starts. 

“Let’s say you had an old Hondo from the '80s and you plugged it into a Dumble amp. I’m sure it would still sound good because those amps are amazing. But as far as what’s going to inspire me, it’s the way the guitar feels and so I’d really rather have a guitar that feels really good and then we’ll figure out how we’re going to massage the amp once we get to that point in the chain.”

Myles' go-to rig

“With Alter Bridge, it’s PRS guitars, sometimes Fender Teles, into either a Diezel Herbert or VH4. They’re awesome, I love them in that context. The solo realm I’m still getting figured out for the next few tours, but it’ll probably be a number of different things. Probably 335s. 

“And PRS makes a really good amp right now and I’m going to try that in conjunction with the Diezel Schmidt – that’s the amp they don’t make any more, but it’s a great sound. It’s like a Vox AC30 on steroids and so I’ll probably try a combination of those.”

• The Ides Of March is available now via Napalm Records.

In the five since since Prince left this Earth – no doubt transitioning flawlessly to his new role as the headline act at a neon-lit speakeasy in Guitarist Heaven – his legacy has only grown more iconic, more revolutionary, and more essential. In the cover story for Australian Guitar #144, we get down to the wire with some of the guitarists that knew Prince well and worked closely with him, exploring the magic behind the guitar's most eccentric mind.

As you're flipping through the issue in search of that story, you may notice a few pages with a blue tint and a dazzling, floral-inspired illustration. That would be our epic eight-page special celebrating the 2021 edition of the Byron Bay Bluesfest; ahead of the legendary event's hotly awaited return this October, we caught up with just a few of the names we can't wait to see play at it: Tex Perkins, The Living End, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Hiatus Kaiyote, Ross Wilson, Jeff Lang and Hussy Hicks.

As for the rest of the interviews in #144, you'll find some enrapturing chats with the likes of Wolfgang Van Halen, the Hoodoo Gurus, Shihad, Kathleen Hanna, The Screaming Jets, Myles Kennedy, Nancy Wilson, The Superjesus, Rise Against, Children Collide, Juliana Hatfield, Anna Leone, The Jungle Giants and Tropical Fuck Storm... Y'know, just to name a few!

Once you've delved into the worlds of the guitarists making the biggest waves in today's music world, why not pick up your own axe and start riffing away? In this issue, we'll teach you how to play classic tracks by Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac and Pearl Jam. And by virtue of our hands-on section, you'll learn how to master harmonised chord scales, chromatic movement, extended major and minor chords, and a few key stretches. And if you're down to get your hands dirty, you can learn how to wrangle some physical tone mods in this issue's DIY feature.

On the editorial side, we uncover the tonal secrets behind tracks by Nirvana, Prince, the Sex Pistols and Slash, plus tap into a whole new world of next-gen players making the most of an unlikely platform perfect for budding musos: TikTok. Yes, really! We also ask the question, how much difference does your taste in guitar strings really make? And we explore how you can take action if and/or when the pressures of being a musician impacts your mental health. 

One thing we don't recommend is blowing all your savings on retail therapy – but, if you're already in the market for a new guitar, why not take a look at our rundown of the best online guitar companies? After you check out our feature on the jaw-dropping guitar collection of Keith Richards, we're sure you'll find an excuse to get around a new piece of kit. "But what am I going to play it through?" Don't worry, we've got that part covered too – head to page 74, we've squeezed in a giant shootout of the best combo amps on the market right now.

For all your other gear-frothing needs, we've packed Australian Guitar #144 with a whopping 21 gear reviews, including some choice equipment for home recording enthusiasts. Speaking of which, this issue's Technique mini-mag features articles on the tonal tricks you can employ to master the art of reverb, and some essential tips for anyone wanting to become a master of... Well... Mastering! We've also got an interview with the legendary Mick Jones, whose production on Eddie Van Halen's 5150 album hasn't aged a day.

All of this, of course, is in addition to our regular Hot Gear, Final Note, Fresh Frets and Spotlight columns, plus CD reviews, news and more.

Australian Guitar #144 is available from today at newsagents all around the country, and online via TechMags or iSubscribe.

Subscribe to the print edition of Australian Guitar, and you'll enjoy each new issue on the day it's published, delivered straight to your door.

Considering his duties fronting Alter Bridge and Slash’s solo band, Myles Kennedy could very well be one of the busiest musicians in rock. Especially when you factor in his solo work, which began with his 2018 debut, Year of the Tiger, and continues on this year’s The Ides of March. 

Unlike his first album, however – or, indeed, any of his projects over the years – the new record showcases a different side of his guitar playing, proving he’s not merely a talented singer and songwriter. Talking to GW from his home studio, Kennedy explains how different situations call for different strengths.

The opening track, Get Along, has some blazing-fast pentatonic runs that are reminiscent of Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa.

“Eric Johnson is a big one for me, so I’ve definitely been trying to chase through certain patterns that he kinda invented, and that Joe Bonamassa took to a new level. I figured after all the time I’ve spent working on that stuff, it would be fun to throw in ideas like that here and there.“

There are a couple of moments like on the album where it sounds like groups of five using a mixture of economy and alternate picking.

“There’s definitely some economy going on. Some of that I incorporated from Frank Gambale, who was at the forefront of sweep-picking in the late-'80s. I saw him perform with Chick Corea and remember thinking, 'Wow, what is that?!' Obviously it sounds way different when you incorporate it into more of these pentatonic five patterns and whatnot. 

“Mark Tremonti and I were talking about Troy Grady’s instructional videos the other day, specifically the Eric Johnson one where he looks into some of those double strikes, down or up. What’s weird is that I started utilizing that technique but I reversed it… for some reason I find myself going the other way. It’s hard to explain, but I know there are definitely two ups and two downs in places.“

Although you’ve played in various bands over the years, it definitely feels like we’ve never heard this side of you before.

“I never really found the right application for a lot of those licks. But this being a more blues-rock record, I felt like sticking to a pentatonic or blues-based approach – especially with the fast runs. It just felt more appropriate.

“In Alter Bridge, we tend to be quite modal at times, with a lot of triplets… it’s just a different approach. I wanted this record to be congruent in terms of the leads. If I was going to have a burn here and there, it would have been inappropriate to kick into some harmonic minor legato run. It just wouldn’t fit!“ 

You mainly stick with a Diezel Herbert amp in Alter Bridge. How different is the rig in your solo ventures?

“Any time a Diezel was used on this album, it was actually the Schmidt – a discontinued model but a killer amp, like a Vox AC30 on steroids. I used one for my guitar tracks on the second Slash record, Apocalyptic Love. But what I used a lot of this time, because it suited the sound, was a 1958 Fender Deluxe with the 5A3 circuit, which is the magical circuit. It just has this thing. 

“I would say it’s the main sound of this album. A lot of the times if we were doubling, we used one of our producer Elvis’s amps [Michael “Elvis” Baskette], this ’74 Marshall combo he had in his collection. And any time I pulled out my ’54 Fender lap steel, we used an Amplified Nation.“

What are we hearing in terms of guitars?

“A lot of the record was written on and performed with my ’52 Fender Blackguard Telecaster. In recent years I’ve really become obsessed with Blackguards. This one just has something. I don’t know why – it could be the pickup, which almost sounds like a P-90. 

“There’s also a 1958 Gibson ES-335 that has the PAFs in it… basically the same ones you’d find in a Burst, for a fraction of the price. For acoustic stuff, I used the same 1945 Martin I used on [debut-album track] Haunted by Design. It’s a great-sounding instrument. But the one that blew Elvis away was a 1965 J-50, which sounded magical. The great thing about those Gibsons is that they’re not crazy-expensive like some of the old Martins.“

We heard you used a Klon at some point, too.

“Yeah! Though we actually didn’t get an original; we got a clone of a Klon and loved it. We used it a fair amount, especially on the leads and in a way that made its presence known. Another I used was the good old Fulltone Fulldrive 2. For the rhythms, we added a little bit of drive going into the front of the Fender Deluxe, just to push it a little harder. Actually, I committed the ultimate sin right before I went down to make the record…“

Indulge us!

“There’s something you need to do with those 5A3 Fender Deluxes. They don’t like taking pedals in front and a lot of purists say you shouldn’t change them because they sound amazing on their own. So I have to confess – and I might get some crap for this – but I took it to my buddy who tweaked something so it could take pedals a little better. 

“And now with the record done, we can return it to its old glory. I knew that amp was going to be such an important part of the sound but needed to make sure that if I was going to do leads, it would let pedals do what they do for us guitar players. That little push makes everything a little easier!“

The solo on Worried Mind shows another side of your playing — minimalist Clapton-esque blues with the odd diminished line. 

“Though I wouldn’t consider him to be old-school blues, Larry Carlton was such an important part of my development, especially the way he’d integrate diminished ideas or outside-sounding lines in a blues context. 

“Back in the day, I transcribed a fair amount of solos by him and Robben Ford. Those guys, like Clapton, know how to say more with one note than five or 10. When I heard them for the first time, I knew it was something I would have to try and understand... they’re the masters! 

“And as far as the diminished side of it, when I discovered what you can do with those half-whole or whole-half tones, boy… it opened up an entirely new world. And I learned it from those guys, but there are a lot of new players who do that brilliantly. One of my favorites is Josh Smith; I have his instructional thing where he explains what he’s doing. If you are on the one chord, diminished ideas seem to work really well as you do that change, using them to lead into the four!“

• The Ides of March is out now via Napalm Records.

In addition to a brand-new LP – The Ides Of March, which arrives today – Myles Kennedy has offered up a slide-heavy, acoustic guitar-fueled rendition of Black Sabbath’s Mob Rules.

Forgoing the gain-heavy electric guitar lines of the original, the Alter Bridge frontman enlists his National resonator guitar for the stripped-back cover, though he kicks in some rather chunky overdrive for the solo. Watch Kennedy’s cover below:

Mob Rules is a classic Dio-era Black Sabbath cut, taken from the group’s 1981 album of the same name. The long-player was the band’s second with Ronnie James Dio – following 1980’s Heaven and Hell – after Ozzy Osbourne’s departure in 1979.

Highlights of Myles Kennedy’s new album include the slide-heavy In Stride, the epic 8-minute title track The Ides Of March and the part-bluesy, part-acoustic Get Along.

While his debut solo effort Year of the Tiger centered primarily around the acoustic guitar, The Ides Of March is characterized by a more plugged-in vibe.

In an interview with Download TV last year, Kennedy said the album was “my opportunity to venture more into the more bluesy realm,” stating: “It rocks a little harder and there's going to be a lot of guitar silliness on it. So I’m excited.”

• The Ides Of March is available now via Napalm Records.

Myles Kennedy has released Get Along, the third single from his upcoming second solo album, The Ides Of March.

Following the record's first, slide-heavy single In Stride and its epic, eight-minute title track, Get Along sees the Alter Bridge frontman employ a host of bluesy lead guitar lines over a hard-rock arrangement, alongside a tapestry of lush acoustic guitars in the verse sections.

In the track's accompanying music video, Kennedy takes aim at “how society is affecting the animal kingdom”. 

Created by animators Ollie Jones, Jake Lava and Sam Clark, the video depicts a group of forest-dwelling animals – including a bear, deer, beavers and even a ninja turtle fighting an increase in pollution in their homes, as well as corporate expansion through deforestation. Watch it below:

While Kennedy's debut solo album Year of the Tiger centered primarily around the acoustic guitar, The Ides Of March – which drops May 14 via Napalm Records – is set to be “a little more plugged in”, as revealed in an interview with Download TV last year.

“This is my opportunity to venture more into the more bluesy realm – especially as a guitar player,” Kennedy said. “With that said, it's a little louder – it's much more plugged in. It rocks a little harder and there's going to be a lot of guitar silliness on it. So I'm excited.”

Check out the tracklisting for The Ides Of March below:

1. Get Along                           
2. A Thousand Words
3. In Stride
4. The Ides Of March
5. Wake Me When It’s Over
6. Love Rain Down
7. Tell It Like It Is
8. Moonshot
9. Wanderlust Begins
10. Sifting Through The Fire
11. Worried Mind

Couch Riffs, the YouTube series hosted by Mike Squires, who plays electric guitar in Duff McKagan’s Loaded, has always been centered around getting artists out of their comfort zones, be it Vivian Campbell playing ZZ Top’s Cheap Sunglasses, Alex Skolnick ripping through Devo’s Whip It, or members of Alice in Chains, the Killers and more taking on Rod Stewart’s synth-pop classic, Young Turks.

Now Squires has done it again with his newest jam, which sees Myles Kennedy, who spends the majority of his time belting out hard rock anthems as the frontman for Alter Bridge and Slash’s solo band, showing off his soulful side on a cover of Earth, Wind & Fire’s R&B/funk classic, Shining Star.

Backing up Kennedy, who also adds some funky electric guitar work to the track, is a band consisting of Squires on bass, guitarist Kathy Moore (Kathy Moore Super Power Trio), drummer Dennis Leeflang (Bumblefoot/session drummer), background vocalist Christa Wells and the Urban Renewal Project Horns, featuring trumpet player Austin Drake, tenor saxophonist R.W. Enoch and trombonist Lindsay McMurray.

“This powerhouse classic was released on EW&F's 1975 LP, That's the Way of the World, and earned them a Grammy that year,” Squires said. “I hope Couch Riffs does those fellas proud. This one took a while to put together but the wait was worth it.”

We would agree. You can check out Shining Star above, and for more Couch Riffs, head here.

Spring itself might technically still be a few days away, but that needn’t stop you from beginning the prep-work on your spring and (because why not?) summer playlists a bit early.

Between a steel-drum-infused celebration of routine from The Go! Team, some soulful six-string sunshine from Mateus Asato and Annalé, a classic rock-informed epic from Myles Kennedy, and some raucous anti-hate punk from DZ Deathrays, we’ve got tunes for all tastes and seasons in our own best-of-the-guitar playlist this week.

Open up your ears, then, and lend some time to some of modern guitar’s brightest talents – you might just find something that sticks with you in a profound way.

Myles Kennedy – The Ides Of March

Myles Kennedy’s latest release is a near-eight-minute epic that contains all manner of nods to a host of classic rock greats. From its layered Stairway to Heaven-style acoustic opening to its occasional Paint It Black-esque clean six-string flavorings, the Alter Bridge frontman wears his influences on his sleeve here, and to phenomenal effect.

On the track’s conception, Kennedy says: “From a lyrical standpoint, the first half serves as a warning. It paints a picture of a very dark dystopian future. The second half breaks from the bleak outlook to remind us that we can do better if we remember who we are and what we were meant to be. Cool heads prevail in times of change.”

On the record as a whole, Kennedy has promised that it’ll rock “a little harder” and that there'll be “a lot of guitar silliness on it”. Naturally, we can’t wait. (SR)

Hannah Jadagu - What is Going On?

The title track of the debut EP from 18 year-old New York-by-way-of-Texas singer/songwriter Hannah Jadagu, What is Going On? is one of the better ‘song of the summer’ candidates we’ve heard thus far in this young year.

With a Strat as her weapon of choice, Jadagu coats the song’s anxious lyrics with a breezy, perfect ’n’ simple riff. Just the right touch of distortion, a catchy lead guitar hook, and warm washes of synths as background muscle? Can’t ask for much more than that. (JM)

Julian Lage – Saint Rose 

It’s only March, but – between his new signature Collings guitar, the 470 JL – and the announcement of Squint, his first album for the legendary Blue Note Records, jazz guitar ace Julian Lage has already had one hell of a year. 

At the heart of Saint Rose, the album’s first single, lies an easy-to-grasp (but stupendously gorgeous, mind you) progression, and an equally dashing melody. 

Of course, Lage doesn’t leave it at that though – weaving in and out of the changes with tasteful lead guitar excursions that touch on the proud tradition and timeless beauty of his Blue Note predecessors, and his influences from the rock, funk and experimental worlds. 

No matter which direction he’s taking a piece, Lage imbues his music (and guitar lessons, some of which he has authored for this very publication) with an accessibility and warmth rare for a jazz guitarist, or any guitarist, of his skill and caliber. Saint Rose – with those sublimely handled changes and virtuosity-only-for-seasoning approach – is a perfect example of this. (JM)

 Annale feat. Mateus Asato – Goodbye 

It seems an age since we were last treated to the neo-soul sorcery of former Instagram guitar star Mateus Asato, after he recently announced he was taking an extended break from music.

And though the social media music scene seems that little bit more empty without Asato’s silky fretboard-spanning slides, we have been treated to a real blast from the past with Annale’s new single Goodbye, which sees the LA-based singer-songwriter recruit Mateus for a reworking of her Korean-language song of the same name.

It’s everything you could want and more – clean single-coil sounds, thick melodic flurries and a smattering of bite-y hooks, with Asato seemingly given free reign to do what he does best: tear it up on the guitar.

While it’s not a comeback, it’s a reminder that Asato is up there with the very best, and that he can turn a mere cameo into a show-stopping display of his guitar playing powers. The guitar world will welcome him with open arms when he’s ready to return. (MO)

DZ Deathrays - Fear the Anchor (feat Ecca Vandal)

One of Australia’s loudest exports go, well, one louder with the addition of Melbourne vocalist Ecca Vandal, who adds extra edge to the band’s already serrated anti-hate punk.

Of course, it’s the twin-guitar attack – no bass here, thank you – that grabs your attention and won’t let go. And while the filthy verse riffs are classic DZ, that stop chorus hints at more anthemic things ahead from forthcoming fifth album, Positive Rising: Part 2.

Major props must also be awarded for the group’s recently announced Positive Rising grant, which kits out regional Australian bands with Fender gear and lessons. Nicely. (MAB)

The Go! Team - World Remember Me Now

The lead single from Brighton, UK indie stalwarts The Go! Team’s upcoming sixth album, Get Up Sequences Part One, World Remember Me Now takes the mundane and makes it spectacular.

For those who’ve spent the last year exclusively working from home, World Remember Me Now may hit quite hard – "What’s living really anyway?/When honey yesterday’s, a carbon copy of tomorrow”. 

Guitarist Ian Parton though, turns the song into much more of a celebration than a lament. Against the backdrop of jubilant horn hits and steel drum runs, Parton turns in some brilliantly funky, on-the-money rhythm guitar work and zany leads. 2020s-era ennui has never sounded this fun! (JM)

Danko Jones – I Want Out

Serving up your weekly slice of no-frills, guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll, it’s Danko Jones. Ahead of their recently-announced 10th studio album Power Trio, the Toronto hard rock juggernauts just dropped its first single and opener, I Want Out. 

While the guitar work in this one is born of a tried-and-tested compositional blueprint, frontman Danko Jones stamps it as his own, delivering an riotous array of gain-cranked powerchords washed in a characteristically chunky tone. (SR)

 TEKE::TEKE – Yoru Ni 

Put on Yoru Ni, the latest offering from Montreal-based Japanese pysch punk band TEKE::TEKE, and you’ll be at your wits’ end trying to put your finger on what you’re listening to. That is, of course, the highest form of praise one can bestow, with Yoru Ni putting on display the band’s fearless and fresh approach to songwriting.

The brainchild of guitarist Serge Nakauchi Pelletier, the seven-piece ensemble has humble roots as a tribute band for Japanese axe wielder Takeshi Terauchi, but has since transformed into a totally new beast altogether, influenced by the country’s guitar-inspired Eleki scene.

Listen to Yoru Ni, and you'll be in the Wild West one moment and riding waves the next, courtesy of dissonant bends and quick-fire guitar twangs. Watch the music video, and you’ll be partying with a Gatsby-era crew in one room and moshing with a garage band in the other. Put it this way – TEKE::TEKE's exotic blend of Japanese balladry, surf rock and psychedelia is not to be slept on. (MO)

Prosperina - Deep Never

The heavy paths of grunge and stoner converge in UK hard-rockers Prosperina, whose new single – the first from new album, Flag – carries the emotional weight of Alice in Chains and the progressive tendencies of Soundgarden.

Deep Never is driven by a 7/8 juggernaut of a main riff – not to mention an arms-held-high chorus – but it’s the eerie delay and modulation-drenched leads that elevate its atmosphere above your common-or-garden alt-rock. (MAB)

Arion – I Love to Be Your Enemy

Finnish power metal stalwarts Arion – who initially found success after appearing on Eurovision qualification program UMK – are currently gearing up to release their third LP, Vultures Die Alone. 

Of course, following their 2018 sophomore effort, Life Is Not Beautiful, was never going to be an easy feat, but thus far, the quintet have proved they are more than up to the task.

Perhaps the heaviest song the band have recorded to date, I Love to Be Your Enemy sees guitarist Iivo Kaipainen take the instrumental reigns, utilizing galloping palm-muted lines and furious alternate picking passages to lead the track’s grand movie soundtrack-style accompaniment. (SR)

Hunter Hayes – If You Change Your Mind

Taken from his upcoming album, Red Sky (Part II), Hunter Hayes’ new helping of larger-than-life pop euphoria If You Change Your Mind resembles the very best of what the Grammy-nominated, guitar-wielding singer-songwriter has to offer – namely, catchy hooks, crowd-evoking choruses and tasty guitar parts.

Hayes is on top form heading into his fourth full-length studio outing, combining dreamy synths and a commanding lyrical flow with a swaggering four-to-the-floor kick drum, resulting in a track reminiscent of recent Keith Urban records. 

At the crux of the track is a subtle, ever-present guitar line that gets its time to shine in the form of a blistering solo after spending much of the song as a supporting character. The solo – packed with whole-note bends and tasty runs – is worth the wait, as we're sure Hayes' album will be when it is released later this year. (MO)

New Pagans - Harbour

Rapidly rising Northern Ireland alt-rockers New Pagans drop debut album The Seed, the Vessel, the Roots and All tomorrow, and if it’s anything like this verifiable banger, it will be a record to cherish.

Harbour is an irresistible combination of post- and pop-punk: it’s wiry, full of energy and has one helluva singalong chorus. We love it. (MAB)

Last month, Myles Kennedy announced his second solo album, The Ides Of March, sharing its slide-heavy lead single, In Stride. Now, the Alter Bridge frontman has doubled down, dropping the record's epic title track.

Clocking in at a whopping 7 minutes and 39 seconds, The Ides Of March is the longest song on the record, and sees Kennedy joined by longtime friend and drummer Zia Uddin and bassist Tim Tournier. 

Throughout, Kennedy nods to the titans of classic rock, with Led Zep-style acoustic lines, Rolling Stone-esque cleans and an overall composition reminiscent of A Night at the Opera-era Queen. You can listen to the track below:

“From a lyrical standpoint, the first half serves as a warning,” Kennedy says. “It paints a picture of a very dark dystopian future. 

“The title is a reference to Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the cautionary phrase, ‘Beware the Ides of March.’ The second half breaks from the bleak outlook to remind us that we can do better if we remember who we are and what we were meant to be. Cool heads prevail in times of change.”

“[This album is] definitely a little more plugged in, as far as the overall approach," he told Download TV last year. “Year Of The Tiger [Kennedy's debut solo album] leans heavily on the acoustic side of things and definitely has a blues vibe. 

“This continues in the sense that this is my opportunity to venture more into the more bluesy realm – especially as a guitar player. With that said, it's a little louder – it's much more plugged in. It rocks a little harder and there's going to be a lot of guitar silliness on it. So I'm excited.”

Take a look at the tracklisting for The Ides Of March below:

1. Get Along                           
2. A Thousand Words
3. In Stride
4. The Ides Of March
5. Wake Me When It’s Over
6. Love Rain Down
7. Tell It Like It Is
8. Moonshot
9. Wanderlust Begins
10. Sifting Through The Fire
11. Worried Mind

Following 2018's Year of the Tiger, Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy has announced his second solo album, The Ides of March.

Scheduled to arrive May 14 via Napalm records, the LP will be available in a variety of formats, including CD, vinyl, limited-edition colored vinyl and, of course digital and streaming platforms.

And if you just can't wait until May, you can check out the record's coronavirus-influenced, slide guitar-heavy debut single In Stride now.

Explaining the single's theme, Kennedy says, “Chill out. That pretty much sums it up. The lyric paints a picture of a survivalist preparing for an impending zombie apocalypse. It was inspired by the first wave of lockdowns as everyone was buying vast amounts of toilet paper and supplies.

“I started to ask myself if it might be wise to try and gain some perspective and not overreact… keep calm and carry on.”

In an interview with Download TV last year, Kennedy offered fans a glimpse of what they can expect from the record.

“It’s definitely a little more plugged in, as far as the overall approach," he said. "Year Of The Tiger leans heavily on the acoustic side of things and definitely has a blues vibe. 

“This continues in the sense that this is my opportunity to venture more into the more bluesy realm – especially as a guitar player. With that said, it's a little louder – it's much more plugged in. It rocks a little harder and there's going to be a lot of guitar silliness on it. So I'm excited.”

Check out the tracklisting for The Ides of March below:

1. Get Along                           
2. A Thousand Words
3. In Stride
4. The Ides Of March
5. Wake Me When It’s Over
6. Love Rain Down
7. Tell It Like It Is
8. Moonshot
9. Wanderlust Begins
10. Sifting Through The Fire
11. Worried Mind

#GuitarWorld40: Guitar World, as you may be aware, is currently celebrating our 40th anniversary.

And in addition to a rather stellar 40th anniversary issue that is currently on newsstands, a few of our closest friends, among them Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Bonamassa, a very wet Dave Mustaine and many more, pulled together to wish us a happy birthday.

“I remember when the first cover story came out and I remember when the first magazine for Guitar World came out,” Vai says. “It was a gift then and it’s still a gift.”

You can check out the video above, which also features, among many others, Nita Strauss, Nuno Bettencourt, Tracii Guns, Halestorm, and even an original song from Steel Panther’s Satchel.

A huge thank you to all our artist pals for their kind wishes – we couldn't do what we do without ya.

And if you listen closely, Satriani is still out there holding that note for us…

For more on the star-studded thrills, six-string skills and a few classic spills over Guitar World's 40-year history, take a dive into our regularly updated look at the greatest moments in Guitar World's history.

Subscribe to Guitar World

"Walk the Sky is quite a departure, with how we’ve gone about writing the record, and also its overall sound is something new for the band. The way that the record came together was a different process this time. 

"With our singer Myles Kennedy playing with Slash and doing his solo project, our guitarist Mark Tremonti also doing solo work and us all being in different parts of the world, we used technology to bounce ideas off of each other, specifically the Dropbox system.

"Myles was on the road and writing in hotel rooms, and Mark was doing the same, whether it be in hotels or at home. They would upload material, and from there, Flip [drummer Scott Phillips] and I would get used to the ideas. 

"I would try to play with the demos and get an idea of what I’d like to do going into the pre-production and the writing process with the guys, because we didn’t have a lot of time. Once we were all together, that pre-production was only about a two-week process, if that.

We had probably 15 song ideas, some of which were a little more complete than others. The main thing that was a little different for this process is that they would piece together ideas. About a quarter to 50 percent of it was verse, chorus, and a possible bridge structure, and some of it had melodies on it. That’s something I really love to have - a good, firm melody - because as a bass player I tend to play off of what a vocalist would do."

"The drums, of course, were programmed [for the Dropbox demos], so that was obviously going to change a little bit in the studio, but at least there was an idea there. I could pick out what Mark was doing, and then bounce around as I like to do.

"I’m a bass player that doesn’t really like to stick to the chord structure unless I have to, and with a passage that’s moving real fast, there’s not much straying that I can do - for the most part, anyway.

"The pre-production all happened at the producer Elvis Baskette’s place. We did all the pre-production in a room in his house, separate from the mixing room. Where his console was, there were cables running through to his main control room. The pre-production happened in one of the rooms in his house and the recording happened in the console room.

"I only play five-string basses. This time I was just using the Ernie Ball five-string Stingray Special, the new guitar that replaced the SR5. They’re much lighter in weight, because EB have changed out some of the hardware to make it a lighter bass. I believe it’s maybe a pound lighter than it was. That’s my number one bass right now.

"For the recording I had an SR5 Special, and it’s a natural bass finish and a killer maple neck, so it really popped out. The amp was a Big Block and an Ampeg cabinet, I believe an 8x10, and that’s pretty much it, with Ernie Ball strings.

"For bass tones, Elvis [Michael Baskette] did a lot of that in post-production. We’d just get the general bass tone, and then, if there were sections in each song that needed some more dirt or whatever, we would add it in. If it called for it in the song and it made me feel better, then I would say, 'Hey man, would you add some dirt here?' It pumped me up and hopefully made the take that much better. 

"I have one other thing that I’m excited to get in my new rig; I just picked up this Darkglass Electronics distortion box. I heard it online and bought it, and I can’t wait to put it through my rig.

"Being in a band is a lot of hard work. Obviously the touring and the traveling is hard. There are sacrifices, but the payoff is being onstage, because that’s what’s the most fun for all of us - and it shows when we’re up there. You can just tell we’re having fun and that it’s what we love to do. Any musician will tell you that.

"We’ve taken a lot of time off, because Mark and Myles have been out doing their thing, and we released the Live At The Royal Albert Hall DVD in 2018. That was a good thing for our fanbase to have and to hold while we were off‑cycle and on hold. I’m looking forward to getting back out there, for sure. 

"I’ve been practicing the songs in preparation for the tour. We’re up to six records now, so I’m running through the catalogue and jogging my memory. Hopefully we’ll be playing some older fan favorites, and of course a lot of the new stuff as well.

"In my downtime, I’m also a real estate agent on the side. I live in Florida, and my wife and I work as a team. We sell houses and raise our kids. That’s basically what I do. 

"Obviously I’ve been playing a lot, though - I play with other musicians here locally, just to keep in it because I love it. I play in a little church thing as well, just to put myself out there, have some fun and give back a little bit too - that’s basically my life in a nutshell."

• Alter Bridge's Walk the Sky is out now via Napalm.