SLASH: ‘I Spend Probably 85 Percent Of My Time Touring’

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

In a new interview with Tom Power, host of "Q" on Canada's CBC Radio One, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash spoke about his love for the touring lifestyle. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm a road guy. That's why the pandemic was such a shock. I'd say I spend probably 85 percent of my time touring and have done for as long as I can remember — since 1985 or '86. And that's what I love to do. "People think I'm crazy because the older I get, the more I love touring — it's, like, the more exciting it is for me," he continued. "But a lot of it is because of the simple fact that I love guitar playing, and my favorite venue for actually playing is live as opposed to being in the studio or being at home. So if I really wanna get off on guitar playing, I've gotta go out on tour." Asked if he liked touring "less" or if he liked it "differently" when it became more of a "sober" experience for him, Slash said: "To tell you the truth, I probably liked it more, only because you spend a lot of time… If you're doing the kind of partying that I was doing, you spend a lot of time just tired and beat up and trying to recuperate and then getting going for the next gig every single day, year after year. So it was sort of a reprieve to be able to not have to worry about all that stuff and not have to worry about where my next fix was coming from or if I had enough alcohol or whatever to be able to get through the day. So that was a chore into itself. So it was a little bit of a relief when I got sober to go out and play without all that." Slash is promoting the new album from SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, titled "4", which was released on February 11 via Gibson Records in partnership with BMG. "4" is Slash's fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals). SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS kicked off a North American headlining tour on February 8, in Portland, Oregon. The trek will hit 28 major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and more, before wrapping up March 26 in Orlando, Florida.