COVER STORY : SLASH ver four decades , Slash has established himself as one of the greatest guitarists in the world . It seems he ’ s done it all . Aside from laying down iconic riffs for Guns N ' Roses , he ’ s worked with just about anyone you can think of : Lenny Kravitz , Alice Cooper , Bob Dylan , Michael Jackson , Miles Kennedy , Carole King , Iggy Pop , Ray Charles , Rihanna , Ozzy Osbourne , and Ronnie Wood to name a few .

He ' s been inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame , has earned tons of accolades , has been named the second greatest guitar player ever , has sold millions of records , he ’ s even starred in video games . But there was one thing that kept nagging him . Something he ’ s been begging to get out of his system for years : a blues record . Though everyone thinks of him as the go-to rock guy , he ’ s a huge blues fan .

I ' m a blues guitar player , to begin with . Everything I do in the hard rock genre has always been all blues guitar , and then you mix it ,” he says . “ There ' s a lot of different influences in , say , Guns N ' Roses , so it comes out sounding a lot more eclectic than just straightforward blues . But if you were to isolate all my stuff , that ' s all my playing is . The biggest influence on me when I first picked up the guitar was all blues guitars and blues music . I used to jam a lot and still do sit in with bar bands and blues cover bands all over America and in other countries . Just go out and scratch that itch to play some laidback blues with somebody .” Ashley Perez-Hollingsworth spoke to Slash .

BILLY MORRISON

If you ’ re not familiar with Billy Morrison ' s name , now ’ s a good time to familiarize yourself with this talented British musician ’ s eclectic resumé . After moving from London to Los Angeles , Morrison played bass in The Cult ’ s live lineup during their 2001 Beyond Good and Evil tour . The following year , he formed the mammoth supergroup Camp Freddy ( now called Royal Machines ) with Jane ’ s Addiction / ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro . Last month , Morrison released his long-awaited third solo album , The Morrison Project . For the album , Morrison invited a diverse range of guest artists including Ozzy Osbourne , Billy Idol , Steve Stevens , Darryl McDaniels , Al Jourgensen , Steve Vai , Linda Perry , JOHN5 , and others . The 12 genre-hopping tracks showcase Morrison ’ s brilliant songwriting skills and free-flowing creative vision . Kelley Simms spoke to Morrison

Photo : Gene Kirkland

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