2011.02.17 - The Charlotte Observer - With Hat, Hair And Guitar In Hand, Slash Hits Town

With hat, hair and guitar in hand, Slash hits town

By Courtney Devores
Special to the Observer

Few guitar players are big enough celebrities to headline a solo tour, but Slash isn't just any guitarist. In addition to playing lead for Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver, he's played with Michael Jackson, was the face of "Guitar Hero," and earlier this month performed during the Super Bowl halftime show. In 2010 he released a star-studded album that featured singers like Fergie and Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy, who will handle vocals for Slash at 8 p.m. today at The Fillmore. Tickets are $40 at www.livenation.com. Here's an edited conversation.

Q. A lot of people were surprised Fergie appeared on your album.

It definitely surprised people. When that rumor came out they thought I'd gone pop or something. I heard Fergie sing some rock stuff a couple years ago. I had a song for a girl rock singer and she automatically came to mind.

Q. For so long you were the guy behind the guitar, the hat or hair. Has social media let more of your personality out?

The cool thing about Twitter or Facebook was it's given me a chance to reach out to anybody who is interested as opposed to having to issue press releases .... It puts you more in control of your own promotion or just to be more square with fans in general.

Q. When did you realize Myles was the guy for the tour?

When he came in and did the second (song) I thought, this is the only guy that could handle all this material ... stuff from the solo record and Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver. Myles was just so capable.

Q. Your experience with notorious singers is well-known. Is personality something you consider?

Beggars can't be choosers. The first most important thing is to find individuals who are musically capable and then you have to take into account whatever their personality is ... . A lot of musicians are crazy and that's what makes them great musicians.

Q. Where does Velvet Revolver stand on finding a new singer?

There was truth to the rumor that we were looking at Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stone Sour), but then I left for tour. So there's nothing being done at the moment. No decision.

Q. What about your new horror movie production company, Slasher Films?

We go into production (on our first movie) this summer. I got into this by chance. I'm a huge horror movie buff. A friend of mine has a company called Scout Productions ... . I wanted to do this because the horror genre has been dumbed down to being almost pathetic. It's real predictable gore schlock.

Q. The "Sweet Child O' Mine" solo seems to be one of the most botched on the cover band circuit. Do you think it's that difficult?

When I do Guns' songs in the set I do most of the solos live the way I recorded them. They were spontaneous then .... to make it sound exactly like the record - it's easy to screw it up.