Myles Kennedy: the singer Slash called a “godsend”
Having a stable lineup for a band is never a guarantee in the music industry. Although some artists are in it for all the right reasons and can make some of the best music the world has ever heard on a whim, many will come up short if there is even an inkling of a bad vibe in the room. While Slash had gone through his fair share of divas in the past, he felt that everything was falling into place when he heard this singer perform with him for the first time.
Because looking at where Slash had been, the last thing he wanted was to be in for another Guns N’ Roses situation. No one probably wanted the task of dealing with someone like Axl Rose on tour, but from the moment he got onstage, Slash never wanted to phone it in, even if that meant playing while completely strung out.
By the time the guitar legend had had enough, though, he found himself following in his own footsteps a little too much in Velvet Revolver. No matter how much he wanted to distance himself from the sound of Guns N’ Roses, Scott Weiland was every problem Rose had again, down to him having issues showing up to shows or playing up the rockstar angle whenever working on new material.
So when Slash finally moved on to his solo career, he made sure none of that would happen. He had spent years working as a session guitarist for huge artists, so his 2010 album was his chance to collaborate with anyone he wanted to, and pure magic came out of the speakers when he heard Myles Kennedy.
Although Kennedy had big shoes to fill when competing with other guests like Chris Cornell and Ozzy Osbourne, his tunes like ‘Starlight’ and ‘Back From Cali’ were a natural fit for him. He had already turned the members of Creed into a decent hard rock act with Alter Bridge, but this felt like the logical extension of Guns N’ Roses that all of us seemed to want but never actually got.
Despite finally liking the idea of being a solo act, Slash admitted that his chemistry with Kennedy was the best he could have asked for, telling Rock Icons, “It’s actually been a godsend because most of the bands that I’ve been in have tended to be really complicated, and for me, it’s always been about simplifying things and making it more about music, so this has been exactly that. Players that all they want to do is play.”
And when Kennedy dared to play some of Slash’s older material, you’d have to rub your eyes to make sure that Rose wasn’t up there. While he can get more than a little bit nasally in spots, his takes on ‘Paradise City’ and ‘Sweet Child O’Mine’ are some of the best versions of the tunes that have ever been played.
While there’s no replacing someone like Axl Rose, there’s probably a good reason why Slash suggested Kennedy to play a few tunes with the original members of the band when Guns were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when Rose declined to attend. For a guitarist who has always been roped in with the biggest rockstar personalities of the past 30 years, Kennedy is one of the few partnerships Slash has had that seems to be purely centred on music.
