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.
